Why is there a need for a gay forum ?

fisty · 05-12-2002 4:43am #1

[This was split from the Stereotypes Thread - yellum ]

Probably not the place to voice this thought but i have to get it out of the oul system...
How come you want a board for Gay and Lesbian Issues? why?
Surely in this day and age we need to be less and less segregated?
Doesn't segregation breed distrust?
I'm not so sure this board is either a good idea for gay boards.ie members or straight.
Boards.ie shouldn't have a board about sexual orientation imho. It's a like a step backwards.
Am I making Sense?
let me put it like this: man woman black white brunette blonde old young, you can come to love anyone! Why do gay people feel the need for their own board? - Get with the times! Have a Board about relationships or something, gay or straight its all the same problems!
Its not like theres a special board for people who like brunettes, so why should it be such for guys who like guys or girls who like girls?

And this topic, Got any questions? - whats the point? - you folks like members on the same sex, It's 2002 - I think most people intelligent enough here can accept gay people at this stage in social evolution.

Please tell me if this makes sense to anyone - I'm sure i'll get loads of the "you're a homophobic" stuff.
But can anyone at least Identify with what I'm saying?
my main question is -
{Why do you feel the need to have a board designated to your sexuality?}
Sorry - I just feel its a step in the wrong direction.

Shinji · 05-12-2002 12:13pm

Congratulations - if those are your real opinions, then you're a lot more enlightened about sexuality than most people. That's kinda the crux though - most people /don't/ feel that way about it.

This is an open board. It's not excluding any straight people or segregating gay people. I think more straight people than gay people have posted here since it was started up, and certainly I haven't noticed any of the active gay posters slacking off on their input to other boards!

Besides that - homosexuality and sexuality in general is an interesting topic of conversation. There are all manner of social, psychological and political issues surrounding it, which make for interesting discussions - and this is, after all, a discussion forum.

(As an aside... I've never seen a board more carefully considered by the admins before they created it. Boards usually just spring up overnight - this one took months of careful deliberation and watching threads elsewhere before Dev decided to, er, experiment with homosexuality... Ur.... You know what I mean. I don't think threads asking why the board exists are particularly useful now - people had a chance to have input during the lengthy deliberation stage.)

Gordon · 05-12-2002 12:17pm

Er, why segregate games ie. Blacknova and Counterstrike? Lets shove them into one big Games board.

Makes perfect sense to me. There are Homosexual communities but there are no Heterosexual communities that I know of.

hedgetrimmer · 05-12-2002 12:40pm

From my point of view (as a bog-standard user), I would never have raised the issues I have raised in any other forum, and the fact that this forum was created made me focus on those issues. I hope it does not promote segregation, and I don;t think it does - certainly I have received nothing but supportive views and constructive guidance thus far from this board.

Just my thumbs up and tuppence

Mercury_Tilt · 05-12-2002 12:54pm

This post has been deleted.

fisty · 05-12-2002 4:44pm

Answers my question.
Cheers.

chernobyl · 06-12-2002 1:01am

I agree with teh fisty..tbh!

hedgetrimmer · 06-12-2002 12:41pm

I think the amount of posts and discussion already here is enough justicification, IMO

DeVore · 06-12-2002 1:22pm

Oi Shinji!!

Actually we have debated the Canabis legalisation board for longer then the GLB board was debated....

This is not the "whahey we're gay" board. I carefully chose the name as *some* people have issues surrounding their sexuality, questions, difficulties with parents, ignorance, places to meet up etc etc...

I mean, I highly doubt anyone has ever sat their parents down in the kitchen one night and choked on the words: "Mom, Dad... I want to tell you something. I fancy brunettes".

DeV.

De Rebel · 06-12-2002 3:28pm

I don't see the board as any big deal - its not an attempt to divorce ourselves for the rest of society, simply a place where like minded people; people with shared concerns and experiences (what DeV would call a community) can exchange views and opinions and seek the views and opinions of others.

And I very much welcome the non-gay posters - that will help keep this from degenerating into an online version of a gay ghetto and help place topics in the context of the wider community

and going off topic for a moment..............

