New Category: Age/Gender related discussions: Gender Varient

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i like the OP's idea. having a safe place on WP to discuss their own issues and perspectives would go a long way towards helping them to gain acceptance.

It may be a more comfortable place to hang out for many people. Though it may have a negative effect on acceptance if people no longer see the gay/transgendered stuff in the regular boards.

Out of sight out of mind.

good point. i do like reading when a GLBT person posts on one of the regular forums. maybe it is better to keep everyone integrated?

Yes let's go whole hog here. Boards for every difference.
I like meat. Meat eating is a favoured past time of mine. I say that vegetarians will never understand or appreciate me fully on grounds hat I like gnawing on grilled dead animal flesh.
I can never appreciate their desire to nibble on the rabbit lettuce without having a desire to nibble on the slaughtered and cooked rabbit.
So...the solution is simple. We should give sanctuary to these differences.
Vegetarians in the Vegetarian board and Carnivores in the other. Never the twan shall meet.
Much better idea than having people actually just start threads like "I love steak" or "I am transgendered and find x problematic"
Having said this, my girlfriend is vegetarian....(I am sure she will understand my views are for the good of the forum).

At least there seem to be some dialogue here. While, I am not surprised to see one or two people who are against the idea, I am surprised they keep using the samehyperbole attack technique more than once. While a "Vegetarian" forum be interesting, I have never personally known a vegetarian who killed themselves with .22 because they were vegetarian, and could not deal with it, yet my aunt's early-teen old neighbor is still dead because he was attracted to someone of the same sex.

Over the years, I've learned that people either have/find GLBT aspects in themselves, or they do not. If people do not identify as GLBT, they will probably not identify with the GLBT situation/experience. Yet, if you are not GLBT, but are still confident in who you are, then permitting people to have GLTB forum would seem a simple task, but if someone is egodystonic you would fight something like this, perhaps you will try to control in others, what you control in yourself.

I am pretty sure that GLBT people will still participate in other groups, but having GLBT forum would allow a place to voice things specific to being GLBT. With that said, statistically, 10% of the Wongplanet forum might visit the forum at some point.

My reason for requesting "Gender Variant" was based on the "T" in GLBT, because it is problematic, because after reading Tony Atwood's book (see: pages 28, 80-81), I suspect that there may be ASD people in the forum who may not identify as "transgendered" or "transsexual," but who have gender issues. The "trans-" prefix means change; in the case specific to ASD people, I think that something more open-ended for people who might still want to vent or discuss their feelings, in an open-ended way would be appropriate. The word "gender" is a good word because it is not associated with having sex, which as it seems, people do not usually have sex all the time, and so "Gender Variant." Statistically, I believe that very few people in the ASD spectrum will make a transsexual-type transition, but some may still want to vent, work things out to be more comfortable in who they are. Perhaps in keeping, with the larger ASD struggle for acceptance, and political respect, perhaps there could be some kind of disclaimer as the first post.

I have found Wrongplanet.net in an otherwise good resource for ASD people. To make sure we know what we are discussing in this thread, I am asking Wrongplanet for a GLTB forum and perhaps a "Gender Variant" forum, in as official a capacity as I can.

hmmm i didn't think about that. i guess i understand the feeling, and therefore understand the need for the board. wish my understanding wasn't so easily categorized!

(thanks for the link to the definition of egodystonic. was going to ask anyways.)

I have personally never known a vegetarian nor a gay person to kill themselves over being vegetarian or gay. Do either exist? Interesting question you seem to indicate that there is at least self-loathing depressed gay people and perhaps there is the same of vegetarians?
But this is not your point is it. Sorry red herring I will move on.

Hyperbole attack? In which way am I or anyone else here exaggerating things?

I have simply said I see no reason to further filter down a forum from the minority we are to minority within a minority. You seem to think that the idea of doing precisely this is a good thing and I am supporting it but noting that if we are to do this and in this instance, then why not similarly do this as there are also people with differences between each other regardless of the similarities that may otherwise connect us.

There is certainly a lot more British than gay people perhaps having a board for specifically British to enjoy that in exclusion of other conversation. Soccer fans? More in this select group than gays? I would say so. What about Blue-eyed Autistics? Yup.

All these groups COULD have boards set up for them. They are a minority within a minority and could centre on their differences.

Perhaps another way to look at it is to say. We are all minority anyway. We are all Autistic.
Maybe further dividing and denoting us as more and more separate is actually a crappy idea and that no amount of hyperbole insinuations or suggestion of egodystonic attack will change it from being such.

Maybe that Being on the spectrum and around people who have been on the receiving end of BS our whole lives may just be a little more accepting than you think and that you will not need to hide in a subforum to discuss issues pertaining to being gay.

Maybe there are forums that cater for adult talk, for general questions, for women matters for love and Dating, pretty much a GLBT forum as far as i can see will cater for exactly these things but with segregate it from the heterosexual Autistic community.

Do I care? Not overly. I just think that it is a shame that as I say we are 1 in 150 as is. You want to further divide and split us. Makes no sense.

