PD/SD Appreciation Thread

[AtlasOLimbo]

Typically when I post on the forums, especially about LEOs it's to bitch about this or that but I finally come with an appreciative thread. I just wanted to thank PD and SD command both for not putting up with the bigots that have managed to squirrel their way into every corner of this community and believe that that their tenure somehow makes them immune. I haven't seen discharges/denials en masse regarding this topic in likely ever. I don't know if it was much more secretive before or these command members finally decided that enough was enough.

Either way, I personally appreciate what is being done by these members of the community to try and keep it as inclusive and welcoming as possible.

 

I'm sure people can find this and other reasons to appreciate what LEOs do, feel free to post.

 

note; please don't bring your bigotry in this thread. no one cares

[Phantas]

feels like this post is just a hidden way to insult others while veiled as an appreciation post ? which kinda takes away from the pd/sd appreciation aspect?

Also shoutout @Chrisy Fegan holding it down up north. 

[Shwy]

I hate SD!

[AnakinB]

i dont

[Rexisgoat]

@Paynwhat you think about this post matey? because me personally would never be caught doing this

[Bala]

It's a bit of a contentious issue because I think there is a fine line between being openly supportive and starting to force other people to support something they might not believe in. I think for some, they have as much issue with feeling like they are forced to accept something as they do with the actual thing they are accepting and to an extent, I can appreciate that.

To me, everyone is entitled to think and feel a certain way about any topic for any particular reason. We've been blessed with independent thought for a reason, right?

There are some religions that do not recognise these lifestyles or actively believe they are wrong. We have players from all around the world, some living in areas that have very limited exposure to people of colour or trans people or gay people or in a nutshell, people that don't look like them or are into the same things as them. It's some what natural for humans to be distrusting of, resistant to or even hostile towards people they don't understand. It shouldn't be that way but we're somewhat hard-wired to be "tribal" and have to fight that, socially, to be more welcoming and accepting as a people.

I don't get the vibe from some of these individuals that they are hateful, just ignorant and/or close-minded but to someone that these prejudices affect directly, they are one and the same.

Ultimately, you have the right to free speech but I think sometimes people think that's freedom to say anything without repercussions. Think and feel what you want but when you put them thoughts and feelings out there, there are consequences that come with it.

I think it's a difficult one for the community because ideally, I think it's best to be supportive but also, you have to stay somewhat neutral because if you go too far in your support of something you declare a position on it and in doing so, you might alienate a part of your community by doing that so it's important to get the balance right.

When someone is blatantly disrespectful and/or abusive though, there is no excuse, you cannot let that behaviour stand.

[AtlasOLimbo]

4 hours ago, Payn said:

there is evidence i shall not release that this is a false statement. But fair game i guess rules are the rules. 

What did he mean by this

[Bala]

17 minutes ago, AtlasOLimbo said:

What did he mean by this

I'd like to know too lmao

[Melody Frey]

On 6/20/2023 at 12:42 PM, Bala said:

I don't get the vibe from some of these individuals that they are hateful, just ignorant and/or close-minded but to someone that these prejudices affect directly, they are one and the same.

Can confirm that they are one and the same.

Also I 100% agree that freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences.

+1 to the thread, +1 to Bala being a gigachad as usual.

[Payn]

On 6/21/2023 at 5:12 AM, Bala said:

I'd like to know too lmao

this whole thing confused me to much 

[TheOwl]

Freedom of speech means having the ability to express yourself and your opinions without consequence.

 

It's precisely what's allowed people to fight ignorant viewpoints that have persisted as social norms for decades. Without it, you wouldn't have progressive movements like the LGBTQ.

Saying that freedom of speech isn't freedom from consequence is a fallacy that even you don't believe in. You only believe it in this particular circumstance because it suits punishing those who disagree with you.

 

Imagine having a religious employer that fires you because you're gay and although you have a right to be gay and openly support your lifestyle, this employer would still have the right to fire you because your "beliefs" aren't free from consequences.

 

 

[Cyrus Raven]

Not really in the know on recent events surrounding this.

However, I just want to say that expressing a view point that disagrees with the status quo should not be met with punishment unless this view point is hateful or insulting in nature. In essence, there's a stark difference between calling people slurs, posting hateful messages and being genuinely hateful to a group of people versus expressing an opinion.

To give a more concrete example. There's a difference between John from Texas saying he believes in traditional family values VS John calling all gay people the f-word.

