East Coast, I'm still up. This is just a personal note from me.
If you want someone's head, frustrations aside that is the wrong way to go about this. My opinion is we should not be a site that comes for people's heads.
Now, I cannot speak for direct admin interactions with members, or anything in any LGBT+ related channels wherever they may be, because I am not an admin, and I do not have access to those channels for a very good reason.
But I can say this. I have spent hours upon hours at a time (into the wee hours of the morning on several occasions) banning people outright for their dismissiveness, prejudice, and harmful words towards people like you who are simply seeking to thrive at ResetEra. Not just because it's site policy, or because I have nothing better to do on a Friday night. Because it's the right thing to do for you, and for everyone. I have even advocated for not being so quick to ban in some cases. And while I'm speaking just for myself here, I have witnessed others do the same. For you. They're still around, even.
And when I am online volunteering for the site, I am obligated to read and address each report that comes in, no matter if it is written nicely, or in anger, or accurately describes the situation, or a misunderstanding, or a misinterpretation, or written in frustration - even if it contains conspiratorial suggestions about other members, or the staff. The conspiratorial posts and reports on Era about staff members (an aspect of Era culture which seems to have become generally accepted, even among the marginalized) really sicken me personally. But as I am working to address the concerns of others on the forum it is not about my feelings, it is about theirs. Yours. So I tolerate it as I go about my duties.
With all that, I refuse to air others' dirty laundry from bans on the site itself. If you want people to truly change, you need to give them the opportunity to do so, and airing their dirty laundry would only interfere with that. If someone is changing and growing or making up for a mistake, I will not contribute to an embarrassment campaign. Same with repeat offenders who have exhibited no change in behavior over a long sustained period, and are permanently banned from the site as part of support for the community. I will not air their dirty laundry on the site, even if that behavior continues to persist outside Era via other avenues. This means that you won't know everything about someone's history of participation on this site, including their interactions with staff, and bans.
But concerning behavior generally, I will say this: What I will not abide as a member, or as a moderator volunteering to support communities like yours, are members - no matter who they are or what they stand for - using site posts and reports in order to attempt to personally manipulate or gaslight me (or any member) into serving their own personal individual ends or games. This type of thing takes time and energy away from whole communities of members who prefer we support the concerns of their identities.
And It interferes directly with supporting you.
Manipulating or interfering with me or anyone on staff (including and especially the LGBT+ members of the staff), whether once or repeatedly over time, is unacceptable to me. You may not see it but you do feel its effects - it absolutely interrupts me and robs me of time and energy when those long hours are needed and the bans to stave off the dismissiveness and harm that can't be processed soon enough. I would think that these delays and interference would be unacceptable to you as well, but I will not speak for you.
Lastly, I will just leave these few questions, really for anyone who is reading this. Is there no room on Era to grow or change, for everyone, or anyone? Do you want to shut down all possibility of that? Again I will not presume to speak for you or your experiences, but from what I understand there are people out there in the world who think the only acceptable consideration for you as a person is removal first and foremost. Is that the only acceptable first step for you as well?
PS. I see another step taken being labeling of others. If I am mistaken, please correct me, but isn't undue labeling the second step taken on you as well?
Thank you for your attention to this personal note from me.
This is the last thing I am going to post about this, if I get banned oh well though I would prefer not to, from now on I will stick to posting about games and comics if that.
This was the one place I felt safe to talk about who I am. I am still in the closet IRL. Sometimes I feel as if that makes people dismiss/not take me seriously/think I am a liar.
I do not feel safe. I am not in a position (I am disabled and cannot and will not ever be able to legally drive) to just burn all bridges and move somewhere this is accepted though most nights being able to is the story I tell myself and fantasize while falling asleep.
Though I knew my identity would never fly with most of my extended family I learned a very harsh lesson at 17. My stepfather snuck into my room without me realizing and found me in my previously safe space wearing a dress and makeup. He beat me unconscious. I woke up to him having called the cops and while it's not legal as I was a minor in my mothers care they escorted me off the property while telling my stepfather "it's their pleasure to help him get rid of this sick f**, if I had my way we could just shoot them".
That fucked me up for years, and while my mother is no longer with him (and while I have never told her things she has said and how she acts about trans causes makes me believe she knows and will do anything to both have me forgive her, and more importantly forgive herself) it's still a bone of contention between us and I know my brother who is like my twin even though we are seperate by a couple years still has resentments towards her about it.
