What homophobic comments?

[Mass_Liberal]

People have been saying that there are a lot of bigoted homophobic posts here at DU. Maybe I just haven't been looking very hard, but I just haven't seen any comments regarding sexual orientation that offended me. I was under the impression that besides the occasional GD 04 fights, I was living in the little liberal utopia that is DU.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. are you gay?

cos if you were u may be more sensitive to this issue...i know i am...


look at all the righteous anger against gay marriage and the demeaning of homosexuals for asking for them...

[Mass_Liberal]

2. no

but I can tell you that in all my time here at DU (about 7 months), I have never seen a poster that is against gay marriage.

It is very possible that I just miss these posts.

[DrWeird]

7. Oh, there's plenty.

Read the gay marriage threads. The same three or four keep popping up.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. no offense

but i think you are choosing to ignore these posts because you can afford to. and i pay attention to them because i cant afford not to.

[Mass_Liberal]

16. ok

possible (if true I think I'll shunt the blame to my subconcious). Throw me a link, matey?;)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. i did

[Duncan Grant]

13. Truly? Wow, I'm surprised.

>>I have never seen a poster that is against gay marriage.<<

Mind if I PM you the next time I see one of those post? Seriously, Mass_Liberal...it's in many gay marriage threads.

[Mass_Liberal]

18. I don't mind at all

I've seen people that say we should drop it as a party as an issue because it's a wedge. But not people that are against the right of gays to marry

[Duncan Grant]

24. Sounds good. Will do.

Mind you, I don't go looking for this stuff but if I see it...I'll send it. :hi:

[wellstone_democrat]

14. Huh? there was an entire thread last night

by a now tombstoned character. And other threads that cultivate the "soul of reason" persona I've talked about in other threads on the topic of PAID disruptors. I'm straight, I'm married, I'm all those things that the Religious Right would love in a member but if *I* can see them they are not hidden, they are not imagined.

I've seen ENTIRE threads with everything from "I just don't like that sort of icky thing!" to "help me understand why I should see these people as "Americans" with rights....please?"

We aren't talking about the need for hypersensitivity here we are talking about outright statements of bigotry. The "subtle" stuff deserves its own entire post...

[foreigncorrespondent]

15. If I could remember...

...the exact post it was in I would link it right now.

But a few weeks back one poster in particular who has some rather bigoted views came out and said that they didn't support gay marriage, and didn't support civil unions either.

Believe me bigoted remarks do happen. Anytime you see a thread relating to a queer topic that has accumulated quite a few posts, jump in and read through the posts. Pay close attention to what actual queers are saying. Because we are the ones responding to the bigotry the most.

[Mass_Liberal]

21. ok

thanks for your help.

[Mass_Liberal]

26. I'm very sorry that this stuff happens

I hope it doesn't ruin DU for you. If you ever need assurance, know that DU is a place of mostly extremely tolerant, and in my experience helpful people. I am very sorry that this sort of crap exists.


makes me :mad:

[foreigncorrespondent]

3. I was going to ask the same thing.

Because the people questioning us queers on the ever present homophobia and bigoted remarks are generally those who are straight and don't actually see these comments through our eyes.

On edit: Fixing a typo, cuz I have way too much on my mind today.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. I think one of the more flagrant homophobes was recently tombstoned

You will find that the homophobes are also on the right-wing side of these issues:

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

If you read GD enough, they are VERY easy to spot.

BTW I'm not gay, but I'm a woman and notice certain patterns among the long-time disruptors. Homophobia, anti-woman comments and general bigotry are just some of their characteristics.

[Mass_Liberal]

8. can you show me a thread that has these?

And I'm not saying that you are lying. I simply haven't noticed them myself. From your description, it seems to me that people like that would be banned.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. one of them recently got locked

[Kathy in Cambridge]

19. I don't lie. So here you go.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1155060

There are more-I'm sure if you search on "gay marriage" you can find a ton of comments.

[tom_paine]

25. Thanks, RationalRose. That's quite a read.

It'll be awhile before I'm done, I think.

230 posts?

Myself, regardless of whatever the thread winds up saying, one thing is sure: The vast majority of DUers (yes, even most who oppose gay marriage) are decent people who respect the basic human rights of other human beings.

Just consider that.

Meanwhile, I've got some reaqding to do...

[Lars39]

27. I'm glad to see that little piker got the stone.

He had a good gig while it lasted.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

37. He was so obvious though

I can't believe he lasted so long.

[Mass_Liberal]

29. thank you

I didn't doubt for a moment that you were telling the truth. I just wanted to see for meself.

[Mass_Liberal]

32. I'm a bit conflicted on that post

in terms of opinions on civil rights, having an opinion on the right wing-side, is in itself offensive to those whose rights are in question. It's offensive to all who disagree as a matter of fact. I believe in the 1st amendment, and that guy seemed to be seeking reasoning for a position.

But on the other hand I certainly understand why you were offended. After all, it is your rights the guy is against confirming.


Peace,


Dave.

