GayLiberals.com Guidelines for Participation
Please read this guide to conduct. As a registered Member of GayLiberals.com, there are expectations which will enhance your experience in our Forum. These responsibilities are set forth here to encourage constructive discourse, to foster continued interaction, and to preserve the dignity and respect of all who join. It is an Honor System, binding all participants to common sense, courtesy, and—above all else—a commitment to the free exchange of ideas.
Rules for every conceivable circumstance cannot be formulated. These guidelines are intended to provide you, our Member, with a reference for behavior when choices may seem unclear. They are for your security, your peace of mind, and the protection of same for all others who abide by them. Rather than limit your ability to express yourself, they have been designed to foster continued communication, even when all parties do not agree.
GayLiberals.com is operated in the United States and welcomes individuals of any Party affiliation. We expect and desire the participation of people beyond our own borders, to whom such political distinctions may be irrelevant. As should be understood by our Domain name and our Credo, we are primarily a community of Liberal, i.e. Leftist thinkers, dreamers, activists, pragmatists, and many things among those aspects of personal identity. Please keep this political inclination in mind during your time with us.
We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. In doing so, Members should expect to encounter points of view with which they may not agree, individually or collectively. Debate is encouraged and is a central tenet of our presence on the Internet. It is not the possibility of dissent which diminishes a Community, but the intentional infliction of harm by deliberately contrary behavior, personal attack, or otherwise destructive influence. Some of those negative possibilities are presented among the particulars below, but our guidelines are not intended to replace good judgement and personal responsibility.
We ask that you consider your responses to any disagreement which might emerge during the pursuit and preservation of free speech, and we politely request that you remember--at all times--that you are dealing with real people, with real feelings, who have also elected to share your company.
Whenever an uncertainty arises regarding interpretation of what does or does not constitute an infraction of these expectations, this Forum is Moderated and Administered. Moderators and Administrators reserve the right to render final judgement in all cases, but it is not their responsibility to settle all arguments, resolve petty differences, or restore a peace repeatedly corrupted by one individual. When in doubt, measures will be taken to provide a satisfactory end for the greater good of the site.
Good faith attempts to negotiate with an unhappy Member will always be a priority, but flagrant and deliberate violation of our guidelines can result in a number of punitive actions, up to and including being permanently banned from GayLiberals.com. These actions are unpleasant for all involved but are unfortunately necessary. They will be outlined where appropriate.
WORDS
Exclusionary, persecutory, or abusive language, addressed to an individual Member or group of Members, is not allowed. This may include prejudice of varying forms. Racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and heterosexism/homophobia are among the more obvious examples of bigotry. Unambiguous expressions of bigotry will be swiftly and harshly accosted. The offending post will be deleted and the Member may receive written warning, or be banned. It really depends on how out-of-the-blue nasty the comment was. We will, however, presume that most Members are not thin-skinned, histrionic, or hyper-reactionary.
Ambiguous expressions of prejudice are often difficult to determine without context or familiarity with the Member’s beliefs and style of speaking/writing. GayLiberals is about growth and learning, and it needs to be understood that some people start learning at different points. Their presence here implies an interest in sharing and expanding their awareness, but patterns counterproductive to that aim are fairly easy to spot. Where the benefit of the doubt cannot be given, or the Member shows no remorse in having offended another Member or the Community, that Member will be warned and eventually banned if incidents persist.
When discussing race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, physical ability, physical appearance, faith or sharply divergent political opinion, please exercise an appropriate level of sensitivity to others unlike yourself. If you understand that a perspective or belief you maintain may upset others, you are expected to take extra care to clearly express your point of view. An Honor System implies not only that you are on your honor to conduct yourself respectfully, but that you also honor the beliefs, lifestyles, and abilities of others here.
Do not post duplicate topics. It would be wise to check among other threads to see if they already discuss what you were planning to mention. Please honor the categorizations which exist at the time of your posting. We will listen to opinions about new categories, but we are not obligated to create them. That aspect of GayLiberals is unfortunately, and by necessity, not very democratic. Also, please do not post messages that consist entirely of CAPITAL LETTERS, since this reads as “screaming” or intense emotion. Other stylistic concerns should fall within your better judgement.
