Homophobic years, please just let me be.

First off, let me just say everything is going to be totally fine, because honestly, there is zero point in wasting your energy getting all worked up over nothing.. 😁

So, basically, yesterday over on the policy board, two big threads popped up out of nowhere, one titled something like "Ally of the Year" and the other one being "Bigot of the Year."

And man, I don't know what to tell you, I ended up dropping this super chill, congratulatory post in that "Bigot of the Year" thread.

But then, just like that, boom—both the bigot and ally threads just vanished into thin air.

No warning, no explanation, nothing... they just straight-up disappeared. Like, poof! Just gone! :vrti rukicama:
I have absolutely no clue who went into the collective consciousness of this forum and decided to wipe them out, and honestly, I have no idea why either.

Now, I won't go too deep into it since I actually just finished chatting about this with Edge a little bit ago, so I'm not trying to repeat myself.

But indirectly, it’s really bugging me because those topics—you know, the whole Bigot vs. Ally thing—they feel so relevant right now, like everything happening in the news today gets turned into a massive discussion here immediately.
It almost feels like we had a "Bigot of the Year" title floating around last year or the year before, but for this year? Total radio silence.

So, here is my question... where am I supposed to leave my posts about the 2013 Bigot of the Year award?
Where can I actually start those threads? Which sub-board should I use?
Are they just going to get nuked again?
Is it okay if I try to repost my original comment, or was there something inherently "problematic" about it? (I mean, whoever deleted the existing thread definitely knows exactly what's going on here.)

Look, if anyone has a hint, some guidance, or even just a little direction, please hit me up!

It’s starting to seem like that topic is somehow "dangerous" or like it's going to tear the whole forum apart, or whatever... I don't know. It’s like there’s this weird vacuum left behind; the thread is gone, but the vibe is still just hanging there in mid-air. If anyone else is thinking about opening a similar thread, hey, let me know so I can see it!
🤷 Seriously, what else am I supposed to think?

I mean, just give me some clarity here... we can talk about anything under the sun, but suddenly certain things are off-limits?

Actually, I'm not trying to cause trouble or stir the pot for no reason, I genuinely just want to know where I can post my tribute without it getting deleted again.
It feels like everywhere else on the internet, people are shouting from the rooftops about who deserves the "Bigot of the Year" title and hoping they keep it for years to come, but here, everyone is walking on eggshells and acting all hesitant and vague. 🤷

I'm wondering, was there some kind of outside pressure to scrub those specific threads, especially that second one that got wiped?
I'm just asking, okay? I know how it feels to deal with pressure and frustration. If there actually *was* pressure, just tell me straight up—I'll handle it, I promise. Don't worry about yourselves, nobody is coming for you, I've got your back. I'm not about to let anyone come after you guys. 🙂 🙂

Anyway, if anyone wants to hang out and chat about which post it was, or if you want to share your own take, vent a little, or just explain your side of things, I'm all ears! 😁

Jacob Allen said:Exactly, just a little hint, some guidance, something...

The homophobe of the century 🤔

loneraven25 said:The biggest homophobe of the century 🤔

That’s not what I meant—I was referring to that whole "homophobe of the year" thread that got nuked.

Look, there’s no need to start a whole new thread over every tiny little detail;
If you want to talk about the LGBT community, advocacy groups, or anything related to those lifestyles, why not just start one massive, overarching discussion thread? Then you can all hash it out there...
Besides, honestly, stuff like that doesn't really belong in the Politics section anyway. It’s also just my take, but it feels like the current administration is being a bit too heterophobic lately, so they're letting just about everything slide through...

Patrick Bailey4 said:Look, don't go starting a whole new thread over every tiny little thing;
Just wait until someone kicks off a massive global discussion about the LGBTQ community, gay rights groups, or whatever else is going on, and then you can jump in...
Besides, stuff like that doesn't even belong in the Politics section, and honestly, the current administration is being way too heterophobic right now so they're just letting everything slide...

Okay, fine, I can totally see how the Politics sub isn't exactly the perfect spot for this topic, but calling it a "tiny little thing" is a bit much because it really isn't that insignificant when literally every news outlet in the country is covering it.

Plus, I’m genuinely wondering what kind of message we're sending by labeling someone a homophobe in this day and age? Is it political? Religious? Sports-related? Media-driven? Health-focused? Sure, maybe there's a health angle to homophobia, why not?

I mean, back when that one guy was labeled the most homophobic person in America in 2013, what kind of statement was that supposed to be?

So, where am I actually supposed to start a thread to talk about this and, you know, actually have a conversation?