[DrWeird]

38. Did you read the whole thing?

" that guy seemed to be seeking reasoning for a position. "

Hardly. He came in with the preconcieved notion that gays are inferior and shouldn't be allowed to marry, and he got some 200 reasons why they should. All of which he ignored, literally saying that nobody had responded to him, and kept up the ridiculous arguments about how homosexuals are like childmolestors and if you legalize gay marriage you'll also be legalizing child molestation.

[Mass_Liberal]

45. look I'm 100% pro-gay marriage

the point is. Are you, as someone who is also pro-gay marriage, able to think of a way someone could ask for a justification for being pro-gay marriage without you and me being offended?


I think no matter what the guy wrote, I and perhaps you, would be offended by reading into tone on his anti-gay marriage stance.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

40. I'm a married hetero female

I don't think you have to be gay to understand "civil rights" and basic human decency.

[Mass_Liberal]

41. Neither do I

I never said that.

[Heyo]

5. I haven't seen one either..

No offense to anyone... and maybe because I'm not gay I'm not in tune to it so it's going over my head...

[Dookus]

6. well...

in the last two days, I've seen two different people refer to us as "homos".

Is that enough for you?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Well, one of them is tombstoned and the other is just ignorant

so hopefully she learned her lesson...

[foreigncorrespondent]

23. The other...

...plays ignorant, but she isn't. Anyone who can say something nasty and then five seconds later edit out the nasty comment to appease a mod warning isn't ignorant on what they are doing.

[Mass_Liberal]

11. really?

I'm shocked! I hope they were banned, as that is a clear violation of the rules.

[DrWeird]

22. One was.

The other kissed a bunch of ass and tried to pass it off like it didn't really happen.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

42. And it's not the first time she's been offensive either

but then again, I don't believe she means harm. I think she's young and clueless.

[DrWeird]

44. I disagree. Nobody's that dumb.

He? or she is just playing dumb.

[Maeve]

28. One reason you don't see such posts

Is that we remove them--the very worst are deleted, even after the person is banned, btw.

Yes, it does take us some time to ban some people. Yes, we miss some. That is why we ask folks to please, PLEASE send an alert when there is a bad post.

Alerted posts are examined and action is taken when appropriate. Please understand that we don't always agree what action is appropriate and the mods are bound by the rules, too. Sometimes it takes awhile--sometimes it's almost instantaneous. It depends on a lot of factors. But we do appreciate everyone's help in keeping DU a better place for everyone.

Fading back into the shadows...

[Dookus]

30. thank you Maeve

I hope you didn't think we were blaming the mods for any of this. I certainly don't. I know from experience how hard your job is.

[tom_paine]

20. LET'S SETTLE THIS: Please provide links to examples

Everything on this board not deleted by mods remains.

Can we straight folk see some examples? I am not disputing that possibly, because we aren't gay, we easily avoided said comments.

Ok, sure, very possible. But I have been on DU for 3 years now and can't remember a single direct attack on homsexuals.

Show me, then.

[Duncan Grant]

31. I used to bookmark threads with homophobic remarks...

I may still have something. I'll take a look...

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. dude we get moderator warning

when we call people homophobic....

[DrWeird]

34. Here's another.

A poster (2?) recently banned. Of the "just because I think homosexuals are perverts doesn't mean I'm a bigot; you antichristians!" variety.

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1157570#1160475>

As you can see, it can be very distressful for homosexuals and their supporters to read this kind of stuff on DU, given current events.

[Mass_Liberal]

36. that's some bad shit

ewwww. :puke:

[DrWeird]

39. That's the blatant homophobia.

The subtle shit is harder to combat.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scottie72]

46. Yep you got one there

I think my jaw is still on the floor over that one.

[foreigncorrespondent]

43. If I had the time...

...I would go ans search through the old DU to show you things that have been said for the time that I have been here.

But nevertheless, this is from the new DU. Through threads I have bookmarked to threads I have posted in recently.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1122451

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=986705

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=777758

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=770903

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=731879

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=225165

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=644574

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=381717

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=376738

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=376738

And there are lots more, but I am running out of time and need to run an errand.

[DrWeird]

47. This one's a classic.

"I've never met anyone, liberal or not
who didn't express utter disgust at the idea of gay marriage.
This includes people I know who are otherwise open-minded and liberal on most every other issue.
Some form of gay rights such as a civil union of some sort would be more acceptable. But for 99% of the people out there the very idea of gay marriage is just repulsive with capitial R. The gay marrige issue would severely cripple any democratic candidate's to beat Bush if they support it. Let's not go down that road.
There are people dying in Iraq and people losing their jobs here at home. These are much more pressing issues then whether a gay person should be allowed to marry. I'm not homophobic, but I feel that gays ought to think about the well-being of others much less fortunate than themselves."


You know what, if you're the kind of person who says:

"I'm not homophobic, I have any gay friends, but..."

"I'm not racist, I have many black friends, but..."

"i'm not a prude, but what Janet Jackson did..."

"Those people..."

"You people..."

Just shut the fuck up you homophobic, racist, prude.

Btw, what is it with freepers named after cartoon characters?

[Moderator]

48. Locking

Before anything more untoward is posted, such as calling out of DUers not participating in this thread.

It is hoped that the original question has been answered.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation

DU Moderators