Whenever possible, please stay on the topic defined by each thread or category. You should not jump into an unrelated issue or manipulate conversation to introduce a pet issue of your own. Sometimes, discussions will follow brief tangents or digress as part of natural, human conversation, but our Moderators will encourage people to get back on track. Please do not take these efforts as a statement against your input at the time.
ACTIONS
Do not post personal attacks or engage in name-calling against other Members of this discussion board. If you are going to disagree with someone, restrict yourself to the content of their message and do not assail their character for having presented it. For example, you may say “Your facts are wrong,” not “You are an idiot.” It is usually advisable to also provide supporting evidence for your argument, rather than to merely impugn the facts of another.
Please note that, strictly speaking, generalized statements about groups of fellow Members are not considered personal attacks. However, the tone and content of your post will be taken into account when deciding if an apparent violation was intended to skirt the spirit of our laws while superficially obeying their letter. You may be asked to clarify yourself and should be glad to comply. Sometimes a simple misunderstanding can be easily rectified and discussion can continue.
There is also a difference between forceful advocacy for a particular issue (which is allowed) and unalloyed fanaticism. With new people, in new situations, and while discussing multiple, divergent views, it is sometimes difficult to ascertain this difference. As with most other contextual considerations, time will often tell which is which.
The Administrators and Moderators of GayLiberals will not typically delete threads which the majority of our Membership may consider to be inciting. However, we are charged with the monitoring of threads which occasionally become too inclined to empty rhetoric and arbitrarily inflammatory speech. Where it is decided that threads of this nature can no longer lead to productive discourse, they will either be pruned or deleted. If you know you are innocent of any wrong-doing or wanton cruelty, please do not take offense if your posts are removed in this fashion.
YOUR FELLOW MEMBERS
It is not necessary to publicly accuse another Member of being a disruptive force on GayLiberals. We have established a Private Messaging email system for communication with Moderators, Administrators, and each other. If you cannot adequately resolve your concerns directly with the individual, please advise a Moderator. The names of your Moderator(s) will be available in every thread.
Do not “stalk” another Member from one discussion thread to another. The reasons why this is counter-productive should be self-evident, but some people need additional incentive not to hound, pursue, or harass other Members for what they may have said in one single thread. Similarly, it is inadvisable to badmouth another Member or engage in character assassination of that Member within a thread in which he or she is not participating. Starting a new thread--if you are permitted to do so--for the sole purpose of antagonizing another Member, will not be allowed.
Do not post personal information about any other Member, ever, without his or her written
permission. It is unwise to do so under any circumstances. As was mentioned above, email addresses, physical location--and nearly anything you write or post—can be viewed and misused by non-Members, guests, and even completely unknown entities. GayLiberals does not have the technological capacity to track and prevent this. Sick people will do stupid things, so be circumspect when it comes to avoiding being victimized. As the Administrators and Moderators of this website, we will do whatever is within our powers to preserve your security, but we can only do so much if you work against that end. We do not ever sell or share the registration data of our Members.
Likewise, do not post the personal information of anyone else not directly involved with GayLiberals. This is not TheSmokingGun, TheDrudgeReport, or another site devoted to muckraking and personal attack. If your information is not a matter of public record, you should be prepared to either defend your legitimate right to produce it or expect to have it deleted from this website.
Do not ever impersonate another Member, an Administrator, or a Moderator. You are advised not to represent or reinterpret another Member even if he or she has given you permission. It’s just not a good idea. Malicious violation of this rule will result in immediate termination of your account without warning. Another violation producing the same punitive response is “spamming” the Forum. The use of webstrippers, ‘bots, and offline browsers is not permitted.
THE LEGAL STUFF
GayLiberals is bound by the laws of the State where it is domiciled, and shall further abide by the Federal laws of the United States of America. As a complete reproduction of these laws is impossible, you are expected to know and understand the legal system in place where you reside. Below are a few of the concerns which should be addressed to encourage the responsible operation of a website participating in the exercise of free speech. They may be superceded by the Municipal, State, or Federal laws in effect where you live and/or work. GayLiberals assumes no responsibility for your personal violation of these laws as they may apply.
Copyright infringement will not be tolerated. Do not plagiarize or reprint entire articles at GayLiberals. If you require a definition of “plagiarism,” please consult a dictionary or a lawyer. When in doubt, don’t do it. Please cite your resources whenever possible, and restrict your post to either a link or a few credited paragraphs. The Administrators and Moderators of GayLiberals cannot possibly police each post and compare it to every online periodical in existence. The same conditions apply to linked images, so be cautious that what you might post can be defended as either original or originating from the public domain. In good faith, we will accept reports of plagiarism and deal with them accordingly.
