Shocked and dismayed with "gay" remarks on this site

[SunsetBengal]

(04-06-2019, 02:27 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: I agree with you Beaker.  This is a great board.  Someone is going to be offended by something.  The ladies on this board could be offended by the "Lady Gaga boobs" conversation in the chat.  It's not going to be perfect for everybody.

Right, no matter how clean we try to keep things around here, someone will always claim that there is an area that we could improve upon.  People also need to keep in mind that this is a social group for sports fans, and not a focus group dedicated to dictating social norms.  Our code of conduct is quite clear on what is and isn't acceptable speech around here.  We do our level best to prevent anyone from being bullied or ridiculed on the basis of any social tenants.  (If you don't believe that, just wander over into some of the other sports message boards out there, and take a good look around.)

Personally, I feel like there is a big difference between;  "Hey, I'm gay, and I'm offended by the gay humor and innuendos that some of the other guys jest about", and "Hey, these guys are ridiculing and belittling me, because I'm gay."  Now, I'm not saying that making jokes on the basis of sexuality, race, sex, ethnicity, or religion, etc. is a good or healthy thing, I'm just saying that it is a part of society and life.  I myself had to endure some serious hardship in life, because of who I am.  I had to transfer from a parochial school to the public school system.  Being an athlete, I was met with heavy resistance to my being on the team.  For the entire first year, I had to physically fight at least a couple times per week.  I was jumped by a group of teammates after a practice once, for being the Catholic boy that took their friend's position on the team.  It was more than that, the jokes, the obvious hatred and constant ridicule was overwhelming.  I wanted to quit the football team.  My father sat me down, he talked to me about "growing a thinker skin", and "learning how to stand up for myself", and "proving that I belong".  I took some beatings, and learned how to give a few back.  Eventually, the ridicule stopped and I was just one of the guys.