All of this to say that, in my view, the best way to persuade an individual who might not understand or be around these topics is to fight them with arguments and not with cancellations or bans. I'll leave this video here from Sir Rowan Atkinson on the matter of freedom of speech, all the while recognizing that Eclipse (and the factions within) is it's own private community and as such has no obligation to provide people who are hateful with a platform to spread their hate.

 

[ComradeCorbyn]

I find the constant comments about "Freedom of Speech" to be quite misguided. No one will argue that anyone can say almost anything within reason about their opinions on the LGBT movement, but the second someone faces consequences for their speech, freedom of speech is being violated? Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?

Freedom of speech is universal, if you think that your rights are being infringed upon because of removal or denial from a faction, you have a very warped view of what freedom of speech means. As the person in charge of SD's recruitment, I have, with the support of my command, a responsibility to maintain the faction as a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all members. I have no interest in people with certain warped viewpoints of gay rights joining the faction and feeling uncomfortable with our progressive attitude on the situation, and furthermore would not want to see these individuals making our faction members uncomfortable.

Individuals and players in this community are free to hold whichever viewpoints they feel proper, and furthermore express those viewpoints with those speech, I think this is undeniable. What is also undeniable, though, is that as an independent faction, we have the right (and responsibility in my view) to restrict our private faction to only those we see fit. Just as you would see a consequence for not meeting other fitness requirements such as being OOCly toxic on forums or discord, an accepting and tolerant view is also a requirement for admission to our faction.

[Cyrus Raven]

26 minutes ago, ComradeCorbyn said:

I find the constant comments about "Freedom of Speech" to be quite misguided. No one will argue that anyone can say almost anything within reason about their opinions on the LGBT movement, but the second someone faces consequences for their speech, freedom of speech is being violated? Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?

Freedom of speech is universal, if you think that your rights are being infringed upon because of removal or denial from a faction, you have a very warped view of what freedom of speech means. As the person in charge of SD's recruitment, I have, with the support of my command, a responsibility to maintain the faction as a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all members. I have no interest in people with certain warped viewpoints of gay rights joining the faction and feeling uncomfortable with our progressive attitude on the situation, and furthermore would not want to see these individuals making our faction members uncomfortable.

Individuals and players in this community are free to hold whichever viewpoints they feel proper, and furthermore express those viewpoints with those speech, I think this is undeniable. What is also undeniable, though, is that as an independent faction, we have the right (and responsibility in my view) to restrict our private faction to only those we see fit. Just as you would see a consequence for not meeting other fitness requirements such as being OOCly toxic on forums or discord, an accepting and tolerant view is also a requirement for admission to our faction.

No clue if this is directed at my reply.

''Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?'' - This question is impossible to answer without further context, I assume you typed it thinking most people would answer ''No, I would not take an issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech''.

However, I can equally provide you with a hypothetical where my answer to this question would easily be ''Yes'':

A Saudi Arabian company with a hybrid workforce has received a complaint from their workers. The company workforce is comprised of 90% Saudi workers with the remaining 10% being remote workers from around the world. The complaint is from the Saudi portion of the workforce who have expressed their discomfort with a colleague who is openly expressing their support for the LGBTQ+ community via the company's various digital platforms that allow things such as profile pictures. The reported colleague was let go shortly after the report.

In this instance, yes, I would have an issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech.

All of this to say that it's great this community is progressive, I am progressive myself and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, those of you closest to me will know this. Having said this, I want to make sure that if someone gets ejected from parts of this community for their views it's for truly hateful reasons and not for just having a different view. (e.g John from Texas supporting traditional family values that I mentioned earlier)

Keep in mind as I stated in my first comment, I do not know the specifics surrounding any recent events, so do not take my views on the matter as a comment on them.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Cyrus Raven

[ComradeCorbyn]

1 hour ago, Cyrus Raven said:

No clue if this is directed at my reply.

''Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?'' - This question is impossible to answer without further context, I assume you typed it thinking most people would answer ''No, I would not take an issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech''.

However, I can equally provide you with a hypothetical where my answer to this question would easily be ''Yes'':

A Saudi Arabian company with a hybrid workforce has received a complaint from their workers. The company workforce is comprised of 90% Saudi workers with the remaining 10% being remote workers from around the world. The complaint is from the Saudi portion of the workforce who have expressed their discomfort with a colleague who is openly expressing their support for the LGBTQ+ community via the company's various digital platforms that allow things such as profile pictures. The reported colleague was let go shortly after the report.

In this instance, yes, I would have an issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech.

