Code of Conduct

Purpose

A primary goal of the Seattle Composers Alliance is to provide a safe space for our community of music creators regardless of sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, or technical expertise (or lack of any of the aforementioned).

We expect all community participants to abide by this Code of Conduct in all community venues – online and in person – as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to community business. This code of conduct and its related procedures also applies to unacceptable behavior occurring outside the scope of community activities when such behavior has the potential to adversely affect the safety and well-being of community members.

Open Source & Culture Citizenship

A supplemental goal of this Code of Conduct is to increase open source and culture citizenship by encouraging participants to recognize and strengthen the relationships between our actions and their effects on our community.

Communities mirror the societies in which they exist and positive action is essential to counteract the many forms of inequality and abuses of power that exist in society.

In order to combat these inherent power structures and inequalities members of the Seattle Composers Alliance community are encouraged to examine and adjust their own behavior in accordance with the community Code Of Conduct.

Expected Behavior

The following behaviors are expected and requested of all community members:

• Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of this community.
• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
• Attempt collaboration before conflict.
• Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.
• Be mindful of the feelings of your fellow participants. Alert community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.

Unacceptable Behavior

The following behaviors are considered harassment and are unacceptable within our community:

• Offensive comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion (or lack thereof)
• Use of sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
• Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names
• Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect other Seattle Composers Alliance community members or other vulnerable people from intentional abuse.
• Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
• Violence, threats of violence, incitement of violence or violent language directed against another person including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm
• Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
• Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub”) without consent or after a request to stop
• Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes, sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping, and unwelcome sexual advances.
• Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
• Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
• Publication of non-harassing private communication without consent by the involved parties
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following (online or in person)
• Posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”).
• Sustained disruption of community discussions.
• Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they’re not appropriate.
• Sustained disruption of discussion.
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

Unacceptable behavior from any community member, including community leaders will not be tolerated. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, community leaders may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including temporary or permanent expulsion from all Seattle Composers Alliance spaces (online & offline) without warning and identification of the offending person as a harasser to other Seattle Composers Alliance community members or the general public.

Reporting Guidelines

If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please immediately contact a moderator via direct message. If the person who is harassing you is a moderator, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. Alternatively, you are encouraged to reach out to the Seattle Composers Alliance Board of Directors at info@seattlecomposers.org

All reports will be handled in the strictest confidence. We will respond as promptly as we can. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that’s the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

The Seattle Composers Alliance community prioritizes the safety, inclusion, and well-being of marginalized people. Community leaders reserve the right not to act on complaints regarding:

• ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
• Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
• Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
• Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions

Updates