I wish you could have locks for the doors in here.

I just don't feel....safe.....outside the confines of GLBT forum any more. Because there are currently no locks on the doors in GLBT forum, I'm not so sure I feel safe in here either. Is is just me or have some of the comments made lately in other forums really made any of you feel....not....quite.....welcome....on.....DU....anymore? At the very least by a loud few, not necessarily by the majority.

*shudder*

I get it from two fronts, including some here!

That does nothing to bolster my faith in DU, the moderators, or my fellow human beings.

I think I missed it. What you are saying doesn't surprise me though. :(

Can Israel Ever Be Wrong?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x262262

And this one:

Why Are We Going To Fight Iran?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=261527

And this one:

Were Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=259965

Tell me if you spot a pattern.

I think there needs to be a penalty for knowingly hitting "Rec" on something you KNOW is going to get moved or deleted, for the sole purpose of getting it on the "greatest" page before it's gone.

I feel secure in saying, on behalf of the vastest majority of DU'ers, that we are goddamned glad and proud to have you and all our GLBTI bretheren and sisteren here with us. I know I am.

You have a concern about a post, hit the alert on the post. Let the crackerjack Mod team deal with it. They have procedures in place, and in the case of the thorny decisions, they make them as a team, with even Skinner, et al, getting into the process.

GLBTIs are part of the strength and the richness of DU. An important and integral part. I cannot think of anyone who doesn't want you here, and if there is such a person on DU, I would enjoy spitting in his or her eye.

Yeah, we have a troll infestation. It's kind of like forum scabies: Irritating, but if you use the treatment and don't pick at it, it gets better. ;-)

You probably do not know how much your kindness is appreciated. :hug:

Appreciate the support!:grouphug: :toast:

>>>Because there are currently no locks on the doors in GLBT forum, I'm not so sure I feel safe in here either.>>>>

proliferating on DU, seems to me.

Personally, I like seeing what non-GLBT DUers think about GLBT issues.


>>>>s is just me or have some of the comments made lately in other forums really made any of you feel....not....quite.....welcome....on.....DU....anymore?>>>>

"Welcome" is another matter. Doesn't matter if we're "welcome" or not... least not to me.

I have never felt unwelcome or under attack from regular DUers. Well except for one. Usually its just the opposite. The last thing we should do is try to close ourselves off from the straight majority. We share the world and the more we talk to each other the better.

As for the few and far between unreasoning homophobes and the occasional cranky religious nutjobs who sneak in, I will just say, in the words of the Dear Leader, bring 'em on. I'm always up for a good figh.... discussion.

As kind of an aside, I think we need a forum dedicated to Flame Wars. Obviously they don't belong everywhere. But if they were properly segregated and contained in their own space with a big warning sign over the entrance I think that they would be highly salubrious.

You could fight with ideas, without knowing who you were arguing with.

Hmmm... Interesting concept, isn't it? :P That's a good idea. I think if we were to have a Flame Wars Forum, that's how it should be set up.

Without the name-calling what would be the point? Ideas AND verbal abuse. Gotta have both or it doesn't fly :popcorn:

>>>>As for the few and far between unreasoning homophobes and the occasional cranky religious nutjobs who sneak in, I will just say, in the words of the Dear Leader, bring 'em on. I'm always up for a good figh.... discussion.>>>>


Besides... if we can't get this relatively enlightened, relatively sophisticated substrata to make room for us at the proverbial table.... well, it doesn't say much for our chances in the larger society.

I've lurked around here for ages and I get so sick of the secret homophobia that springs up all the time over on GD and GD politics. It's always nonsense like "Rudi Guiliani wears a dress" and "Bush and Cheney are all brokeback on each other"

Shameful. I'm going to be more outspoken from now on about the secret homophobia here.

It's the gay references that some of us consider insensitive, or the stock gay stereotypes being dragged out to make a point or to demean someone. Okay, quite a bit of that stuff does go on. It it's almost always based on gays being funny, femmy or butch, or it capitalizes on the ick factor in some way.

When you say something about it you tend to get painted as being too thin skinned or misunderstanding the user's intent. As I and a lot of other people said in the great Snickers debate, I'm tired of others telling me what should offend me and what shouldn't.

I still think it's not at the level where we need a "safe room" to retreat to. But I'm with you in that we need to jump on it when it crops up.

It was a no-brainer.

"Imagine a guy just kissed you. Now, click here to hit him over the head with a wrench. Or, click here, if you want to poison yourself. It's the only way to be manly again."

How can anyone find anything to defend in THAT message?


From Snickers' Stepchildren

Captain Kirk just kissed Uhura. Click here to shoot her with a phaser. Click here to lynch her.

Welcome to the fray!

So many people here are nice and welcoming.:hi: :hi:

I'm not sure that I understand you're "not feeling safe in here either" comment.
I might have blinders on and I honestly don't venture beyond the smaller forums and the lounge. I've not seen a lot of posts that would suggest 'you' or any other GLBT person aren't welcome.
There does seem to be a lot of insensitive threads regarding a lot of issues. In a community as large as DU I suppose that is (sadly) to be expected.

call me naive.

I hope I never make you or anyone else for that matter, feel unwelcome.

:hug:

aA

brought it out.As does Any gay subject that hits the news. Most DU'rs are really great We need to double team some of the other kind. Or you could just shut up , and get to the back of the bus, "don't want nobody losing another election for us".

All that talk about how the New Jersey civil unions decision was "going to lose the election for us" and how if we just wait until after this election, or the next election, then it will be time to discuss marriage equality.

We have to take our civil rights into our own hands and stop hoping for the goodwill of the mainstream Democratic Party. Just like the Republics do with abortion and the other Christo-fascist issues, the Democratic Party doesn't really want to satisfy the GBLT community because they think that if they do we'll have no reason to vote for them anymore. It's always promises and excuses and "Maybe we'll talk about it after the election but keep your mouth shut for now."

I don't know if I fully agree that if we ever achieve equality we'll stop voting Democratic, but you are absolutely right that we are relegated to the back of the Democratic bus. The party is happy to have our votes and our activism on its behalf, but our issues occupy a permanent place on its back burner.

I've been saying the same thing for months. Sure, we'll take the GLBT votes and money and canvassing and whatever, but don't actually look for us to DO anything - because you know we just might offend people. Ugh.

...who the family loves or at least tolerates in spite of his oddball ways and who can actually be quite entertaining at times. But he is really not someone they'd want to spend time with in public, and he has to be bundled off to the the back bedroom when company comes.

I think we need to restore the "Block User" function, and/or allow group moderators to block certain people from posting to certain groups.