All of this to say that it's great this community is progressive, I am progressive myself and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, those of you closest to me will know this. Having said this, I want to make sure that if someone gets ejected from parts of this community for their views it's for truly hateful reasons and not for just having a different view. (e.g John from Texas supporting traditional family values that I mentioned earlier)

Keep in mind as I stated in my first comment, I do not know the specifics surrounding any recent events, so do not take my views on the matter as a comment on them.

For clarity, I was not referring to your comment. I am aware of plenty of "John from Texas" in our faction, and they are generally quite accommodating and tolerant, I can assure you that our faction only denies and removes truly intolerant individuals.

[Bala]

End of the day, we're in a privately owned gaming community. The rules can be as arbitrary as those in positions of responsibility choose to make them. They can decide that any speech against LGBTQ+ is unacceptable and bannable or they could go the other way and say that you can say whatever you like. You could in theory be banned for anything or not be banned for anything.

For me, I don't want to force something on someone. Whether that's acceptance of someone that isn't ready to accept OR making people in these communities feel like they have to hide who they are. It's a balancing act.

The simple fact is that western society is moving in a direction where LGBTQ+ is being integrated more into our society. Regardless of your own personal beliefs, that is the reality.

Reality is, in the western world, LGBTQ+ lifestyles are being integrated more into our society and while online gaming is often the worst parts of our society, the acceptance and integration of those communities is reflected our own community with more and more people coming out homosexual or transsexual for example. I think regardless of whether or not you personally feel it is acceptable, this is happening and it's not something that is going to stop.

I'll share with you a personal story. I'm now well into my thirties and I grew up believing all the stereotypes about gay people that you can think of. I openly used the f slur and I believed that being gay made you less of a man and that it was disgusting and all the things you can think of. In fact, growing up, to my knowledge all my family was white and straight. All my friends were white and straight, with a couple of Muslim mates. In terms of other cultures and lifestyles, I was really fucking ignorant.

I got into RP servers in 2007 and for the first few years, I kept to what I had believed growing up. I found it difficult to start friendships with people of colour and the odd time someone came out as gay, I'm ashamed to admit I ridiculed them for it. Like, the shit that gets people banned from here now, I said it and I did it.

I got to about 2013 and a friend of mine came out to me that he was gay. Bare in mind, my friend was a "man's man". Police Officer in the NYPD and the polar opposite of what I'd always thought a gay man was. Then a little while later, one of my best friends came out as gay and at that point, it actually fucking clicked. Being gay didn't make you less of a man or make you a bad person, in fact, aside from what physical characteristics a person was attracted to, it made absolutely no difference.

I was still ignorant and confused about transsexuality when I came to Eclipse in 2019. I was more open-minded but I didn't know shit about shit and had never met a trans person in my life. If you said trans to me, I thought of Bangkok lady boys or blokes with beards in dresses. It's so stupid but when you don't have the life experience, your brain tries to fill the gaps from whatever scraps of information you have. But through actually getting to know people who are trans, again, it became obvious that it didn't make a bit of difference whether they were trans or not. A good person is a good person and a shitty one is a shitty one. They're not exclusive to genders or races etc.

I went from not knowing shit about shit to having some members of the LGBTQ+ community be some of my best and longest friends. The reason why that was able to happen though was because I gave people a chance that I hadn't given a chance before. 

I'm not saying that you must do that but ask yourself, honestly, what is the worst that could happen? I'm actually real glad I did it. 

Edited June 23, 2023 by Bala

[TheOwl]

I get the impression you may think I was attacking you or your facton Corbyn. I apologize if that is the case. If anyone was throwing around bigoted remarks then they deserve what they got. I have absolutely no idea what the specifics were involving any individuals let go from SD. I was just speaking in general about what free speech is. 

With that being said....

4 hours ago, ComradeCorbyn said:

Freedom of speech is universal, if you think that your rights are being infringed upon because of removal or denial from a faction, you have a very warped view of what freedom of speech means. As the person in charge of SD's recruitment, I have, with the support of my command, a responsibility to maintain the faction as a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all members. I have no interest in people with certain warped viewpoints of gay rights joining the faction and feeling uncomfortable with our progressive attitude on the situation, and furthermore would not want to see these individuals making our faction members uncomfortable.

Individuals and players in this community are free to hold whichever viewpoints they feel proper, and furthermore express those viewpoints with those speech, I think this is undeniable. What is also undeniable, though, is that as an independent faction, we have the right (and responsibility in my view) to restrict our private faction to only those we see fit. Just as you would see a consequence for not meeting other fitness requirements such as being OOCly toxic on forums or discord, an accepting and tolerant view is also a requirement for admission to our faction.

