sc (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-29-11 07:34 AM
Original message
Ok so when are we going to have the gay talk that Prism asked for
It has been a rather long time since he posted his thread and no talk and it hasn't gotten better for gay DUers. Here is the link of what I am referring to.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
This was posted in early Nov. It is now late January so almost three months has passed.
Skinner ADMIN (1000+ posts) Mon Jan-31-11 01:23 PM
Response to Original message
1. I know this hasn't happened, and I'm sorry about that.
We have been extremely busy over the last few months trying to whip this website into shape. We have been paying special attention to improving civility and getting rid of toxic personalities, which I believe should have the effect of making everyone -- including LGBT DUers -- feel more welcome here. While DU is certainly not perfect, my impression is that the tone here has actually improved quite a bit.
Our hope has been that that if we aggressively continue to focus our efforts on encouraging civility, then by doing so we will also address some of the concerns of LGBT DUers. I am confident that we can -- and are -- making progress. But I'm also somewhat doubtful that we are going to find a completely satisfactory solution here. As long as we have differences of opinion about whether a Democratic president is doing everything he can on the issue of gay rights, then some amount of conflict is going to be inevitable here.
I want to do what I can to help everyone feel welcome here, and I want to have this discussion. Would it maybe make sense for us to approach this as an ongoing dialogue rather than a single talk?
getting rid of toxic personalities, which I believe should have the effect of making everyone -- including LGBT DUers -- feel more welcome here. While DU is certainly not perfect, my impression is that the tone here has actually improved quite a bit.
Translation:we have banned most of the rabble-rousing Gheys, so watch it, or you will be next.We've upped our civility, UP YOURS!!
dsc (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-05-11 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I think having it be an open dialogue would be helpful
but one big thing needs to be addressed which may be a one off. The big gay purge needs addressed. I realize you don't think of it as a purge but you also haven't, to my knowledge offered any explanation. We deserve an answer. I also think the moderation of GDP needs discussed.
Why do gay leftists feel the constant need to walk around with "I'm gay" stamped to their forehead?
dsc (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-05-11 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I think having it be an open dialogue would be helpful
but one big thing needs to be addressed which may be a one off. The big gay purge needs addressed. I realize you don't think of it as a purge but you also haven't, to my knowledge offered any explanation. We deserve an answer. I also think the moderation of GDP needs discussed.
Why do gay leftists feel the constant need to walk around with "I'm gay" stamped to their forehead?To get more dick.
^HAHAHA!!! That outfit!
It's been three long months and we still don't have our Pink Pony.
Skinner ADMIN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Feb-08-11 11:31 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. About the "gay purge"
Here's a copy of the "form letter" I sent to people who contacted me at the time asking for an explanation. I think this is about as good an explanation as I have so I'm just going to post it here. It does mention banned people by their usernames, which I typically don't like to do, but in the interests of full disclosure I'll just post the whole thing. Keep in mind that it was written at the time...
== BEGIN ==
A moderator posted a completely harmless thread, and a small number of people acted like complete jerks and tried to bait him and twist his words in the most absurd possible way in order to give the false impression that he was abusing his position. This is exactly the type of thing these people have done countless times before, to countless other DUers. I have basically looked the other way for months, and let them get away with it. But this time I decided it was time to send a message. So I deleted the offending sub-threads, banned one person (yardwork), and posted a pretty clear message that enough is enough. You can read it here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
It should be noted that the thread had nothing to do with GLBT issues, the argument in the thread had nothing to do with GLBT issues, and my message in the thread had nothing to do with GLBT issues. The only connection to GLBT issues is that yardwork, who was banned, happens to be gay.
Later that evening, Runcible Spoon, Solon, and Vanje each stopped into that thread in order to call me out, and call me a bigot for good measure. I thought my post in the thread made pretty clear that my patience for this type of thing had run out, so I banned each of them. Harsh? Maybe. But all of them had long histories of anti-social behavior. Runcible Spoon had taken to posting how she was making it her mission to make sure nobody ever donates to DU again. Solon has had a warning and a seven day suspension. And Vanje had just been warned a couple weeks earlier. Each of them had made clear over time that they did not like or value this community. As I said in my post, "If we decide that you do not like this place very much, then we reserve the right to show you the door ourselves." The fact that all three happened to be gay was not a factor in our decision to ban them. Had they been straight, they would have been banned, too.
Of course, when everyone woke up on the next morning (Monday), it was not hard for them to paint this as a GLBT issue -- after all, I banned four GLBT DUers in one night. When people started calling us out, we had to decide whether we were going to permit it or not. And, to be honest, it really wasn't a very hard decision. We saw where it was going, we saw the history of behavior by the people involved, and we were done letting people use DU to trash DU. But, unlike the previous night, on Monday we did not ban anyone for a single post. If they wanted to call us out, we would simply delete their post, but we would not ban them. It was only after repeated attempts to post, that people got banned. Every person we banned that day (except one) had a long history of disruptive and anti-social behavior. Some had warnings, one had been recently suspended, and at least three had been previously banned under different usernames. The one exception was TechBear_Seattle, who had a clean record, and whom I felt bad giving the boot. He sent me an email entitled "**** you, assholes" and demanded that we tombstone him. We'd probably let him back if he wanted to come back.
So here we are. We've been wondering if there is any way to offer some sort of olive branch, but we suspect it might cause more harm than good because emotions are pretty raw, and are likely to remain so for a long time. I don't know. Over the years I've become pretty pessimistic about any efforts at peacemaking. Whenever we've made the effort, it seems to help for a bit, but after a week or so things are back to the way they were. If anyone is interested in having a good-faith discussion, I'd do it. But I don't really have much interest in talking with people who just want a platform to twist my words or paint me as the enemy or whatever. I believe that most people want to do what is right for this community and its members. I'll talk to anyone who believes the same about me.
== END ==
If I were to re-write this now, I would probably soften some of the language a little bit. But the facts of the matter remain the same. Some parts of it seem a little harsh as I read them now, but they certainly represent how I felt at the time.
Nice! I didn't catch this when he posted it. I have much more respect for the skins than I did before. he basically reinforced my opinion that the gays just want a pulpit and not be held accountable like everyone else.
H5, Skins!
^5 to you too Bally, for findin' this! I'd never heard the explanation before! Sure makes sense to me, but I doubt it made a dent in the titanium craniums at the DUmp.
sc (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-29-11 07:34 AMWell, DUmmy sc (he's a gay boy, wonder why he didn't use "cs"?), we can start right now!
Original message
Ok so when are we going to have the gay talk that Prism asked for
So, instead of a "gay purge" it was an asshole purge, it just turned out all of the assholes were gay.
Well, DUmmy sc (he's a gay boy, wonder why he didn't use "cs"?), we can start right now!
What do you think about this season on "Glee"? Is Liza Minelli going on tour this summer?
Sometimes when I read DU I feel like I'm watching Big Al's Big Gay Boat Ride.
Cindie