I will NEVER let any of my extended family know.
The saddest part is I have accepted who I was at about age 5 or 6 and my issue has never been self acceptance but safety. Flash Forward to now and I was (mostly through hope and support provided by the members of ERA's trans community) ready. Was going to tell my immediate, a friend or two, and then disappear to everyone else while beginning transition. And then trump not only got elected and has been pushing more and more anti trans regulation including trying to make it legal for the medical profession and government to discriminate specifically against trans people and keep us from being a protected class.
I am disabled. I have a blood mutation that is aggressive and has already almost killed me a dozen times and probably it or related complications will still probably be the death of me, but with care I should still make to where though that kills me a dozen things could have. I also due to it mixed with my experience and education, and prior work history combined with what I am prepared and able to do for work I am unemployable and on government disability with a fixed income, and reliant on government provides healthcare to make sure it doesn't kill me, I average multiple hospital visits a year and multiweek stays 2 or 3 times every two or three years all because of how at risk my health is.
So since I rely on the good faith of the same people who are trying to make it so both government and medical professions can discriminate against and refuse me service, being the same people who have to approve the benefits that literally keep me alive and able to eat and have a roof over my head, is it all that surprising I scurried right back I to the closet? Being in my 40's ain't have lost hope for me, but have doubled down in my efforts to support the cause, in real life with volunteering and what little money I can, things with real effect beyond talking on the internet because I hope I can help so we reach a point where no little girl or boy has to accept being a boy or girl even though they are not for their own safety or other reasons. I want a world where mine is the last generation that has to face that sort of thing and it becomes normal for trans kids to identify to the world and for the world to eagerly and normally help those children facilitate fixing things so they can live normally as who they are.
Unfortunately we are not there and IRL I feel like I am in more danger than ever. Era was my refuge,the one place I felt free, I thought I could be honest, and the help of others could not only help my Dream for others but also help me see a light at the end of my own tunnel.
That dream is dead and I feel inmore danger than ever and now I have no outlet, I mean in this thread alone you have one person with a history being offensive and when that's pointed out doubling down while still being offensive and a known shitposter with a history of shitposting not really being offensive but definitely sticking there nose in to make drive by observations unneeded with not even a warning or a "hey back off" while we all get the "despiser your animosity we have been nice but that ends now threats" in a trans awareness week thread discussing the horrible treatment the trans community here faces and from the looks of it lots of that community isn't going to be here any longer ( and I am sure that makes more than a small minority happy, maybe we will stop being offended and lighten up, just because we are the most discriminated against and in the most physical danger, especially are sisters that are black and brown we should still be nice and defer to the majority about what should be an issue or considered offensive right? We sure are an uplift bunch...) so I don't feel safe at all here anymore and if I am not banned and do post here it will after this post never be about this issue or in one of these threads again. Not only do I have to worry about all the enemy eyes on this site and if they were to ever decide to focus on me, but to worry about that on a board that has shown time and time again that except for a few (and there are posters, and even with this a couple mods and staff-not a monolith-that I truly believe have our back) most at best tolerate us/are "allies" as long as it doesn't require any actual backbone all the way to people (not going to mention names but if I did their are receipts, a certain "physician" handled poster comes to mind) who straight up come into trans threads to concern troll and spread TERF talking points without moderation, if I have to read one more time the "but what about actual born real woman's concerns, their opinion should matter most" in a trans athlete thread my fist would go through a monitor. But hey not going to participate in any of that anymore if I am here, back in the closet here too seems the safest bet ( I also quite remember before before settling on this avatar, which I picked as closest to my physicality/looks if I were to transition, and the fact my chosen name is jessi, I had a Walton Goggins avatar from VP and in a trans thread someone (not trans) attacked me and said I was either faking or just looking to be offended because no way I could be trans or care about the issue because I had that avatar and I should hate Walton for his role in SOA or something, and of course that was okay for that poster to do, no side eye from anyone but me) and yes I am over sharing but to begin it's the last time I share at all, second I want to get across why safety matters to me and how and why I feel the equivalent of being backstabbed and losing the only friend I had for the one issue in my life that matters most.
But some people can now feel safe sharing their mundane life details and totally not anything offensive in the private discord for a board that was supposedly founded on the notion of transparency and not repeating the mistakes of NeoGaf.
