LGBT People, Curious, Tourists, Gawkers, Trolls and Haters

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Yes, and I think the underlying issue there would have more to do with so-called "homophobics" rather than whether a mod was actually LGBT.

A "report post to moderator" button could always be added, although on a site as big as this it could be over-used

Just send a PM with a link to the respective situation or post in the Moderator Attention thread. If we're online we treat these things as priorities.

@BrendaEM:

Here is my own comprehension of the essence of some recent rulings and notes you might or might not have noticed ...

The one who even merely feels in any way offended now is the offended party
here on WP as long as any one or more mods might happen to agree.

... and since you presently have WP mods conscientiously watching here in LGBT, I believe you now have what we had been talking about even though posts are not presently screened before being visible by all.

I disagree with you here. There are any number of GLBT members of the site, and I suspect that a call for confidential nominations would yield a number of prospective people who would be more than capable. You don't have to ask "who wants the job?" You can ask, instead, "Who do you think could do the job?" and restrict replies to PMs so that none but the inner circle know the list.



I think this is a mistake. I think that, at a minimum, the women's, LGBT and Teen forums should be moderated from within.

As for the level of (ahem) manpower, this is a circumstance entirely of Alex's own devising. I refuse to believe that amidst a population of 46,132 members, a team of 10 qualified, capable and willing people could not be found.

Alex may well have run into trouble with people who have sought the position before, but I do think that the first qualification of a moderator is the willingness to do the job. And I'm not sure that the present system is demonstrating sterling results.



I'm sorry, but no matter how good your intentions, your best is simply not good enough. You will always represent the imposition of authority from outside the group.

More importantly, there will be no one representing our interests when moderators and admin talk about issues that affect us.

I respect the need for moderator-only space. But when that space exists, it must ensure that it has representative voices. You have talked among yourselves in your closed circle about new rules for posting relating to homophobic remarks. Was there a single queer person involved in that conversation?

If Alex is too gun-shy to expand beyond his closed circle of mods, then perhaps another vehicle is in order. Perhaps some form of representative group of users who can be used as a sounding board for ideas, to whom mods and admin can refer questions. That way the power doesn't move into irresponsible hands, but there continues to be a vehicle for discussion that includes the diversity of voices.

These two statements appear redundant to me. I would be inclined to merge the issues of comments and terms, and drop the reference to penalties. Mod/Admin power to deal with breaches is a separate issue.

I would not use the word, "slanderous." Slander is defined at Common Law, and by statute in many jurisdictions, and you can get caught up in a significant question about whether or not a term is slanderous if, for example, the poster has an honest belief in the truth of the descriptor. (Which is a complete defence to slander at Common Law, but not under many statutory schemes.)



I advise strongly against this language. WP is not in any sort of position to make statements about the legality of any posting, and it invites potential liability if it posts a warning here on one subject while remaining silent on another. It's not that this is a bad idea from an etiquette point of view, but rather that is creates legal risk for Alex.

On a personal level, I dislike the term "sexual preference." It connotes that sexual orientation involves choice.



I generally advise against any endorsement of other sites. While these two sites may be perfectly fine today, Alex cannot control what occurs there in future, and he could face liability if either of these sites winds up connected to improper activity. In addition, it negates the possibility that other perfectly good websites might exist. I would leave it at, "Dating needs are better met through other sites."



I like this language. I wonder if there's an opportunity to ask people to keep their thread titles relevant, so that people can make choices about which threads they read.



This appears to be an afterthought, where it might be better positioned with the other statements about hateful and derogatory comments and derogatory and slanderous terms.



Any comment I would have on the definitions is stylistic or grammatical. I don't think they are significant enough to warrant discussion.

Nice work.

Well said.

However I must say that I do think hat it matters not a damn whether the person moderating is LGBT. That ought no be a pre-requisite any more than the sex or race or a mod. Should never even be a consideration for the position.

That is certainly a valid perspective, and one in which you are not alone.

But I suggest that those of you who don't care can be well served by an LGBT member, whereas those of us who are passionate about this issue feel ill-served with the present structure. It seems to me that our position offers the greatest satisfaction for all, provided that it can meet with Alex's concerns.

You can't really talk for a whole group of people

As you might easily imagine, the variety of people here on WP is really quite broad ... so it would really be best to first ask questions to be sure of a fellow member's actual intent before even risking the sound of an accusation such as your own statement above might/could/would be taken.

Huh?

He's sayingg that those of us who feel passionate about this are [irrelevant]

Therefore he IS speaking for all of those people

How can there be any misunderstanding there?

Have you asked to be sure of his intent there, or are you simply assuming you are absolutely correct? You might be quite right, of course -- I do not know -- but then here on WP we at least try to be sure everyone has clearly understood each other before proceeding forward ... and even then, the other person would also need to become involved in any discussion about what s/he had either actually meant to say or had possibly only inadvertently seemed to say.

How else can what he said be interpreted?

He actually stated that "those of us who are passionate about it" feel ill-served

I don't really understand how that cannot be taken that way

I would hate for either of us to be wrong. Maybe he will see these posts and come elaborate a bit. I do not know.

Well, you have demonstrated misunderstanding, so I suppose that I was not sufficiently clear. I speak for no one but myself, and no one is irrelevant. Period.

I will, however, draw broad generalizations from the posts that have already been made, and look for the pattern underlying them to see if a solution can present itself.

I appears to me that those members who do not feel strongly one way or the other about having a member of the LGBT communities moderate this forum will not be displeased if Alex was to find such a person to moderate it. Their argument seems to be that it is unnecessary, but not that it is undesirable.

On the other hand, there are those (and I am clearly among their number) who do feel strongly that there should be a member of the LGBT communities moderating this forum. These people will continue to be displeased (to some degree) unless Alex can find such a person to moderate it.

So, if Alex was to find a member of the LGBT communities to moderate here, who would be upset by that? Is there anyone suggesting that a queer person cannot be an effective moderator here? I haven't hear that argument made. If there is such an argumement, then by all means let's hear it.

Of course there's no reason why a GLBT member would make a bad moderator. You can't assume they'd make a BETTER one though, just because they're gay/trans/whatever. I don't think there should be moderators for specific forums only, including the Women's forum. If a mod is a mod, they should moderate all the boards imo