Every sentence you wrote in the above paragraphs immediately contradicts itself within the next.

By and large there seems to be a growing intolerance for opinions that deviate from progressive ones. A large problem is this idea that freedom of speech does not come without consequence. As though if someone holds an opinion that isn't progressive it's completely okay to aggravate, belittle and harass that person as a consequence for their beliefs. This type of behaviour goes completely unpunished and in a lot of cases it's encouraged privately.

It's precisely this kind of behaviour that further drives a wedge between progressives and conservatives. Hearts and minds aren't won by shit posting or pretentious sarcasm and if winning the hearts and minds of others isn't their goal then I'm curious to know what their goal is by doing so.
 

Edited June 23, 2023 by TheOwl

[AtlasOLimbo]

1 hour ago, TheOwl said:

I get the impression you may think I was attacking you or your facton Corbyn. I apologize if that is the case. If anyone was throwing around bigoted remarks then they deserve what they got. I have absolutely no idea what the specifics were involving any individuals let go from SD. I was just speaking in general about what free speech is. 

With that being said....

Every sentence you wrote in the above paragraphs immediately contradicts itself within the next.

By and large there seems to be a growing intolerance for opinions that deviate from progressive ones. A large problem is this idea that freedom of speech does not come without consequence. As though if someone holds an opinion that isn't progressive it's completely okay to aggravate, belittle and harass that person as a consequence for their beliefs. This type of behaviour goes completely unpunished and in a lot of cases it's encouraged privately.

It's precisely this kind of behaviour that further drives a wedge between progressives and conservatives. Hearts and minds aren't won by shit posting or pretentious sarcasm and if winning the hearts and minds of others isn't their goal then I'm curious to know what their goal is by doing so.
 

This entire reply is just yikes. Even in the most free speech country, America, freedom of speech is not freedom of consequence. That is a fact. Speech that directly results in violence, actions discriminating against a group and private entities are still allowed to regulate speech however they please. Freedom of speech simply refers to freedom of criminal liability.

I'd like to know exactly what "opinions that are progressive" you're referring to that people are belittled for not sharing.

[Bala]

I mean, you've got those people this actually effects pushing to be considered the same as everyone else, then you've got those that are not part of that community but support that change, then you have probably a bigger portion of people who probably don't care either way and would just rather everyone does what they do and gets the fuck on with it, then you've got what is becoming more of a minority, which are those people who think this is not the way.

I said it previously but I think if you have beliefs that these lifestyles are not right, that's perfectly fine to a certain point. The contents of your own head and how you choose to view things is your own affair and you shouldn't be forced to feel a certain way. But the second you act on those thoughts, whether it's verbally or typing or whatever, you're going to get yourself into something and that is only going to get worse and worse for people doing that.

Belittling people isn't really right but at the same time, some of the bigotry is just so fucking stupid, it's hard to react with anything else. 

[TheOwl]

1 hour ago, Bala said:

Belittling people isn't really right but at the same time, some of the bigotry is just so fucking stupid, it's hard to react with anything else. 

Lol that's fair.

[Shwy]

12 hours ago, ComradeCorbyn said:

I find the constant comments about "Freedom of Speech" to be quite misguided. No one will argue that anyone can say almost anything within reason about their opinions on the LGBT movement, but the second someone faces consequences for their speech, freedom of speech is being violated? Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?

Freedom of speech is universal, if you think that your rights are being infringed upon because of removal or denial from a faction, you have a very warped view of what freedom of speech means. As the person in charge of SD's recruitment, I have, with the support of my command, a responsibility to maintain the faction as a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all members. I have no interest in people with certain warped viewpoints of gay rights joining the faction and feeling uncomfortable with our progressive attitude on the situation, and furthermore would not want to see these individuals making our faction members uncomfortable.

Individuals and players in this community are free to hold whichever viewpoints they feel proper, and furthermore express those viewpoints with those speech, I think this is undeniable. What is also undeniable, though, is that as an independent faction, we have the right (and responsibility in my view) to restrict our private faction to only those we see fit. Just as you would see a consequence for not meeting other fitness requirements such as being OOCly toxic on forums or discord, an accepting and tolerant view is also a requirement for admission to our faction.

Sorry boss but I disagree.