I am glad someone feels safe cause I don't, but I guess that makes it all gravy, the people that matter feel safe while we all feel we have to leave or muzzle ourselves or possibly as in my case right now get banned.
I guess it all evens out😞
Its 100% not just you. Im actually baffled that that post was made. And rreally only further solidifies the problem.
Lastly, I will just leave these few questions, really for anyone who is reading this. Is there no room on Era to grow or change, for everyone, or anyone? Do you want to shut down all possibility of that? Again I will not presume to speak for you or your experiences, but from what I understand there are people out there in the world who think the only acceptable consideration for you as a person is removal first and foremost. Is that the only acceptable first step for you as well?
PS. I see another step taken being labeling of others. If I am mistaken, please correct me, but isn't undue labeling the second step taken on you as well?
Lastly, I will just leave these few questions, really for anyone who is reading this. Is there no room on Era to grow or change, for everyone, or anyone? Do you want to shut down all possibility of that? Again I will not presume to speak for you or your experiences, but from what I understand there are people out there in the world who think the only acceptable consideration for you as a person is removal first and foremost. Is that the only acceptable first step for you as well?
Ok so it's not just me then that's picking up on a certain tone in that post, as I do want to give the benefit of the doubt so bad
Agreed, and especially in this thread.Mods need to stop making this topic about themselves and take a moment to reflect on what is going on in the community.
East Coast, I'm still up. This is just a personal note from me.
If you want someone's head, frustrations aside that is the wrong way to go about this. My opinion is we should not be a site that comes for people's heads.
Now, I cannot speak for direct admin interactions with members, or anything in any LGBT+ related channels wherever they may be, because I am not an admin, and I do not have access to those channels for a very good reason.
But I can say this. I have spent hours upon hours at a time (into the wee hours of the morning on several occasions) banning people outright for their dismissiveness, prejudice, and harmful words towards people like you who are simply seeking to thrive at ResetEra. Not just because it's site policy, or because I have nothing better to do on a Friday night. Because it's the right thing to do for you, and for everyone. I have even advocated for not being so quick to ban in some cases. And while I'm speaking just for myself here, I have witnessed others do the same. For you. They're still around, even.
And when I am online volunteering for the site, I am obligated to read and address each report that comes in, no matter if it is written nicely, or in anger, or accurately describes the situation, or a misunderstanding, or a misinterpretation, or written in frustration - even if it contains conspiratorial suggestions about other members, or the staff. The conspiratorial posts and reports on Era about staff members (an aspect of Era culture which seems to have become generally accepted, even among the marginalized) really sicken me personally. But as I am working to address the concerns of others on the forum it is not about my feelings, it is about theirs. Yours. So I tolerate it as I go about my duties.
With all that, I refuse to air others' dirty laundry from bans on the site itself. If you want people to truly change, you need to give them the opportunity to do so, and airing their dirty laundry would only interfere with that. If someone is changing and growing or making up for a mistake, I will not contribute to an embarrassment campaign. Same with repeat offenders who have exhibited no change in behavior over a long sustained period, and are permanently banned from the site as part of support for the community. I will not air their dirty laundry on the site, even if that behavior continues to persist outside Era via other avenues. This means that you won't know everything about someone's history of participation on this site, including their interactions with staff, and bans.
But concerning behavior generally, I will say this: What I will not abide as a member, or as a moderator volunteering to support communities like yours, are members - no matter who they are or what they stand for - using site posts and reports in order to attempt to personally manipulate or gaslight me (or any member) into serving their own personal individual ends or games. This type of thing takes time and energy away from whole communities of members who prefer we support the concerns of their identities.
And It interferes directly with supporting you.
Manipulating or interfering with me or anyone on staff (including and especially the LGBT+ members of the staff), whether once or repeatedly over time, is unacceptable to me. You may not see it but you do feel its effects - it absolutely interrupts me and robs me of time and energy when those long hours are needed and the bans to stave off the dismissiveness and harm that can't be processed soon enough. I would think that these delays and interference would be unacceptable to you as well, but I will not speak for you.
Lastly, I will just leave these few questions, really for anyone who is reading this. Is there no room on Era to grow or change, for everyone, or anyone? Do you want to shut down all possibility of that? Again I will not presume to speak for you or your experiences, but from what I understand there are people out there in the world who think the only acceptable consideration for you as a person is removal first and foremost. Is that the only acceptable first step for you as well?
