I'm fed up and I'm not going to take it anymore

[kayell]

For the last 24 hours I have seen more out right homophobic and "stealth bigotry" (thanks foreigncorrespondent for that term) posts here at DU than I ever dreamed possible in a "liberal forum".

Up until now I have rather foolishly been responding to these posts, somehow imagining that if people were called out on their behavior repeatedly, by multiple posters, that they might start "getting it".

(Deleted several bits that would get this post yanked too fast.)

Ok, I've had it. From now on I'm going to start alerting on every single one of these homophobic posts that I see. When someone uses code words I'm alerting. When someone practices stealth bigotry (some of my best friend are gay, but...) I'm alerting.

Mods, expect to be busy.

DU Rules
BIGOTRY
http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html#bigotry
Do not post racist, sexist, homophobic, ethnic, anti-religious, or anti-atheist bigotry. Unambiguous expressions of bigotry will be deleted, and will often result in the immediate banning of the individual responsible.

If it is not clear whether a comment is bigoted, we will generally give the benefit of the doubt and assume the least-bigoted interpretation. However, individuals who repeatedly post borderline-bigoted comments will be considered bigots and will be removed.

When discussing race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion, please exercise the appropriate level of sensitivity toward others and take extra care to clearly express your point of view. This will help avoid misunderstandings and undeserved accusations of bigotry.

[Skittles]

1. YOU GO !!!!!

I dislike these "fly under the radar" posts too.

[Ediacara]

2. Well...

That is what the alert buton is for.... But I agree, there does seem to be a coming out of the woodwork that's a little disturbing.

[Forkboy]

3. The first clue is always the same

whether it be about gays or blacks;

I'm not homophobic/racist,BUT....

[Dhalgren]

4. I agree with you 100%!

The "flavor" of alot of these post over the past day or two have been disconcerting, to say the least. Granted that alot of it has been in defense of one or another candidate's idiotic statements, but still, it can't be let pass. Let us alert until some one cries "uncle!" - or "aunt!".

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. THANK-YOU

yesterday was a fucking bad day for me already...the Repubs and Freepers were going crazy about the Constitutional Ban...I atleast my fellow liberals to support us and what do i fucking get but a whole load of homophobia...

i dont care if i get kicked out of this board but if you deny me equals right you ARE homophobic! You may not be as homophobic as the fucking preacher who tell me i am going to hell or the crazy woman who said i will die of aids (i am a freaking dyke for crying out loud) but you are homophobic none the less

[Robbien]

6. These are the disrupters who only came here to disrupt

They started out in GD2004 building up their post counts by bashing Dem candidates. Now they are getting braver and coming out to disrupt GD and LBN.

[foreigncorrespondent]

11. Really?

Then you explain the bigotry that people with large post counts and little gold stars next to their names do then. Because I for one didn't think a freeper would gladly hand money over to a democratic forum.

[Robbien]

14. For as little as five bucks you can get a gold star

The Bush campaign has a staff whose sole purpose is to disrupt democratic sites.

I do not believe these are freepers but Bush disrupters.

[wellstone_democrat]

31. 5$ is cheap enough to do the job

and there are a number of people whose ability to stay *just* this side of banning no matter how heated the thread gets---oh, and some seem to show up just for certain topics---says that they are professionals. You bet your ass there are professional disruptors here. Not just the clever characters who pay 5$ or 10$ run up counts on Lounge and "atta boy!" GD2004 forums but people whose JOBS are to come on to liberal forums for the precise function of dividing the community.

I could give you a list right now of who I would bet my next paycheck on but...it would be shooting fish in a barrel: I do politics for a living and know exactly how I would send my staff out to do it on a FR=type of site. Some knowledge on the topics but not too much. Some strong opinions but still..that questioning tone. Oh, its going on alright and the opposition is serious about it and funds it well.

[DrWeird]

55. There have been donors banned before.

There have been freepers with tens of thousands of posts banned before.

