This is the mod-sanctioned LGBT (etc.) thread designed for discussion of:
A) The struggle of non-heterosexual people to achieve equality in society; or the struggle to establish or re-establish heterosexuality as the legally-sanctioned norm for society
B) specific instances of these struggles (court cases and decisions);
C) progress and set-backs in these processes (US states legitimizing same-sex marriage or banning it).
The Moderation team have been concerned at the extent to which recent threads on this subject have tended to turn into one great big troll/flamebait fest faster than you say “Jack Robinson.” It's our hope that by starting a mod-sanctioned thread we can slow this tendency down (even if we can't entirely stop it), and encourage a more civil debate between different perspectives.
We will treat this thread with similar stringent conditions to those we use for US Presidential election threads:
In addition to the usual rules regarding no flaming, no baiting, and no trolling, we we also rigidly enforce no mocking nicknames, and no gloating.
There are three other rulings specific to this thread:
1) Referring to non-heterosexual persons as mentally ill or equating not being heterosexual as akin to being a pedophile will - in most cases - bring us down on you like a ton of bricks.
2) Deliberately misgendering people who have declared their preferred personal pronoun will make the ton of bricks look like a ton of feathers.
3) Discussions of religious prohibitions on non-heterosexual behavior will be tolerated to the extent that they do not evolve into general discussions of religions or a particular religion. Everything said above about how trolling and flaming non-heterosexuals applies equally to trolling and flaming religious people.
CLAIMS SHOULD BE SOURCED. But specifically note the following.... Wikipedia is an acceptable source; as are major media outlets, regardless of their perceived bias or lack thereof. Noting that a major media outlet has a particular orientation is valid; squabbling over whether a particular source is valid or not simply on the basis of its political orientation is strongly discouraged. Disagreeing with Wiki or a major media outlet is absolutely fine, but counterclaims should also be sourced.
If we find that people are exploiting loopholes in the above rulings, or coming up with new ways of insulting each other that are specific to this topic, we reserve the right to edit this OP to address these accordingly.
We encourage you to be polite to each other. We appreciate that this is a topic over which people have strong feelings - but this is no excuse to be rude. And yes, this is mod-sanctioned despite the lack of a Mod owning the OP.
First incarnation
Second incarnation
Third Incarnation
Text derived from previous versions.