PS. I see another step taken being labeling of others. If I am mistaken, please correct me, but isn't undue labeling the second step taken on you as well?
Thank you for your attention to this personal note from me.
MODS RISE UPMods need to stop making this topic about themselves and take a moment to reflect on what is going on in the community.
Going forward, the intent here is to address the issues with the community. Considering the brunt of this thread has been calling out mods for everything, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to come forward with some context in their actions or how this stuff makes them feel. That doesn't diminish the things that are being called out here - we are listening and working towards it (see my past staff post as to why there's currently a delay). We understand that the issues presented in the thread are the focus, and we are discussing that, but there are points where it feels like members are thinking of staff as "the other" and not people.
Again, we're listening, and working on addressing it. It weighs on the hearts of each member of staff, the events that have taken place here, and in the end we just want to make this a place for all of you.
Going forward, the intent here is to address the issues with the community. Considering the brunt of this thread has been calling out mods for everything, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to come forward with some context in their actions or how this stuff makes them feel. That doesn't diminish the things that are being called out here - we are listening and working towards it (see my past staff post as to why there's currently a delay). We understand that the issues presented in the thread are the focus, and we are discussing that, but there are points where it feels like members are thinking of staff as "the other" and not people.
Again, we're listening, and working on addressing it. It weighs on the hearts of each member of staff, the events that have taken place here, and in the end we just want to make this a place for all of you.
This has blown up like it has not just because of KetKat, but also because trans topics have been cesspools of transphobic drive-bys or JAQ'ing, and that as a result the trans community has felt othered not just by members but also by staff. So mods coming in here and making a trans topic about them, particularly under these circumstances, is just gonna rub people the wrong way. It's yet another hijack of their topic and their hurt.Going forward, the intent here is to address the issues with the community. Considering the brunt of this thread has been calling out mods for everything, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to come forward with some context in their actions or how this stuff makes them feel. That doesn't diminish the things that are being called out here - we are listening and working towards it (see my past staff post as to why there's currently a delay). We understand that the issues presented in the thread are the focus, and we are discussing that, but there are points where it feels like members are thinking of staff as "the other" and not people.
Again, we're listening, and working on addressing it. It weighs on the hearts of each member of staff, the events that have taken place here, and in the end we just want to make this a place for all of you.
Going forward, the intent here is to address the issues with the community. Considering the brunt of this thread has been calling out mods for everything, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to come forward with some context in their actions or how this stuff makes them feel. That doesn't diminish the things that are being called out here - we are listening and working towards it (see my past staff post as to why there's currently a delay). We understand that the issues presented in the thread are the focus, and we are discussing that, but there are points where it feels like members are thinking of staff as "the other" and not people.
Again, we're listening, and working on addressing it. It weighs on the hearts of each member of staff, the events that have taken place here, and in the end we just want to make this a place for all of you.
I appreciate the response and understand your position. I haven't had any problems with your posts. Mods are people too, and they work a hard and thankless job. But in a thread that has basically gone off the rails into become a meta discussion about how the mods have disappointed the community on LGBT issues, especially regarding the permabanned nature of a popular poster, it is hard to not feel like posts like that are trying to deflect some sort of blame onto the community. I'm sure they're not meant with hostility, but they don't come across well.
This thread might be a better place to discuss user/mod relationships:
The people we need to talk to regarding this are asleep. We are committed to figuring it out - this isn't about being patient while we deliberate, it's being patient because of people not being awake. But like the post above, fair enough, the other thread might be better for that sort of thing.You diminish the things that are being called out here by making this more about the staff's feelings than addressing concerns and acting. I would rather see action and changed behaviour than be emotionally manipulated into being more patient and understanding.
you're at least the second mod who isn't Royalan who's willing to jump in front of the bus for him. how hard would it have been for him to be like "yeah i said that shit and it was bad, i fucked up, sorry" in the ensuing hours you've been taking the hits for himIf you want people to truly change, you need to give them the opportunity to do so, and airing their dirty laundry would only interfere with that
This has blown up like it has not just because of KetKat, but also because trans topics have been cesspools of transphobic drive-bys or JAQ'ing, and that as a result the trans community has felt othered not just by members but also by staff. So mods coming in here and making a trans topic about them, particularly under these circumstances, is just gonna rub people the wrong way.
