KGS homophobia?

[Javaness]

That might make sense if there are too many problems there. My interest was sparked during a recent conversation in a bar with a lot of alcohol, so I missed out on a lot of the background story... Such a shame that it's necessary though.

It would be nice if it was not necessary

[deja]

What's disheartening is the targeted harassment of this room to the point of effectively shutting it down. My impulse in such circumstances is to stand up to these bullies and make it clear that intimidation and disruption doesn't work. Yes, it's a pain in the ass [really? the word a$$ is censored?] to maintain a presence under these circumstances but sometimes doing the right thing is not pleasant or convenient but necessary.

The nice thing about KGS rooms is that you're not required to join them. If a particular room bothers you for whatever reason, move on the next one. If you can't live with the fact that others are different from you, try your luck with another server – you won't be missed.

[Javaness]

what targetted harassment...?

[deja]

what targetted harassment...?

A while ago a user hijacked the room and locked everyone out of it, which probably contributed to the lack of games being played in it.

[cgbspender]

I, as the owner of the late Rainbow Room, will clarify some points.

The Rainbow Room was indeed private, but not to segregate ourselves, like you seem to think, but for the reasons below. Here are the points I want to explain.

1) Prevent kids from entering as well as the homophobiacs so that we can discuss freely (Note : the room was not attended exclusively by gay players, also open-minded players could join, and many of them did join)
2) Even though it's true that we kinda had a hard time to create the room, please don't put the blame on KGS administration. As a matter of fact, some of the admins supported us in spite of the tollé it had provoked at that time.
3) Talking about segregation is offending. Please taste what it takes to be gay once. Get laughed at, assaulted or insulted, or whatever, and then we will see how you guys react. From my point of view, locking the door of the room was just self-protection.

--
Matthieu aka Cgbspender.

[usagi]

OK. So I like KGS. But I recently heard about something quite off-putting. Apparently, the admins barred the LGBT room from being public (it must be password-protected); also, it cannot even be called that way, it has to have a silly name like "Rainbow Friends". Right now, the room seems to have died because of too few games played. Yet, I wonder who felt the need for this strange policy, when virtually any other random social room is allowed...

I don't run around telling people I screw chicks because, well, it's just antisocial...

[Peter Hansmeier]

No thinking person would ever consider KGS homophobic. Enough said.

[tchan001]

Maybe it's considered sexism in that it discriminates against heterosexuals and therefore is against the KGS TOS.

[Joaz Banbeck]

I'm all for equality. If KGS is going to have rooms for particular sexual preference, perhaps there should be a bondage room, and one for plushies, and another for swingers...etc. If you say no, then what makes your particular preference so privileged?

[kirkmc]

I'm all for equality. If KGS is going to have rooms for particular sexual preference, perhaps there should be a bondage room, and one for plushies, and another for swingers...etc. If you say no, then what makes your particular preference so privileged?

And, frankly, it's a go server; I don't see why anyone cares how its members have sex.

[hyperpape]

To everyone on their high horse: I sometimes chat with players on KGS. Is it improper advertising if they mention their girlfriends, and in response, I mention my wife?

There's a lot of idle homophobic chatter from teenage boys on KGS, in addition to the "OMG, A PIX OF A GRIL!" whenever bigbadwolf plays. The moderators are pretty good at policing that kind of thing, in my experience, but I can't imagine it makes gay and lesbian go players feel especially welcome and comfortable.

That shared experience is one reason why a room seems like a fine idea.

Another is the simple desire to be around people with whom you have some commonality.

If you doubt either of those reasons, I think you may be letting a sense of oversimplified principle get in the way of sympathy.

(edits to make one sentence come out less harsh sounding)

[Kirby]

...

There's a lot of idle homophobic chatter from teenage boys on KGS, in addition to the "OMG, A PIX OF A GRIL!" whenever bigbadwolf plays. The moderators are pretty good at policing that kind of thing, in my experience, but I can't imagine it makes gay and lesbian go players feel especially welcome and comfortable.

...

I'm not exactly sure why gay and lesbian players would feel uncomfortable in this situation, especially if the person was booted by an admin. Could you elaborate?

[Chew Terr]

...

There's a lot of idle homophobic chatter from teenage boys on KGS, in addition to the "OMG, A PIX OF A GRIL!" whenever bigbadwolf plays. The moderators are pretty good at policing that kind of thing, in my experience, but I can't imagine it makes gay and lesbian go players feel especially welcome and comfortable.

...

I'm not exactly sure why gay and lesbian players would feel uncomfortable in this situation, especially if the person was booted by an admin. Could you elaborate?

It's similar to how girls may prefer to use gender-neutral usernames. If they were to proclaim their gender or idly mention things that imply it, they might get unwelcome attention, whether it's the positive puppy-dog approval-seeker, the rude 12-year old, or the full-on misogynist. If girl gamers wanted their own room, I would support it for the same reason. Any group that has to guard their casual conversation (If you can't refer to your boyfriend/partner/etc) then perhaps it is only reasonable to offer a place for them to talk freely. Waiting for moderators to police every instance still means people's feelings get hurt, especially since new (potentially prejudiced) members join KGS daily.

[hyperpape]

ChewTerr is right on that it's someone might have a sense of having to be guarded. I was just generally thinking of feeling out of place.

But yeah, if moderation is good, that ought to help.

[deja]

One of the most idiotic notions about homosexuality that has unfortunately persisted even into the 21st century is that being gay or lesbian is simply or primarily about sex. So in celebration of such ignorance, I would like to make the following proposal:

Any talk about one's relationship with another human being, in whatever capacity that be – student/teacher, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, father/daughter, mother/son and so on, should be considered a TOS violation here on L19. Why? Well, you just never know, such a relationship might involve sexual relations and that stuff should be kept to ourselves and not advertised. It has nothing to do with go, and more importantly we wouldn't want to corrupt the kiddies and violate "family values," and…

Oops, that would constitute a TOS violation under my proposal, wouldn't it. Families are relational and since there are gay and lesbian families, well, we all know where that leads.

Is the above sufficient to get this thread locked? Or is it just offensive talk about homosexuals that's allowed?