I am befuddled by some, er, particular comments in a way I cannot express very well.
Caelapes wrote:Inviting bigots to harass oppressed members of one's community (which is what would happen if your suggested invitation was made) isn't bold, it's reckless and irresponsible.
This hits the nail on the head for what I personally believe, and what I'm sure others in the LBGTQ+ community, as well as our allies, believe. I'm more than willing to engage with individuals who aren't supporters of the community, but this isn't the Steven Crowder's "Change My Mind" meme-- and frankly a pride festival is not an appropriate venue for that.
Trumpsupporter wrote:While lgbt ppl face some marginalization and it is portrayed as a civil right issue, bear in mind homosexuality isn't endorsed by major religious groups. I'm guessing europeia is just trying to look good and be on diversity and this is the majority viewpoint of modern young Internet users but by the comments from some users here, religious ppl r now being portrayed as intolerant.
This is dumb. LBGTQ+ people don't face "some" marginalization -- we face marginalization period. Europeia isn't just "trying to look good", we're actually a pretty diverse community with a large LBGTQ+ identifying playerbase. Frankly, if it weren't for Europeia and NS I probably wouldn't have been able to come out. This game gave me an amazing support network and allowed me to understand who I was IRL. This is the case for many of our LBGTQ+ players. In fact, we literally spoke about it last night on our Mixlr broadcast. Religious people aren't being portrayed as intolerant -- intolerant people are being portrayed as intolerant. And, good. Just to name two players, both myself and the President of Europeia are religious and gay. My faith is very personal to me and it has gotten me through very tough personal times -- it's something I've been able to turn to when I have little left to rely on. But, to the same extent it's incredibly disingenuous to use religion as a shield for shitty beliefs.
Christian Democrats wrote:First, not all opponents of homosexuality are bigots.
Yes, they are.
Christian Democrats wrote:If the purpose is gay pride (creating a space for gays), Europeia's event is questionable for a number of reasons. If the purpose is to "welcome" players "regardless of political ideology or beliefs," the event fails dismally.
No, what's questionable is your continued pressing of this non-issue, which comes off as being morally disingenuous and being a homophobe.
Ambrella wrote:The purpose of the festival is to support LGBTQ+ players regardless of their backgrounds,
ideologies, etc. To welcome people who would participate in good faith even if Europeia may otherwise not see eye to eye with them (ex. Cormac).
It is not a platform for anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and attitudes. This event was prompted by a resurgence of such bigotry in this game, so it would absolutely not be a welcome part of the festival.
Europeia has an incredibly large number of LGBTQ+ players, and we want both them and members of the community throughout NS to feel accepted and loved. I'm not sure why anyone has a problem with that, and if you do, you don't have to participate.
To elaborate some on Sopo's post because there seems to be some level of confusion-- ideologies specifically referred to IC ideologies-- as in we were welcome players regardless of what sphere they identified as being a part of; if they were raider, defender, independent, etc.
Solorni wrote:The reactions from certain individuals is perplexing. Events celebrating the LGBTQ+ community as well as raising awareness are meant to do just that. Celebrating their community does not involve criticizing them for who they are. That is neither the time nor the place. Other groups have celebrations relating to their group; people wouldn't be saying "Did you make sure to invite anti-Semites to your celebration of Jewish life and culture"? It's
really not the time or the place.
It is also easy for people to forget that the LGBTQ+ community still faces a ton of discrimination, even in Western countries. Coming out is still not easy and there is still a ton of bullying against the community in elementary school and high school where a large segment of NSers are. As well, discrimination is particularly strong if you do not include the lesbian and gay part of LGBTQ+. Not saying that they don't face discrimination (they do), but the lesbian and gay community has had a lot more acceptance compared to other parts of it such as people who identify as bisexuals and especially transgender. So it is important that we continue to push for all members of the LGBTQ+ community, because there remains a lot of discrimination against them.
Furthermore, Europeia also has a proud history in this regard with our large population of people from the LGBTQ+ community. Members of Europeia have bravely come out for the first time in our community and speak of their experiences. It has also been a region where a notorious secret anti-lGBTQ+ individual once resided. So while some deride Europeia for doing this because it is 'easy publicity', I see it as celebrating all those LGBTQ+ individuals who reside in Europeia. It's important for us to let people know that they are accepted here and to celebrate that acceptance. I imagine that we have members of our community who struggle with who they are, who perhaps are bullied or afraid of being bullied in real life and it is important to us that we make them as welcome as they can be. Additionally I imagine there are people in Europeia who might be apprehensive or unsure about the LGBTQ+ community and so it is important that they too can learn and grow as individuals.
Some of the reactions here have keenly demonstrated why we need to show that we support the LGBTQ+ community as well as raising awareness and acceptance.
Thank you, Rach.
Christian Democrats wrote:When I asked if Europeia was encouraging people who consider homosexuality immoral to attend its event and engage with Europeia's LGBT residents, I was slightly hopeful -- but only for a second -- that Europeia was doing something bold for once.
Well, I can tell you that we, Europeia, really don't care what you were slightly hopeful about or really what you view it as. To be honest, it's kind of tacky for a straight person (I assume?) to chide LBGTQ+ leadership in a Region on how they should approach an event they have a much deeper and intimate understanding of.