I've seen user-requested bans handed out for similarly worded "requests," and that's pretty much how it happened. Someone saw it, thought it was legit, and did it. Thankfully we found out after that it wasn't serious and reversed it. It wasn't malicious, it's just that we've seen that sort of thing before.This whole situation has been messed up. Why was Yukiko banned? Why can mods seemingly get away with acephobia and intolerance, banning people, changing the reason for the bans, and then come in here and tell us how hard it is? Why can't we just know what happened, and the appropriate people get punished?
All right this is my last one because I definitely need to get some sleep, it's late as hell for me.
I know there have been some concerns regarding trans threads before. We have several trans members on staff that are most definitely consulted when it comes to trans issues. Are there things we can do better? Sure, and we're hoping to get to that point. However, part of that is that moderation is inherently reactive - we can't ban someone for a post before they make it. Like any thread, if a drive-by happens by some asshole, we can't actually do anything about it before the post itself is made. I'm hoping we can do better at catching patterns before they become more prominent, but it's not an exact science.
I've seen user-requested bans handed out for similarly worded "requests," and that's pretty much how it happened. Someone saw it, thought it was legit, and did it. Thankfully we found out after that it wasn't serious and reversed it. It wasn't malicious, it's just that we've seen that sort of thing before.
The other stuff, we're working on.
All right this is my last one because I definitely need to get some sleep, it's late as hell for me.
I know there have been some concerns regarding trans threads before. We have several trans members on staff that are most definitely consulted when it comes to trans issues. Are there things we can do better? Sure, and we're hoping to get to that point. However, part of that is that moderation is inherently reactive - we can't ban someone for a post before they make it. Like any thread, if a drive-by happens by some asshole, we can't actually do anything about it before the post itself is made. I'm hoping we can do better at catching patterns before they become more prominent, but it's not an exact science.
I've seen user-requested bans handed out for similarly worded "requests," and that's pretty much how it happened. Someone saw it, thought it was legit, and did it. Thankfully we found out after that it wasn't serious and reversed it. It wasn't malicious, it's just that we've seen that sort of thing before.
The other stuff, we're working on.
Given the reasoning for Ket's perma was changed T H R E E times, I honestly can't believe you
The intent wasn't to say that we are totally-and definitely-perfect, it was mostly to counter the idea that we don't seek out a diverse staff. Of course there is always room for improvement.I also appreciate an admin coming in here and but like I said a lot of these issues have been brewing for months and months.el enough people in this community have said they have felt unsafe for some time.
Saying " we have lgbt mods"'isn't good enough anymore
Just to be clear, Ketkat's ban message was changed once while she was in the review process, just to better reflect the concerns. Alterations to banners, while not always made, are standard procedure while someone is in review.Given the reasoning for Ket's perma was changed T H R E E times, I honestly can't believe you
Lastly, I will just leave these few questions, really for anyone who is reading this. Is there no room on Era to grow or change, for everyone, or anyone? Do you want to shut down all possibility of that? Again I will not presume to speak for you or your experiences, but from what I understand there are people out there in the world who think the only acceptable consideration for you as a person is removal first and foremost. Is that the only acceptable first step for you as well?
lol okay in that case i am fascinated by who you meant by who the person we need to 'give an opportunity to change before airing out their dirty laundry' is . sweet dreams
Hey everyone,
I wanted to chime and offer my two cents on the ongoing situation. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a former administrator for this website, and a transgender person myself. I also own and co-run the TransEra community discord. With that context out of the way, let's dig into things.
First of all, I think the mod post in this thread misunderstands what the actual issue is from the community's perspective. The community's issue is not with leaks. The community's issue is not with investigations. The community's issue is with how the situation was handled.
It is one thing to ban a member for leaking something that was private. I think most people can understand that logic, even if they don't necessarily agree with the decision. Where you lost people is when you decide to start talking about investigating the issue seriously, as if there was ever going to be any kind of chat log or read receipt in Discord that provided a smoking gun. The entire 'investigation' could never be more than he said, she said, for that's all that Discord provides you.