[Bertha Venation]

7. Brava, kayell. eom

[MSchreader]

8. Good!

I grew sick of the bigotry some time ago. Sometimes, some of the "liberals" on here are just as bad on questions of race, gender, sexuality and class (oh, definitely class!) as Republicans and FReepers.

I'm glad you're taking a stand.

Martin

[CaptainClark23]

9. And the strategy succeeds

Even for the best intentioned of reasons. The Gay marriage flap is a move by the repugs to divide the left and center and to fortify the right. Not to mention changing the focus from all the damnable words and deeds of this administration.

And it seems to work, here we are at DU now targeting eachother.

I'm not contesting or arguing your position, kayell, I am sure there have been many examples of "stealth bigotry", and yes this does need to be addressed.

But (don't alert me for using 'but', please), the end result is we face off against eachother, instead of our common enemy.

[foreigncorrespondent]

12. Well then...

...you find a way fast of trying to bring us under the one damn roof. This has been building for months and months. A lot of queers have left. A lot of queers are not posting anymore. A lot of queers are at the point of nervous breakdown (my partner being one of them), because of the insults people have been throwing around here.

I have been telling the long time posters who do this, that all they are doing is playing right into the repukes hand by saying the shit they are saying. Because all the repukes wanted was to split the party up. I even stated it last night when I began a thread about the hatred, which lead to kay posting this thread.

[CaptainClark23]

15. Would that I could, fc...

"you find a way fast of trying to bring us under the one damn roof."

I really wish I could. This is (at its root) the stake in the heart of most any opposition movement - dissent and disagreement from within.

Not downplaying the authenticity of this issue, but the same has happened with other issues. Alot of 9.11 "official story" skeptics stopped posting here due to being tired of being called tin-hatters and worse at every turn. Alternately, alot of centrist dems I think got turned off by all the 9.11 skeptic posts...

I believe you do the right thing by putting a spotlight on this issue, and making people think about their words and how they are used. But what will kill us in the end is if we allow even these deeply personal affronts to distract us from the ultimate goal - which is taking our country back from the fundamentalist junta that continuies its power grab daily.

We stand together or fall together. Save the fury for the enemy. Correct our allies with compassion and serenity.

[kayell]

18. "Correct our allies with compassion and serenity"

Sorry (not really) but my serenity is all used up. I can no longer consider someone an ally who repeatedly tells me that marriage is too much to ask, too extreme, that we should not compare our situation to blacks because the discrimation we suffer is not severe enough. (tell that to Matthew Shepherd...oops to late) I am tired of being told year after year after year that the time is not right. I am tired of being told that the majority opposes it (marriage, out military service, discrimination laws) so I shouldn't endanger Dem pols by asking for my civil rights!!

[CaptainClark23]

21. I understand

And I agree that we are being asked to "put aside" too many issues in support of getting a Dem into the White House. 9.11; yea votes for Iraq invasion, it goes on and on.

It falls to each of us to decide how we want to fight this war, and where we draw our battle lines. My point is that this is perceived as some sort of "non-unity" and in turn can be used as a weapon against us all.

Just saying we need to be aware of this fact, and keep our eyes on the ultimate goal. Not to subsume our personal beliefs and passions, but neither to allow them to become the divisive issue that takes us all down.

No one should deny or postpone their own rights, and no one should ask or demand such of another. Expose it where we find it, but ALWAYS keep our faces toward the common enemy. I am with you, fc, and share your anger and frustration. May we use that fury well.

[Sliverofhope]

30. It has been building

A kind of malaise among my gay friends. It's really dispiriting. I'm with you on this one.

I can't help but point out again the work on John Boswell, who proves in his books that Christianity is not the cause of homophobia, but a justification. For 1200 years, Christianity was not anti-gay, and the homophobic stuff most cited now is relatively recent.

While the obvious justification is equal rights, some nuts might be harder to crack, so I recommend Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality to people who want to see the absolutely Bush-like justifications for persecution of homosexuality in European history.

What can be said but it's just disgusting and sad.