[Payn]

13 hours ago, Bala said:

End of the day, we're in a privately owned gaming community. The rules can be as arbitrary as those in positions of responsibility choose to make them. They can decide that any speech against LGBTQ+ is unacceptable and bannable or they could go the other way and say that you can say whatever you like. You could in theory be banned for anything or not be banned for anything.

For me, I don't want to force something on someone. Whether that's acceptance of someone that isn't ready to accept OR making people in these communities feel like they have to hide who they are. It's a balancing act.

The simple fact is that western society is moving in a direction where LGBTQ+ is being integrated more into our society. Regardless of your own personal beliefs, that is the reality.

Reality is, in the western world, LGBTQ+ lifestyles are being integrated more into our society and while online gaming is often the worst parts of our society, the acceptance and integration of those communities is reflected our own community with more and more people coming out homosexual or transsexual for example. I think regardless of whether or not you personally feel it is acceptable, this is happening and it's not something that is going to stop.

I'll share with you a personal story. I'm now well into my thirties and I grew up believing all the stereotypes about gay people that you can think of. I openly used the f slur and I believed that being gay made you less of a man and that it was disgusting and all the things you can think of. In fact, growing up, to my knowledge all my family was white and straight. All my friends were white and straight, with a couple of Muslim mates. In terms of other cultures and lifestyles, I was really fucking ignorant.

I got into RP servers in 2007 and for the first few years, I kept to what I had believed growing up. I found it difficult to start friendships with people of colour and the odd time someone came out as gay, I'm ashamed to admit I ridiculed them for it. Like, the shit that gets people banned from here now, I said it and I did it.

I got to about 2013 and a friend of mine came out to me that he was gay. Bare in mind, my friend was a "man's man". Police Officer in the NYPD and the polar opposite of what I'd always thought a gay man was. Then a little while later, one of my best friends came out as gay and at that point, it actually fucking clicked. Being gay didn't make you less of a man or make you a bad person, in fact, aside from what physical characteristics a person was attracted to, it made absolutely no difference.

I was still ignorant and confused about transsexuality when I came to Eclipse in 2019. I was more open-minded but I didn't know shit about shit and had never met a trans person in my life. If you said trans to me, I thought of Bangkok lady boys or blokes with beards in dresses. It's so stupid but when you don't have the life experience, your brain tries to fill the gaps from whatever scraps of information you have. But through actually getting to know people who are trans, again, it became obvious that it didn't make a bit of difference whether they were trans or not. A good person is a good person and a shitty one is a shitty one. They're not exclusive to genders or races etc.

I went from not knowing shit about shit to having some members of the LGBTQ+ community be some of my best and longest friends. The reason why that was able to happen though was because I gave people a chance that I hadn't given a chance before. 

I'm not saying that you must do that but ask yourself, honestly, what is the worst that could happen? I'm actually real glad I did it. 

dayum bruh i thought this was just an appreciation post why all the pointless essays being written about this lol

13 hours ago, Bala said:

End of the day, we're in a privately owned gaming community. The rules can be as arbitrary as those in positions of responsibility choose to make them. They can decide that any speech against LGBTQ+ is unacceptable and bannable or they could go the other way and say that you can say whatever you like. You could in theory be banned for anything or not be banned for anything.

For me, I don't want to force something on someone. Whether that's acceptance of someone that isn't ready to accept OR making people in these communities feel like they have to hide who they are. It's a balancing act.

The simple fact is that western society is moving in a direction where LGBTQ+ is being integrated more into our society. Regardless of your own personal beliefs, that is the reality.

Reality is, in the western world, LGBTQ+ lifestyles are being integrated more into our society and while online gaming is often the worst parts of our society, the acceptance and integration of those communities is reflected our own community with more and more people coming out homosexual or transsexual for example. I think regardless of whether or not you personally feel it is acceptable, this is happening and it's not something that is going to stop.

I'll share with you a personal story. I'm now well into my thirties and I grew up believing all the stereotypes about gay people that you can think of. I openly used the f slur and I believed that being gay made you less of a man and that it was disgusting and all the things you can think of. In fact, growing up, to my knowledge all my family was white and straight. All my friends were white and straight, with a couple of Muslim mates. In terms of other cultures and lifestyles, I was really fucking ignorant.

I got into RP servers in 2007 and for the first few years, I kept to what I had believed growing up. I found it difficult to start friendships with people of colour and the odd time someone came out as gay, I'm ashamed to admit I ridiculed them for it. Like, the shit that gets people banned from here now, I said it and I did it.

