A Complaint/Suggestion

[RSLancastr]

I would like to officially complain about the forum software replacing the commonly-used word for "homosexual" (one syllable, rhymes with "hay") with the word for a little blue cartoon character.

I understand that the word is on some "forbidden" list here because it can sometimes be used in a disrespectful way (such as the mildly offensive and thoroughly juvenile "that's so (word)" to indicate that something is less than cool with the speaker/poster.

But there are countless times when the word is perfectly appropriate and respectful when speaking of something or someone homosexual, such as "This deck of playing cards was purchased at a (word) Pride parade" or, as I wrote in one of my first posts here, "the courts in this deck take gentle swipes at (word) stereotypes".

There are even some rare times when the word is totally appropriate in a context totally apart from its homosexual meaning. Just yesterday I wanted to post in my "Decks the Halls" thread/topic here about someone who had posted in a similar thread I had created on a non-card-related forum:

"Don we now our (word) apparel - are their any (word)-themed decks of playing cards"?

I wanted to quote that (and my reply to it) in the thread here, but knew the resulting auto-replaced references to little blue cartoon guys would make the post confusing at best.

If the word was allowed in posts, I would assume/hope that any disrespectful use of the word would be reporfted to moderators by anyone who took offense, and the moderators would take whatever action is appropriate.

Or, better still, if the forum software supports this, the word could be put on a list of words which the moderators would be told about when used in a post, but would not be auto-replaced with something else, and the moderators could review the post and take appropriate action if the word was used in a disrespectful way.

The word, in a respectful context, is in common usage, and is generally embraced and used by people in the (word) community, and even in the names of (word)-positive organizations such as PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and (word)s) and in terms commonly used within the (word) community such as "(Word) Pride" and "GLBT" ((Word)/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender).

Again, I understand the well-intentioned reason behind the auto-replacing, but I think it to be a bit Big Brotherish and, I would hope, largely unneccesary.

Thoughts? Agree/Disagree?

[admin_noreply]

You bring up a valid point. So far, the community here has been pretty respectful to each other.

We will go ahead and drop the word replacement for 'gay' as there are legitimate uses.

However, there will be swift and severe consequences for anyone using that word as a slur or in a derogatory way.

- UC STAFF

[RSLancastr]

Thank you.