[Beam Me Up]

13. I am gay so I can say this

Gay Marriage is SMALL POTATOES compared to: The Economy; an UNELECTED pResident; UNANSWERED QUESTIONS and an INCOMPLETE INVESTIGATION regarding 9/11; BBV; an ILLEGAL, pre-emptive, WAR; Enron; Haliburton; secretive Energy Policies -- and on and on and on. This nation is facing a CRISIS of monumental proportions.

DON'T let the ruling elites DISTRACT and DIVIDE us with EMOTIONAL issues!

Lets stop talking about this issue. Lets stop debating about this issue. Lets top being distracted by this issue. Lets keep focused on what matters: UNSEATING THE HOUSE OF BUSH*

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. i agree with this as well

however democratic underground is specifically for liberals and states clearly that posts are not supposed to be homophobic.

this summer i will work for the nominee from our side regardless of his stance on gay marriage (since both likely are against it anyway)...and i am very against making this the major issue to vote third party


but on this website i expect people to not be homophobic...its different in the real world..

[donco6]

52. I agree

While I will speak out about the more blatant homophobic and idiot statements made, I don't want to lose sight of the real problems.

[foreigncorrespondent]

10. Hon...

...I stand by and support you on this effort.

You are a brave, brave woman standing up like this. I give you an Aussie pat on the back. :)

You go girl!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

16. you will also find the homophobes on the right-wing side of these issues:

1) abortion
2) evolution/creationism
3) affirmative action
4) separation of Church/State

They are disruptors and should be alerted. I have no patience, and put a bunch of them on 'ignore' last night after a particularly long thread about gay marriage where the poster showed his glaring ignorance and bigotry. I hope truly it was more a product of his "youth" than brainwashing by the Repukes. However, I do think most of them are disruptors, rather than sheltered young people.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. that was funny!

[kayell]

22. Another one bites the dust

[Kathy in Cambridge]

23. Well, that's good to hear!

It was a long time coming! :D

[Snow]

40. I was in on that thread, too.....

I tried taking the OP at his word, that he was looking to be educated, I even tried it several times. Found I could get him to concede minor points, but blind as a bat to the broader principle. I'm inclined now to think he was engaged in deliberate provocation of some kind.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

51. what was weird

was that he alerted the mods yesterday when i called him a homophobe (not so nice of me i agree)..then he set a poll for himself today asking people whether or not they thought he was homophobic...

[tom_paine]

20. Well, none of my best friends are gay, but...

...I support them in their quest to get equal Constitutional Rights (though I do have serious issues about special protected status for them or any other sub-group, even my own).

And while George washington probably couldn't have conceived of "gay marriage", it is in the end what he was talking about when he said:

"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality."
--George Washington

http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1274

[Cleita]

24. Well, I do have gay friends and two of them happen to be DU'ers.

eom

[scottxyz]

25. I think we should "disemvowel" the bigoted posts

"Disemvoweling" is a technique developed over at the Making Light blog - rather than deleting the entire disruptive post, they simply delete all the vowels.

It's still legible, if you can take the time to read it.

The good thing about this is you get to see WHO made the post.

There are several people on DU (who will remain nameless) I just don't read anymore because of their ridiculous "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" arguments I've come to notice time and time again over the past few months. (Like the guy who tried to say that WalMart hiring people who needed to apply for food stamps was a "business decision" somehow equivalent to Ben & Jerry's NOT hiring 50,000 extra employees. Or the guy who keeps saying that if we're gonna allow gay marriage, then why not allow polygamy. You know the types.)

Hey, you have to admit, it's a cool technique, stealth-posting - when done right. I used to try to stealth-post "under the radar" over at Free Republic - say something KINDA conservative-sounding, but steer it in a certain way to see if they would change their minds about something. When it's done wrong, it can have a certain value as well. DU is short on methods for accruing "karma" or "trust" to individual posters - all we have to go on is our own recollection of what so-and-so said. Deleting posts makes this even harder to do.