Due to the sensitive nature of current military actions engaged by the United States and/or any other sovereign nation, do not post unpublished, restricted, or otherwise classified information about troop movements, military maneuvers, or any information which might compromise the national security of this or any other country. Surreptitious attempts to do so will be reported to the appropriate authorities. GayLiberals will not be party to this or any other illegal activity.
Within reason, do not post messages that advocate harm or death to anyone. While this is especially significant in relation to other Members, it may also extend to persons of public note, being politicians, celebrities, or other individuals of common renown. Do not post plans or sentiments which advance violent overthrow of this or any other government, or which suggest or imply harm to our President. If the content of your post cannot clearly be determined to have been intended as humor, which is sometimes the intent of such posts, don’t publish it. GayLiberals can be openly scanned by any metasearch engine (Google, AltaVista, DogPile, et al.) and likewise by any US government agency.
You are similarly advised not to plan or discuss criminal intent or activity of any kind. Again, the rationale for this expectation should be self-evident, but if you can’t understand why, you will probably have a few years in jail to mull it over. We apologize in advance for being compelled to turn you in. It’s not a judgement of your lifestyle.
GayLiberals is self-supporting as a personal labor of love and not as an instrument of advertising. There are not now, and it is unlikely that there will ever be, ads of any kind on this website. Do not use our message board for personal fundraising, for-profit corporations or events, or the announcement of products and services. We will occasionally make exceptions when the product, cause, or event contributes charitably to Democratic or similar political functions. This will need to be addressed beforehand and should be privately negotiated. Please contact a Moderator if you believe you have or do something GayLiberals should back, support, or advocate. GayLiberals will never presume the total agreement of its constituency without the prior advisement of its Members.
The elephant in every bastion of free speech is obscenity. GayLiberals, its Administrators, and Moderators do not wish to be forced to define it. Please refer to above guidance on the matters of plagiarism and local law enforcement, i.e. when in doubt, don’t. Do not post graphic images of violence, criminal activity, or similar visual demonstrations of human depravity, cruelty, and general lack of mental hygiene. If you have a legitimate, political or intellectual purpose for posting an image you know to be graphic, please provide a clear warning in the subject line of your thread or at the beginning of your post.
Do not post sexually explicit messages or images. Exercise extreme caution in the discussion of specific sexual acts, fantasies, equipment, and experience. Though we cannot qualify what, for you, is an “appropriate” level of maturity and sensitivity in regard to human sexuality, we reiterate that this is GayLiberals.com, which should necessarily imply that its Members are either Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. More than a modicum of tolerance, toward these lifestyles and states of being, is expected. GayLiberals is operated by gay people, for gay people, but it would be short-sighted to exclude all others.
As an unfortunate corollary to this expectation about the publication of sexual material, be forewarned that we cannot guarantee the prohibition of minor participants. Though most parental restriction software will ignorantly block any URL with the word “gay” in it, we cannot prevent the presence of individuals beneath the age of majority wherever you may reside. The solicitation of minors for sexual activity, knowledgeably contributing to the corruption of a minor, and deliberate use of offensive slang or language in an attempt to frighten or upset a known minor participant is punishable by immediate termination, without warning and with the advisement of the appropriate authorities in your jurisdiction.
And finally, your Moderators are all volunteers who want this Community to work. They are people who want to care about you and what you have to say. Communicate your concerns to them and we will all do that we can to improve your experience at GayLiberals. To show them respect and to honor the service they perform for you, please do not reprint their private messages to you unless specifically permitted to do so. If you have a personal concern with one of our Moderators, your next course of redress is an Administrator. Presently billy@gayliberals.com is responsible for this function. Please follow the chain of command as need be.
GayLiberals, its Administrators and Moderators reserve the right to enforce, amend, append, or nullify these guidelines as causes or requirements demand. These rules apply to all Boards, the use of Chat, Private Messaging, Signatures, Profiles, and all correspondence which may result of your Membership at GayLiberals (i.e., don’t take advantage of outside mail services or instant messaging programs either). Though we cannot anticipate all circumstances which might compel the addition of further specifications and restrictions, we shall do so as needs arise and for the mutual benefit of all.
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