I am very frustrated to see that the staff has a willingness to take a swing at a banned member who can no longer speak for herself here in a thread about transgender awareness, no less. The sheer lack of awareness is mind boggling. To take a shot by saying, 'Ketkat understood the importance of privacy in safe spaces, as she has championed this herself,' isn't just low, it is quite frankly pathetic. Why would ever think it is ok to take a snide shot at someone like this in an official capacity? I cannot believe that there is an administrator on staff who approved this. It makes staff look like the pettiest people on the planet, taking a shot at a former trans member of the community loved by the community in a thread about the trans community.
The community doesn't care about how the ResetEra staff feels right now. It isn't about the ResetEra staff feeling comfortable, it is about the ResetEra community feeling comfortable. Ultimately, the staff serves the community, not the other way around. When I was on staff, I was always willing to make myself uncomfortable if it meant making the community more comfortable, even if it meant having hard conversations that lasted long hours. That's part of being a volunteer, and that is part of serving. It isn't about you, the staff, it is about us, the community. That is something that has absolutely been lost as time has gone on.
There's a lot more I could say on my feelings, but my feelings are ultimately moot at this point, and so are words. What really matters at this point is actions. ResetEra staff, whether you agree with them or not (and I hope you do), the community feels extremely wronged right now. People are hurting, and they're hurting because you've hurt them. Now is the time to show that y'all really are the good people I know and worked alongside for years. Do the right thing, and show it with your words, not with your actions.
I would suggest the following:
- The moderator who made the post that has been linked around this thread needs to resign. In order for the community to move on and to heal, sometimes it is necessary for oneself to step aside. In this case, it is time for you to step aside and allow the healing process to begin.
- An apology should be posted for this whole situation. In this apology, you should clearly outline the steps that you take when evaluating transphobic content or other content that is anti-LGBT. There are plenty of us in the community that are former staff and could as easily articulate these rules, but you need to step forward and tell the community what they are. And then, you have to let the community hold you accountable to them. That's how you will open the door for the community to restore trust in you, by enforcing this policy (that you already have) not with your words, but with your actions.
- There needs to be a greater diversification in the administration table. This is something that has been great in the past, but after most of the original administration left, is severely lacking now. Please correct this decision with serious administration changes that will result in better conversations in the administration room with voices who are more concerned about doing right by the community than doing right by the moderation rulebook.
- And, this really should be a given, but at this point, Ketkat should be unbanned. Right or wrong, it doesn't really matter how you feel about it. It will be a good starting sign to restorting the trust between the community and staff. If Ketkat breaks the rules again, that's on her, but right now, it doesn't really matter. What matters is keeping the community together and restoring the trust that has been broken.
This is by no means the only things that have to happen or the only things that can happen, but I would call this a good start. It is hard. It is going to not be particularly fun for anyone involved. But, at the end of the day, it is worth it because this community and ResetEra are worth it. I urge this to be done at all haste.
If you have any questions for me, my inboxes are always open. If others have suggestions or additions to this list they'd like to see, please feel free to mention them, this was simply the first few big points that came to my mind.
Thanks,
Nicole
edit: fixed a typo
Properly better to display those changes in the future. Either giving the histroy of the changes or display, that there is a review process. Properly would help people to understand the decision. Also give members (long time users) a chance to defend them self in some way (i was once banned and the "Contact Us" formula gave me no answer).Just to be clear, Ketkat's ban message was changed once while she was in the review process, just to better reflect the concerns. This is standard procedure while someone is in the review.
Just to be clear, Ketkat's ban message was changed once while she was in the review process, just to better reflect the concerns. This is standard procedure while someone is in the review.
I'd say, actually, that currently trans people face a problem of hyper-awareness. I struggle to believe that hate crime going up in the last year, at the same time that visibility has increased, is a coincidence. Due to fear mongering and a mixture of pre-existing transphobia, political unrest, insidious media and the organisation of groups set up to harm us, people are so hyper-aware of trans people – we become so talked about – that misinformation spreads quickly. We are then blamed for a whole host of problems that have absolutely nothing to do with us.
Would be easy and over with if it could just be "mistakes were made because modding is hard", but I fear they're completely convinced that it's mostly "modding is hard because the community makes it hard by second guessing our mostly correct decisions".you're at least the second mod who isn't Royalan who's willing to jump in front of the bus for him. how hard would it have been for him to be like "yeah i said that shit and it was bad, i fucked up, sorry" in the ensuing hours you've been taking the hits for him
Just so you know transgenders isn't a word, I think most people would be satisfied with just saying Trans peopleThis is something i noticed too even as a non-LGBT+:
. . . . it does seem like some PR company ran a massive campaign in social media this year targetting transgender people. The ones i often see is how transgenders participating in women sports are purposely 'cheating'.