I'm not crazy about ANY form of censorship. If we get rid of all the opposition on a give forum, the internet will get too splintered, and we'll all be left "preaching to the choir". It can be VERY useful knowing how the other side thinks. My idiot father voted for Bush, and in our correspondence I learn a lot about how Bush wins guys like that over. (My father thinks Bush is a "straight shooter" - he fell for that one! So when I write to my father, I focus on exposing Bush's flipflops and lies.)

[bleedingheart]

26. My brother is gay and happy in his relationship

what more could I ask for???

When he was "coming out" he was so upset about his homosexual tendencies that he tried to fight it..he tried to be "normal"...and he tried to kill himself ...but now he is happy with who he is.

I would rather have an alive happy gay brother than a dead one.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. I've been avoiding the gay marriage threads

because of a heavy workload and limited time to spend on DU, but this straight woman will jump all over any bigots in honor of the many gay and lesbian people over the past thirty years (some now sadly lost to AIDS) who have shown her kindness above and beyond the call of duty.

[Solomon]

28. I prefer to err on the side of liberality. If I see an obvious troll, I

just ignore them. I would never call an alert on anyone. I don't like curtailing speech in any way. I like to let the record speak for itself. I wouldn't even delete the illegal comments people make here, although I would give them warnings to enforce the rules. I like the record to speak for itself. Other people who care to read it, can see who the jerk is in an argument.

Gays should realize that substantial gains are being made. The people you complain about, those who argue against gay marriage, serve their purpose in causing you to have to respond to them. Your responses are winning. After all, there are no rational defenses to them. From my viewpoint, gays are clearly making the points that need to be made and are starting to turn the tide.

Don't flame me because I said there are some gains in it, I acknowledge that we're a long way from where we need to be and still have a ways to go.

[slinkerwink]

29. kick----the mods can't be lax with stealth posters....

[trumad]

33. I am not homophobic!!!

I know at least 3 gay people... They are very nice and seem to dress very well. Plus, I feel that I can take on all 3 in a fight and win. Not at one time because I fear they would resort to biting, but I am certain that I can take them individually.

Anyway...They have never hit on me but if they do they have another thing coming. I hope that never happens to me. If it does I will post it here and ask for advice.

Thank you,

trumad

[Kamika]

32. great..

Just don't assume everything you see is homophobic, read all their posts in the same thread first etc

[noiretextatique]

34. and don't condescend to people

if your expect them to read any of your posts.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

43. If so many people are repeatedly misunderstanding you maybe it isn't

their understanding skills at stake.

[JasonBerry]

35. Your Post Is A Sort of "Board Terrorism"

You are saying that there is one way to think on this issue and anything other than the position of the gay advocacy groups is bigotry. Good try. Some of us sympathize with the cause, but very much resent the methods - as represented by threads like this.

ALERT!!!!!!!! How dare somebody question your methods on sexual identity!! Damn right, that's a BUT. Democratic Underground has a diversity of thought on the left - despite efforts to railroad everybody into lockstep thinking with threats of alerts and policing of thought. Thanks, anyway.

[noiretextatique]

36. i think she is saying there are rules on the board

and she will alert on those who don't follow the rules :shrug:

[JasonBerry]

38. The problem

I support the rules at DU. It keeps the place somewhat civil and are important. The problem lies in interpreting the rules to include reading between the lines, looking for perceived "code words" and even stating support of a position but qualifying it is apparently reason for alert (no "buts"). Alert on rules violations, but don't alert on everything that you perceive to be "code words" and the like. That can be carried too far and creates a climate for stifling and fearful discussion looking over our shoulders for the thought police who are looking for meanings that simply are not there.

[Kamika]

41. I agree

totally.

I wouldn't like it if there are ppl just waiting to report me

[noiretextatique]

66. i don't see that as a problem

in fact, it seems you are attempting to do the exact thing you called her on...
her perceptions aren't your business...to put it bluntly.
and your perceptions certainly aren't more valid than hers.
i've seen freeper fuckheads come here an use what i perceive to be code-language, i've alerted, and the mods interpretated in a different way than i did. eventually...they usually end up getting banned as they feel more emboldened to devolve into the freeper fuckheads they truly are.
who are you to say what meanings aren't and are there? maybe it's just that some people are more perceptive than others.
on the other hand, i do tend to give people i know have posted here for a long time the benefit of the doubt.