I got to about 2013 and a friend of mine came out to me that he was gay. Bare in mind, my friend was a "man's man". Police Officer in the NYPD and the polar opposite of what I'd always thought a gay man was. Then a little while later, one of my best friends came out as gay and at that point, it actually fucking clicked. Being gay didn't make you less of a man or make you a bad person, in fact, aside from what physical characteristics a person was attracted to, it made absolutely no difference.

I was still ignorant and confused about transsexuality when I came to Eclipse in 2019. I was more open-minded but I didn't know shit about shit and had never met a trans person in my life. If you said trans to me, I thought of Bangkok lady boys or blokes with beards in dresses. It's so stupid but when you don't have the life experience, your brain tries to fill the gaps from whatever scraps of information you have. But through actually getting to know people who are trans, again, it became obvious that it didn't make a bit of difference whether they were trans or not. A good person is a good person and a shitty one is a shitty one. They're not exclusive to genders or races etc.

I went from not knowing shit about shit to having some members of the LGBTQ+ community be some of my best and longest friends. The reason why that was able to happen though was because I gave people a chance that I hadn't given a chance before. 

I'm not saying that you must do that but ask yourself, honestly, what is the worst that could happen? I'm actually real glad I did it. 

 

16 hours ago, ComradeCorbyn said:

I find the constant comments about "Freedom of Speech" to be quite misguided. No one will argue that anyone can say almost anything within reason about their opinions on the LGBT movement, but the second someone faces consequences for their speech, freedom of speech is being violated? Would you, for example, take issue with someone being laid off from their job due to making their colleagues uncomfortable with their speech?

Freedom of speech is universal, if you think that your rights are being infringed upon because of removal or denial from a faction, you have a very warped view of what freedom of speech means. As the person in charge of SD's recruitment, I have, with the support of my command, a responsibility to maintain the faction as a comfortable and enjoyable environment for all members. I have no interest in people with certain warped viewpoints of gay rights joining the faction and feeling uncomfortable with our progressive attitude on the situation, and furthermore would not want to see these individuals making our faction members uncomfortable.

Individuals and players in this community are free to hold whichever viewpoints they feel proper, and furthermore express those viewpoints with those speech, I think this is undeniable. What is also undeniable, though, is that as an independent faction, we have the right (and responsibility in my view) to restrict our private faction to only those we see fit. Just as you would see a consequence for not meeting other fitness requirements such as being OOCly toxic on forums or discord, an accepting and tolerant view is also a requirement for admission to our faction.

 

[Bala]

Because people like you need to be educated, usually more than once @Payn - usually slowly and without too many big words. 

Happy Pride dawg, I’m gunna wave a flag for you.

[Osborn]

Thank you for the appreciation, we are really trying our best

 

[Harveyyy]

So if an LGBTQ person wants to talk about their beliefs and promote them everywhere, then it's freedom of speech (first amendment right in USA), but if a Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or just a Straight person wants to talk about their beliefs then it's bigoted and shoving their religion/beliefs down people's throats? If an LGBTQ person wants to protest because that seems to be the norm, then that's just "democracy in action", but if a Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or a Straight person wants to voice their opinion that LGBTQ people are heavily demanding through these protests, online posts etc. then it's just straight up homophobia? This is not a double standard, this is just illogical. It becomes irritating when people start to believe they're being forced to accept this, and if they don't, they get labeled as homophobic.

LGBTQ people have been celebrating this for many many years and I had no issues with it until it became forceful - the need for acknowledgment, the need for force celebration, the need for force validation, and that's when you lost people. Look, it's OKAY to be proud of your sexuality, but why do I have to be proud of YOUR sexuality? I don't care if you're gay, I don't care if you're LGBTQ, I don't care if you want to call yourself a Zebra, I don't care if you want to stand on your head, and I could not care less what anybody wants to do in their own private life with their own private time, but I do care when you decide to use the "homophobic card" against people simply for disagreeing with you or for having different beliefs, let alone I have more important things to worry about. If people want to support you, then I'm happy for you, but if they don't, then LEAVE them out of it! Stop demanding attention from everyone and expect everyone to be on board, because that will not happen.

Everybody should have the prerogative to decide what they want to support or not, you cannot sit there and force this on everyone. If you want people to at least show you respect, then you have to respect their beliefs, it's a two-way street! However, if someone goes out there and attacks LGBTQ people and uses slurs etc, then you have the right to call them homophobic, and that's the only time you have the right to call someone that word.

Lastly, If you think I'm homophobic/transphobic/racist, whatever, then shame on you!