Oh would like you to explain how you come to the egodystonic viewpoint of anyone who does not agree with you though. You are not saying that anyone who doesn't share the same view as you is by necessity wrong do you or their point of view invalid? That would be rather stupid and irrational. Wouldn't you agree? But anyhow you will no doubt have a great explanation.

there are higher rates of depression and suicide amongst GLBT people.

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/co ... /100/3/452

On Wrongplanet, there are 24 forums including those for such things as computer, math, video games, and such, so it would seem that there was no evidence of fear of fragmentation the community in that regard, and so, it would seem that the fragmentation issue, would be a poor excuse for not allowing at least a GLTB forum.

I guess that perception might worry some people, in that, some people may not wish to have GLBT associated with ASD (people.) The funny thing is: I believe that having a GLBT forum would demonstrate that ASD people are in many ways like everyone else. In keeping with the other categories, be more than ASD.

[I am reminded of characters. At one time, characters were all good or evil, and only had one major attribute. Now, we expect or characters to be more diverse, because we know better that people are diverse.]

It's an upsetting thought that an ASD person might come to this site for acceptance--and not find it, because it is an GLTB issue. If not here, than where?

After 2 pages of chatter, there is still no GLTB forum, and people are still arguing against the addition of a forum in which ASD people who are also GLTB would have the expectation of acceptance.

In the end, I will relate one of two things to people:
1.) Wrong planet was open-minded enough to allow the creation of a GLTB forum.
2.) Wrong planet was not open-minded enough to allow the creation of a GLTB forum.

Choose.

It is not an either or though is it.
I honestly think this place is busy enough with so many subforums and could use a little merging rather than the addition of new ones.
You still haven't actually explain the egodystonic references to anyone who disagreed and you do have one right or was that another either or?
How about we look at this in these terns you have come to this thread not only all but demanding we set this forum up but also in haste and further cited that if we did not hold your view that we were sexually confused or something. Am I right with all of this?

Why would an Autistic person NOT find acceptance here without said forum?
Why is that the linchpin to acceptance?
You have not really made yourself clear and I think you should work on the above points in order to make yourself understood.

Sound fair?

[This is gender-specific true story, but.... there was a photographer who worked with people from the IFGE. She took a picture of a very prominent gender-outreach person--in the act of crying. At first, the person in the picture did not want it shown, but the photographer's explained her view that it showed a person still allowed to be human, as well as having her gender deal.

At one time those Gay/Lesbian people who marched for rights were only allowed to wear formal clothing, men in suits, women in dresses.

At one time Wrongplanet had no GBLT forum.]

It is my belief that Wrongplanet is strong enough to add a more subforum. I believe that there are GLTB people in the spectrum, and GLBT issues are specific, as specific as the difference between ASD and NT issues.

I'm sorry rossc, but at this point in time, I can't count on you to help GLBT people who might visit wrongplanet. Your apparent attitude and opposition is strongly indicative that a GLBT sub-forum would be a good idea, that there is a need for it.

If the existing subforums are all busy, then it would seem that they were good splits. If someone had a GLBT issue, having a specific forum where they would know where to post, and have the best chance to be understood-- it might save a life.

well, your words gave me goosebumps, but you're probably preaching to the choir. hope other people come on board with the idea too.

Why would you approve this over a Men's Forum? A men's forum has more use right now.

there is a men's thread in one of the forums, isn't there? but i think i saw tumbleweeds roll by.

As someone who is aiming to intern at her university's GLBTQ center, I approve of this idea! The idea of a GLBTQ center at the university is to provide a "safe zone" for those affected to talk to one another without fear of being judged for their sexuality. It would be beneficial for WP to have such a forum.


I'm not even going to argue the "men's forum" thing. Everyone knows how I feel about it. :/

Look I will be honest with you here Brenda.
I see no particular driving necessity for a subforum. I see it as further splitting up a minority and I can not see that we as having been minority all our lives would then seek to unfairly judge others in a different minority classing.
Having said this I have never been gay. I don't suspect I ever will be and so my knowledge of the culture or the needs are very remedial.
What I do see is you very recently setting up this thread and because the subforum has not been whipped up pronto on your demand you are stomping your foot about it.
I see you too saying that anyone who doesn't necessarily agree with you to be ..what was that quaint term? Egodystonic?
Perhaps the idea for a GLBT forum is a good one and the wheels in motion will come to pass they will set this up. Demanding and footstomping or not.
Maybe rather than accuse people who disagree with you of necessarily being egodytonic, it may be a better idea to simply convince them. To your way of thinking.

So why would a selective board be better for the GLBT community and why would they not feel equally as safe posting anonymously (under username) to a group of relative strangers, who they know are a minority themselves and likely to have encountered much in the way of prejudice and falling short of expected societal norms.
You may have an angle I have not thought of. "You will never understand?" Try me.
I may well come to see your point of view.

After that you can explain the relevance to the whole people who don't agree don't because they are egodystonic thing.