[kayell]

39. Bingo

and I don't feel any need to coddle closet homophobes.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

42. Board terrorism my ass.

I've seen outright bigots and homophobes post ad nauseum for over a thousand posts when they dealt their hand in their first or second post.

Yeah there are many ways to approach a subject..and the few limited way that homophobes, bigots and misogynists usually do it are down to a technique anymore.

I use ALERT liberally and anyone who has an issue with me is free to use it back...there IS an appeal process if one is misinterpreted.

I hit the alert on a certain brainwashed young person the first day they arrived for a similar reason...I'm amazed it took months.

[Kamika]

44. grats

I sure love a message board where you are scared of saying your opinions.

Maybe we should downright ban all threads dealing with this topic since disagreeing comments are alerted anyway? I mean why even have topics about them.


I'm just saying.. saying stuff like "I will alert any opinions I dont like or I think is hidden agenda etc etc" creates a VERY hostile feeling in the forum

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

45. Maybe we should require a reading test to participate since I said no

such thing.
And if you are THAT afraid of voicing your opinions, maybe it's time to evaluate your opinions. Why always put the onus on someone else to KNOW what you meant when you express it so poorly?

[salin]

48. while those saying things that are intentionally

obnoxious, insulting and are "misconstrued" by others to cross the rules (eg homophobic bigotry) ... now those posts they work to create a positive feeling in the forum? {/intentional sarcasm}

Thing is - folks can be as obnoxious as they want... free speech. But everyone has that same right.. including those who chose to call out that obnoxious behavior ... right up to and including pointing out that there are preexisting rules... and those rules exist for a reason ... and *gasp* I think it is still within my free speech rights to say... if/when a post crosses those rules/lines... I will hit alert. Ooops... I said it... damn free speech ...

[Rex]

37. It will save you a lot of time.

nt

[damnyankee2601]

46. Well, if you must.

But if we have to play by your thought police rules, perhaps you should post them so we know what they are.

I, for one, do not consider myself in any way homophobic. Yet I suspect I would run afoul of your "code words" since I don't know the code.

[Kamika]

47. yep

I got warned because I aparently used one of those code words.. it feels horrible since I'm in no way homophobic..

All it does is create a bad hostile feeling

[foreigncorrespondent]

54. No, Kamika, again you are wrong...

...but you won't listen will you?

You got called out because what you said and in the tone you said it in wasn't called for.

You were wrong, the mods agreed with those of us who complained and you got warned. Re-eveluate the way you say things. Move on. And get over it.

[noiretextatique]

68. imagine how the person who alerted on you felt

self-regulation...it's for EVERYONE!

[kayell]

49. To all in this thread who seem to fear I will alert on them

or who would like to accuse me of "board terrorism" :eyes:

You might take a look around the board and look at some of the posts that have most offended gays and lesbians here. If you feel tempted to post the same sorts of remarks that a high percentage of gays and lesbians are a offended by, it may be worth considering that those remarks are offensive, and yes, possibly bigoted.

I posted the DU rules on bigotry in my original post because those are the rules I intend to alert on if I see them broken. If you don't like the rules, take it up with the Admin. I know that alerts are usually reviewed by a number of mods before they make a decision, and I am sure that they take many things into consideration. I have no intention of just alerting willy-nilly without thinking there is a genuine case. To do so would make me a pest, and probably unpopular with the mods.

On the other hand, I have absolutely no intention of putting up with bigotry just because a poster claims that they are not bigoted as they stab me and mine in the back.

[Snow]

50. Okay, one-and-all - Here's a guide to what & why GL people here have

been upset, and what upsets them. & it's written by the one-and-only, DU's very own Plaid Adder. Funny and educational - what more can you ask?
http://www.io.com/~wwwomen/queer/etiquette/intro.html

[KFC]

53. Would you provide a list of what you consider "code words"?

I'm genuinely curious.