Era lost a great deal when you stepped down.Hey everyone,
I wanted to chime and offer my two cents on the ongoing situation. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a former administrator for this website, and a transgender person myself. I also own and co-run the TransEra community discord. With that context out of the way, let's dig into things.
First of all, I think the mod post in this thread misunderstands what the actual issue is from the community's perspective. The community's issue is not with leaks. The community's issue is not with investigations. The community's issue is with how the situation was handled.
It is one thing to ban a member for leaking something that was private. I think most people can understand that logic, even if they don't necessarily agree with the decision. Where you lost people is when you decide to start talking about investigating the issue seriously, as if there was ever going to be any kind of chat log or read receipt in Discord that provided a smoking gun. The entire 'investigation' could never be more than he said, she said, for that's all that Discord provides you.
I am very frustrated to see that the staff has a willingness to take a swing at a banned member who can no longer speak for herself here in a thread about transgender awareness, no less. The sheer lack of awareness is mind boggling. To take a shot by saying, 'Ketkat understood the importance of privacy in safe spaces, as she has championed this herself,' isn't just low, it is quite frankly pathetic. Why would ever think it is ok to take a snide shot at someone like this in an official capacity? I cannot believe that there is an administrator on staff who approved this. It makes staff look like the pettiest people on the planet, taking a shot at a former trans member of the community loved by the community in a thread about the trans community.
The community doesn't care about how the ResetEra staff feels right now. It isn't about the ResetEra staff feeling comfortable, it is about the ResetEra community feeling comfortable. Ultimately, the staff serves the community, not the other way around. When I was on staff, I was always willing to make myself uncomfortable if it meant making the community more comfortable, even if it meant having hard conversations that lasted long hours. That's part of being a volunteer, and that is part of serving. It isn't about you, the staff, it is about us, the community. That is something that has absolutely been lost as time has gone on.
There's a lot more I could say on my feelings, but my feelings are ultimately moot at this point, and so are words. What really matters at this point is actions. ResetEra staff, whether you agree with them or not (and I hope you do), the community feels extremely wronged right now. People are hurting, and they're hurting because you've hurt them. Now is the time to show that y'all really are the good people I know and worked alongside for years. Do the right thing, and show it with your words, not with your actions.
I would suggest the following:
- The moderator who made the post that has been linked around this thread needs to resign. In order for the community to move on and to heal, sometimes it is necessary for oneself to step aside. In this case, it is time for you to step aside and allow the healing process to begin.
- An apology should be posted for this whole situation. In this apology, you should clearly outline the steps that you take when evaluating transphobic content or other content that is anti-LGBT. There are plenty of us in the community that are former staff and could as easily articulate these rules, but you need to step forward and tell the community what they are. And then, you have to let the community hold you accountable to them. That's how you will open the door for the community to restore trust in you, by enforcing this policy (that you already have) not with your words, but with your actions.
- There needs to be a greater diversification in the administration table. This is something that has been great in the past, but after most of the original administration left, is severely lacking now. Please correct this decision with serious administration changes that will result in better conversations in the administration room with voices who are more concerned about doing right by the community than doing right by the moderation rulebook.
- And, this really should be a given, but at this point, Ketkat should be unbanned. Right or wrong, it doesn't really matter how you feel about it. It will be a good starting sign to restorting the trust between the community and staff. If Ketkat breaks the rules again, that's on her, but right now, it doesn't really matter. What matters is keeping the community together and restoring the trust that has been broken.
This is by no means the only things that have to happen or the only things that can happen, but I would call this a good start. It is hard. It is going to not be particularly fun for anyone involved. But, at the end of the day, it is worth it because this community and ResetEra are worth it. I urge this to be done at all haste.
If you have any questions for me, my inboxes are always open. If others have suggestions or additions to this list they'd like to see, please feel free to mention them, this was simply the first few big points that came to my mind.
Thanks,
Nicole
edit: fixed a typo
That's one of my big issues and that it's still happening isn't giving me any confidence in the staff.This didn't come out of nowhere and more words have been written asking for the consideration of staff feelings, than have for the people that had to endure that failure in general moderation for those months.