Originally posted by Shinji
before Dev decided to, er, experiment with homosexuality...

and given a certain picture in a cetain supplement in a certain irish newspaper last sunday i'm sure we would all wecome it if DeV would do a bit more experementing......

DeVore · 06-12-2002 6:16pm

Originally posted by De Rebel

and given a certain picture in a cetain supplement in a certain irish newspaper last sunday i'm sure we would all wecome it if DeV would do a bit more experementing......

aaaaahahhahah

um... er..... *blush*

Well, that certainly got a good laugh round the office here, not least from me! I'm not sure what to think but I s'pose I should be flattered hahahah.

(Personally I hate that picture though!)

DeV.

yellum · 06-12-2002 11:38pm

People have unique interests and sometimes these interests bring them together physically or in a virtual environment. Sometimes the only reason for this gathering is that one unique point.

Thats what the GLB forum is to me. We are here to discuss and communicate about GLB issues and so far to me its been a great success.

A lot of the forums here on boards had users who did not stray into any other forum. IrelandOffline being an example of this. Lots of the members were only there to discuss the one issue.

People use categories to sort information out, they even use it to describe themselves, if things weren't categorised and had sub categories we might just have one giant forum on boards.ie called stuff where everything on anything was discussed.

People keep questioning why this forum exists when there is no heterosexual forum. Just because one group has a forum does not mean the opposite type one is needed. If a heterosexual board is needed to discuss heterosexual issues then make a post in the admin forum and request one.

Without meaning to sound bitch or harsh, I'm amazed people have such energy in complaining about a forum being set up. Generally people nowadays could give not one damn about things if they don't interfere with their life, yet this forum creation created way more input from the straight members than from the GLB members that wanted it created.

BuffyBot · 07-12-2002 12:48am

Originally posted by yellum
People keep questioning why this forum exists when there is no heterosexual forum. Just because one group has a forum does not mean the opposite type one is needed. If a heterosexual board is needed to discuss heterosexual issues then make a post in the admin forum and request one.

Without meaning to sound bitch or harsh, I'm amazed people have such energy in complaining about a forum being set up. Generally people nowadays could give not one damn about things if they don't interfere with their life, yet this forum creation created way more input from the straight members than from the GLB members that wanted it created.

Have to agree fully here. I was amazed there were so many people complaining about it. I did write a big long reply to the original post earlier (including a similar point to Dev's no one needs to come out as a brunette lover to their parents - I can't prove it, but I had it first

), but IE being crap, crashed and I lost it.

Anyway, most of my points have now been covered, so I'm not going to go over them again, except to say I think the board is a good idea for people GLB and not, to discuss GLB issues.

De Rebel · 07-12-2002 1:21am

Yellum: ”Without meaning to sound bitch or harsh, I'm amazed people have such energy in complaining about a forum being set up.”
BuffyBot: “Have to agree fully here. I was amazed there were so many people complaining about it.”

Relax guys, there are very few complaints – not even one in this thread as far as i can see. fisty asked a reasonable question by challenging the existence of the forum and it apears that he got an answer that satisfied him.

And if there are complaints they prolly come from some poor old hetty with his nose out of joint cause they ain’t got a board for themselves…

Anyway I think we are all agreed that the forum is a good idea. And thats coming from someone who first came to boards.ie to learn about IOFFL, and has since found a number of other boards that are of interest.

yellum · 07-12-2002 1:35am

De Rebel: This thread is fine, but theres a load of old ones in the admin forum where there was negativity and the reasoning I mentioned above was used.

DeVore · 07-12-2002 12:36pm

Ah now yellum.... You arent being scientific about that!

You forgot your control group!

Put up ANY board and theres ALWAYS a load of nay-sayers. They take a position on it, make up some reasonable-logical arguments and then everyone plays the "lets see how nit-picky we can be!" game. Often they dont even really believe their positions, but they want to see if they can argue them! Honestly...

The GLB argument was good, it focused the reason for this board being here and all but it was no more vociferous then most others I've seen...

I'm sure there are people who would gladly want to see this board deleted or never set up. However I think you are being a bit defensive, I really havent seen anyone seriously giving it socks to stop this board.

Anyway, as I say, theres only one "um" in this world.

fuk um!

DeV.

Why is there a need for a gay forum ?

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