[JasonBerry]

56. Answers anyone????????????? -- n/t

[Snow]

57. Pay attention people -

I posted this just above. Your friend Plaid Adder (you are, aren't you Plaidder? Don't make me a liar, here) is glad to help out:

http://www.io.com/~wwwomen/queer/etiquette/intro.html

Scroll down just a bit, & there's the chapters on code words & such.

[JasonBerry]

58. Sorry - it's all ridiculous

This an example of disagreement that is NOT homophobic. You referred in your post to this:
http://www.io.com/~wwwomen/queer/etiquette/chap5c.html

Unbelievable. That was absolutely a guide to "how to feel guilty for being straight."

It calls for "special treatment" throughout. Don't say this, don't say that. Say it THIS way as to not offend, say it THAT way so as to not offend. And it includes a special pet peeve of MINE - the old "We can say it but you can't." She actually argues that it's perfectly acceptable for a gay person to use "fag" - among others - but that straights shouldn't use it as it's offensive. Well, OF COURSE it is! So, let's get rid of the word all together! Why this bull about "we can - you can't"??

Thanks for pointing out a perfect example for why some of us who are straight feel the need to apologize for the fact and - worse - to walk on eggshells all the time around a group that has rules for some, but not for others, and demand that everyone accept a sub-agenda within the democratic left - or else - we aren't sufficiently progressive.

Many feel this way and are afraid to come out and say it. I can't think of a better thread in which to discuss this - and among progressives. Let's hope that in the spirit of nitty-gritty discussion, this won't be deleted after an alert. I have tried carefully to make sure I have phrased this so as to not offend anyone. This is a problem and we can't all agree to pretend it's not. Sure, somebody may be offended at this train of thought, but, how else do we talk about it? It is something that must be resolved by those of us who support gay rights yet still feel that the message is being hijacked by those who are demanding special recognition - when the goal should be EQUAL recognition. The present militant course advocated by many is nothing more than a prescription for electoral disaster. That helps nobody.

[KFC]

59. Agreed. Being hypersensitive will get you nowhere.

I've never posted anything remotely anti-gay.

Wait - HANG ON - was that a "code word"? Even though it is true?

[foreigncorrespondent]

60. And us queers are the ones being hypersensitive, huh?

Who said anything that you are one of the people us queers are beginning to stand up and question?

I am not about to post a list of "code" words. Common sense should tell you whether something someone has said is bigoted or not.

[Plaid Adder]

70. About the Guide to Gay Etiquette, since it's been brought up.

JasonBerry is of course entitled to his opinion. However, I do want to point out that in my opinion his post completely mischaracterizes what I was trying to do in the chapter cited.

I wrote the Etiquette Guide for two audiences. 1) Gay people who are fed up with the crap they have to put up with and need to be able to have a good laugh about it. 2) Straight people who are sincerely interested in learning about some of the ways in which they unintentionally hurt or anger gay people. Where the needs of both audiences were incompatible I went with #1. I have occasionally been emailed by readers who had their feelings hurt by something in the guide, and they have always, without exception, been straight men. It is my contention that straight men have enough people in this society who take care of them and their feelings, and that it is not my job to soothe them.

Straight people who are unwilling to consider the possibility that they might be perpetuating homophobia are of course not going to get much out of the etiquette guide. C'est la vie. As it says in the introduction, "this guide is but a tool, imperfect and limited like all of mortal existence."

The page JasonBerry cited was my best shot at explaining why it is that gay people get pissed off when straight people use terms that have been historically associated with anti-gay bigotry. You all don't necessarily have to care how many gay people you piss off. Some straight people do, and some don't. I'm just sayin' that if you're straight and you go around using that language, that's what's gonna happen.

For my fellow GBLT DUers, all I can say is this: there are 40,000 people on this board. You can't make all of them behave. The mods can't either. The rules they have do a pretty good job of keeping the trolls out, and that's all you can ask for. It would be nice if everyone always treated everyone else with kindness, compassion, and sympathy; but unfortunately that's not the human condition. Eventually the only way to participate productively in a community this size is to decide not to waste your energy getting upset about what you can't change.