I wouldn't say cheating, but there is a reason, why male and female athletes are separated. Male bodies most of the time have a physical advantage over woman's bodies. What gender you identify with, doesn't change the nature of your physical body.This is something i noticed too even as a non-LGBT+:
. . . . it does seem like some PR company ran a massive campaign in social media this year targetting transgender people. The ones i often see is how transgenders participating in women sports are purposely 'cheating'.
Mods can feel however they wish, but sharing that here only serves to make it sound we should care more about their feelings of inadequacy over our treatment than our treatment itself. In any other thread with consequences less impactful to individual users this would be par for course. But many of the responses by staff here read as very tone deaf. This is one of those situations where we need some space to be honest about how our community is treated here. Trying to treat like a moderation issue and not a human issue appears to be the fundamental disconnect between the staff and the complaints I have read. Hopefully they can take some space to sleep, reboot, and see that with fresh eyes whenever they wake up.Jumping in to talk about how the discontent that has been expressed as a consequence of the above has reduced staff morale and made them upset is poor. Yet it happened in the first staff post. It happened in the second, and it's still happening.
Please explain how the staff concluded that Ket did what she did ("abuse of relationship", "violation", "dissection") with only her own post to go with; you can only assume at that point.
Smfh, not only is this not true, but get out of this thread of all places with it. Do some research on why trans women aren't all dominating the field in every sport we're allowed inI wouldn't say cheating, but there is a reason, why male and female athletes are separated. Male bodies most of the time have a physical advantage over woman's bodies. What gender you identify with, doesn't change the nature of your physical body.
This creates an philosophical problem, since woman, who were born with a male body, could keep there natural advantage, which would be unfair for woman, who were born with a woman's body. Do we sort people, how they were born or how they are identify with now?
We group people in different section, since they have different limits. So "woman" and "male" disciplines are technical just limit-group names to begin with. Maybe those groups needs to be updated and have more sections, similar to weight classes in boxing.
Going forward, the intent here is to address the issues with the community. Considering the brunt of this thread has been calling out mods for everything, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to come forward with some context in their actions or how this stuff makes them feel. That doesn't diminish the things that are being called out here - we are listening and working towards it (see my past staff post as to why there's currently a delay). We understand that the issues presented in the thread are the focus, and we are discussing that, but there are points where it feels like members are thinking of staff as "the other" and not people.
Again, we're listening, and working on addressing it. It weighs on the hearts of each member of staff, the events that have taken place here, and in the end we just want to make this a place for all of you.
Firstly. Thank you for making an attempt at some public discussion. I have more than a few words to say, which we'll get to now, but I want to make sure you know that I achnowledge this attempt at a first step.I know there have been some concerns regarding trans threads before. We have several trans members on staff that are most definitely consulted when it comes to trans issues. Are there things we can do better? Sure, and we're hoping to get to that point. However, part of that is that moderation is inherently reactive - we can't ban someone for a post before they make it. Like any thread, if a drive-by happens by some asshole, we can't actually do anything about it before the post itself is made. I'm hoping we can do better at catching patterns before they become more prominent, but it's not an exact science.
I wouldn't say cheating, but there is a reason, why male and female athletes are separated. Male bodies most of the time have a physical advantage over woman's bodies. What gender you identify with, doesn't change the nature of your physical body.
This creates an philosophical problem, since woman, who were born with a male body, could keep there natural advantage, which would be unfair for woman, who were born with a woman's body. Do we sort people, how they were born or how they are identify with now?
We group people in different section, since they have different limits. So "woman" and "male" disciplines are technical just limit-group names to begin with. Maybe those groups needs to be updated and have more sections, similar to weight classes in boxing.
The majority of transgender people have a negative experience when engaging in competitive sports and sport-related physical activity.
There is no direct and consistent research to suggest that transgender female individuals (and transgender male individuals) have an athletic advantage in sport and, therefore, the majority of competitive sport policies are discriminatory against this population.
There are several areas of future research required to significantly improve our knowledge of transgender people's experiences in sport, inform the development of more inclusive sport policies, and, most importantly, enhance the lives of transgender people, both physically and psychosocially.
I'm not really qualified to discuss this (still reading some stuff). But see this:
. . . . the general gist is that:
Very well said