We didn't ban all the gay people. You all know that's a stretch.

[pinto]

We didn't ban all the gay people. You all know that's a stretch.

And a divisive meme I truly wish we could leave behind as a string of hyperbole, misunderstandings and unintended consequences. As a moderator, I weighed in on a number of bans of LGBT members. *Not* because they were gay. LGBT had nothing to do with it. Nukes were made because a poster was disruptive on the whole, as a DU member, to a point where we came to a group consensus to revoke their posting privileges.

And, fwiw, I felt like a pariah as a gay moderator. Not among the mod team or our Administrative support as we worked to apply the membership guidelines fairly and blindly. It's called neutrality and stepping outside of our subjective point of views to an objective point of view. I felt like a pariah because I shared the bigot tag made against the moderators, Admin and DU.

We talk a lot about bullying. It was a weird time here for me. Pinto, at 60 years old, felt bullied because I was gay and a moderator. I'll never go back there again.

Let's move on.

Just my obviously subjective 2 cents.

[William769]

1. Heres my 2 cents

Can we please leave this where it belongs in Meta?

I was not part of it then, don't care to be part of it now.

There are enough battles to deal with, this one would be like beating a dead horse.

Yes I do talk a lot about bullying, please don't confuse the two.

[pinto]

2. Understood.

Thanks.

[Prism]

3. Gay Republicans like to claim that neutrality thing

And then stand idly by while their party attempts to stomp on LGBTers' lives while they give them an eager hand.

I do not care for them, either.

Even the admins apologized for the wrong done. They openly acknowledged it.

You weren't bullied. You were complicit and participatory. Your earned that ire. You sided with your own power over your own people. You, whose voice had the opportunity to be strongest, chose silence while homophobia reigned. Silence=Death. I know you don't think that's just a saying.

I said many sharp things to and about you in alerts on DU2.

I take none of them back.

You are not a victim. You were . . . like a gay Republican, in my view.

Given this post, I see that not much has changed in my estimation. Live with it. Don't. Whatever. Who cares. Mods are gone. Good riddance.

[pinto]

4. Bullshit. Hyperbole, misunderstandings and unintended consequences are what happened.

None of us, including Admin, felt good about any of it. We all got caught up in it, members as well as mods and Admin.

Agree, I'm not a victim. I chose to be a moderator and to chime in when I had some input to add to the discussions. Fairly and objectively under the guidelines we were given. No more nor less. Complicit and participatory? Probably so, if that's your point of view. And I actually understand that, fwiw.

And I'm glad the mod system is history. Good riddance.

One thing though - don't ever fucking try to school me on Silence = Death.

Walk a few blocks in my shoes Prism and you may get it. Or not.

[Prism]

5. No, I recall your personal story

That is precisely why I found your behavior so shocking - and so disappointing. I know too many LGBTers who get in positions of authority and power and who decide, "Oh, I need to be fair with my straight peers, and prove that I'm not like those unruly gays over there. I'm just being neutral, hey," because that acceptance as one of the good, neutral, "objective" gays becomes more valuable to them. They choose their social position over the community.

Seen it so, so many times, and it never fails to rub in exactly the wrong way. I honestly think you have no idea what that period was like for LGBT DUers, because you were more connected and sympathetic to your mod community than the LGBT one. So, let me tell you. I lurked back then. Didn't talk much, didn't post much. But I read a lot in LGBT for news about our community, what was happening in the world.

And then one day DU's LGBT community went silent. Suddenly a large portion of it just . . . disappeared. I had no idea what happened, because no one was allowed to say. Poof. Gone. After a few weeks of wondering where everyone went, I sent out a PM. And people were too afraid to really talk about it for fear of being banned.

You helped do that. You participated in making that happen. You inflicted that harm on your people. You fomented that fear.

Don't get righteous with me. Just don't. After all this time, you still don't want to own up to that? Fine. But, I truly do not understand your purpose in this OP. That sleeping dog was just fine over there. Why did it need flicking?

Own what you helped make happen or just don't bother at all. The admins did, and they're awesome for it.

[Iggo]

11. This.

"And people were too afraid to really talk about it for fear of being banned."

[Occulus]

7. 7 n/t

[Marrah_G]

19. Thank you

[mitchtv]

6. whomever is at fault

this place was once vibrant, It is now moribund

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. I'll never forget the "poutrage" and "pony" shit you and your pals let run rampant.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

12. As a "pal" and also a Queer activist

I was there. I saw what was going on the boards, and I saw what was going on from admin.

When Admin apologized, we didn't get a chance to, as moderators, or as individuals- without being attacked to say anything really to those members of our community who were hurt by the actions taken in this whole debacle.

I know that hurt was not limited to any one segment of the DU community, and while it's like ripping off a scab now, scars have been left here, and perhaps we need some form of heeling cream, laser therapy, or whatever, to let the wounds heal better now?

Peace to all.

[Marrah_G]

9. H! ! I am one of the disruptors you are talking about

Want to tell me why you are ripping off this particular scab?

[pinto]

10. Hi. I over-reacted to a post made in a long Meta thread. Then chose to bring the discussion here.

In hindsight, I should have realized at the time I was taking it way too personally and should have let it be.

[Chemisse]

13. I'd like to see this topic laid to rest, but I do want to say:

You are a wonderful person, Pinto, and I have a lot of respect for you. I hope the pain of the past eases for you, and for everyone else involved.

That's it.

[JackBeck]

14. Pinto is one of the rare posters on this board whose actions speaker louder than their words.

He literally lives and breathes what he talks about and has the blisters on his heels and hands from the heavy lifting.

Unlike the handful of posters on DU who think their advocacy begins and ends at their fingertips, pinto is actually doing shit while having to tolerate a bunch of bullshit from anonymous screen names.

On edit: I hope there are people here that realize that some of the posters who were shown the door completely deserved to have their posting privileges revoked.

[NYC_SKP]

18. Hallelhuja!

Or "Hear hear" for the agnostic.

It can't be easy on this site being as authentic as this member is, such a great moderator and someone who, IMO, should looked up to for his integrity and calm.

[dbackjon]

16. Me too - banned from DU during the Great Gay Purge of '09

[Marrah_G]

17. I've avoided adding anything more to this thread

Last edited Wed Sep 12, 2012, 10:20 AM - Edit history (1)

I am to irritated by someone who wasn't made to just disappear for 18 months, cut off from friends, pretend THEY are the victim.

I am trying to forgive and forget, but this thread took alot of nerve.

[Pab Sungenis]

15. Of course not.

There is a long tradition of leaving one behind to tell the tale.

It was all in the past, let's let it go. We have bigger issues to deal with in the here and now.