Peace,

The Plaid Adder

[Snow]

72. Thanks, Plaid Adder......

I should've asked for your okay before giving the link, but it seemed so relevant, & I enjoy your humor immensely - you make your points without preachiness, but with laughter, an invaluable talent. So, as I said, I couldn't resist, & thanks for not getting pissed at me for it.

For those of you inclined to explore, Plaid Adder's site includes an excellent series on the growth of a young sith lord, Darth Maul - especially wonderful when he gets caught in the movie "Moulin Rouge". My daughter (age 19) is a great fan as well.

[kayell]

61. No

The simple reason being that if I or anyone else did, legalistic thinking homophobes would use terms I had not thought to list, and then cover with lots and lots of excuses. If you want to take a look at the kind of thing that has offended gays and lesbians here recently, take a look at the posts that gay and lesbian people mentioned as offensive in this thread. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1162517

If none of the cited things look like something you would ever consider saying, you're probably good. But if they do, you may want to examine your attitudes towards your fellow human beings, and see if you don't have a little bit of bigotry hiding in your closet.

If you find that nastiness in your closet, hell, we all have skeletons, (we were all brought up in a homophobic society) but it might just be a good time to do a bit of spiritual housecleaning.

As I've stated before, the mods make the decisions, they do so in conference. I'm going to let them know anytime I think there is abuse though, as is my right to do. That's why we have alert buttons. You can check the DU rules on bigotry that I copied into my original post here. They are pretty good rules and I believe prevent abuse. Those are what I am using to base any alerts on.

This is my last post in this thread. I've stated my position here quite clearly. Those who still don't understand what I am saying, either aren't reading my posts for content or are being deliberately obtuse.

[KFC]

62. So you just make the "code words" up as you go

To be kept secret until you may deem them offensive.

Then it is alert-a-plenty.

Outstanding.

[foreigncorrespondent]

63. As I said in my above post KFC...

...it is a matter of common sense that will tell you if something is bigoted or not.

So now are us queers going to come under attack for actually standing up for ourselves on DU as well huh? Because with your code word crap KFC, that is exactly what you are showing us. We are fighting back, and people don't like it.

[KFC]

64. Beautiful example

I would have never even responded to this thread, but I just hate the "I'm going to tell on you!" mentality.

I am hardly attacking gays. Never have.

I'm just hearing about "code words", asking what they are, and nobody will give me even one. Not a single one. The links above give nothing.

I don't think anyone is the sole judge of common sense. But it is an easy way out of making a point.

Substitute "gay" for "black", "jew", "christian", "muslim", "red sox fan", "arthritic", "quizno's nasty critters", and you'll understand what I'm saying.

Just asking for your specific point of view. What exactly is inappropriate?

But, sorry, your ass is alerted.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

65. The "code word" for a Red Sox fan is "choker"

But I don't know any of the super-secret anti-gay "code words".

Mabye there is a secret password or handshake required to access the anti-gay "code words".

I sugest you contact your Skull & Bones representative.

[noiretextatique]

69. "i'm not a homophobe on anything...but"

inevtiably the person goes on to prove exactly what a homophobe s/he is. that's "code language" or a cloak...it's a common troll ploy. i'm a fairly perceptive person, probably moreso than most, but i don't think you have to be that perceptive to be wise to the stupid people tricks some like to play, particularly on the internet.

[noiretextatique]

67. thanks for posting this

given some of responses here...it's clear you struck a nerve :7
good for you :toast:

[drdigi420]

71. Please make sure you read it right first tho

a lot of people have been soo ubersensitive here that many posts are being deleted that should not be due to overzealous alerting

i even had a post deleted and sent a warning when i was defending the very group that i was accused of denigrating

i think we all need to have a little thicker skin around here

if i start a message as 'im not gay, but...', does that mean im automatically stealth attacking heterosexuals?

lets all get a grip here shall we?