Seriously, after five pages of back-and-forth, someone just decided it wasn't worth it and nuked the whole thing. No response, no image posted, nothing... 🤷
It would have been so much better if we could have just moved the conversation to a more appropriate mega-thread and said, "Hey, let's talk about the Homophobe of the Year here," but nope... absolutely nothing... it's like it doesn't even exist... 🍿

Jacob Allen said:Well, look, I can agree that the Politics subforum might not be the absolute best spot for a topic like this, but it’s a minor thing—though maybe not that minor since everyone picked up on the news.

Beyond that, I find myself wondering: what kind of message does it send when someone is labeled the "homophobe of the year"? Is it political? Religious? Sports-related? Media-driven? Health-related? Sure, homophobia can impact health, why wouldn't it?

If some public figure had been branded the most homophobic person in America back in 2013, what kind of message would that have sent?

Which subforum would actually be an appropriate place to open a thread and, you know, discuss this properly?

I mean, after five pages, someone just decided it wasn't worth it and wiped it out. No response, no image provided... nothing.🤷
At the very least, they could have moved it to a larger, more suitable thread and said, "Hey, we're discussing the homophobe of the year over here now," but instead... nothing. It just doesn't exist.🍿

What I'm saying is, there should be a broad, general thread where people can talk about this stuff.
Creating SPECIAL THREADS specifically for "Homophobe of the Year" or "Homofriend of the Year" seems like overkill to me.
Politics isn't the perfect venue, but yeah, right now, it’s basically the only option we've got.

And frankly, the way things are handled is unfortunately quite true. It's become common practice for the moderators on this forum to just delete posts without any heads-up. A single short message or a quick explanation via PM would solve everything.
But no, it seems they actually enjoy it when people complain, leading to debates and waiting around for a response from the mod team.🤷

Patrick Bailey4 said:I’m telling you, we seriously need to start a massive global thread just so everyone can vent about it.
In my opinion, having all these hyper-specific threads for the "homophobe of the year" and his buddy is getting way too out of hand.
Politics isn't exactly the most perfect playground for this kind of thing, but yeah, it's pretty much our only option right now.

And honestly, it's the absolute truth. It seems like the standard move for the mods on this forum is to just wipe posts clean without even giving us a heads-up, when really just sending one quick little DM with an explanation would fix everything.
But nope, I guess they actually get a kick out of watching people complain and then starting whole debates while waiting for the moderation team to finally say something. 🤷

Look, I'm not even complaining, I just genuinely want to know where we can actually host a discussion like this?

Alright, so if we're treating this like a greeting card, can we just post it in the cards section? Like... "Congrats to Cardinal Dolan on being named the homophobe of the year for 2013!"

If it's not a greeting card, though, where else could it go? Seriously, where? 🤷

Jacob Allen said:I mean, after five whole pages of discussion, someone just decided it wasn't worth it and wiped the whole thing out.

I haven't checked the Politics section yet, so I’m totally in the dark about who deleted the thread or what the actual drama was. My bad! I'm assuming either Scott or Stryker will weigh in by tomorrow at the latest, and hopefully, even the moderator who pulled the plug will give us some clarity.

But honestly, if that really happened, I want to point something out. If a thread has already gone on for five pages, even if it turns out to be off-topic or inappropriate, it shouldn't just vanish into thin air without any explanation. Usually, there should be a final closing post explaining why the topic can't stay up on the site. If a thread needs to be nuked, it could easily be done a day later, giving both the original poster and the regular community members enough time to actually see what's going on. That is, unless the thread was absolutely spiraling with rule-breaking stuff like hate speech—but from what I can tell, that doesn't seem to be the case here.

rustydrifter10 said:I haven't checked out Politics yet so I have no clue who nuked the thread or what the deal was, but hey, I'm sure either Scott or Stryker will weigh in by tomorrow at the latest, and hopefully the mod who deleted it will too.

But seriously, if that's what happened, I really think we should point out that a five-page thread—even if it ended up being totally unnecessary or off-topic—shouldn't just vanish into thin air without any explanation! It’s common sense to leave a final closing post explaining why the topic can't stay on the PDF, you know? If they absolutely have to kill it, they could easily wait until the next day so the author and the regular users actually have a fair shot at seeing the info before it's gone. That is, unless the thread was a total dumpster fire full of rule-breaking stuff like hate speech, but from what I can tell, that's not the case here.

Honestly, don't even sweat it because there's zero need for apologies... I'm in no rush and it's not like this whole forum is going to disappear overnight. 😁

And look, I'm not complaining or anything, someone deleted it and so be it... maybe he was just tired, it was late, he wanted to get to bed, or maybe he was already having a rough night and just snapped, whatever, it's no biggie, he paid the price for the topic. 😁

I'm not sure if there was actual hate speech involved, at least not from my perspective, but listen... people perceive things in all sorts of ways, and "hate speech" can sometimes just mean someone got labeled as the homophobe of the year or something like that. 🤷

Just don't let it get to you too much, because I'm pretty certain someone probably felt called out or targeted, and now they just need a little breathing room to figure out what they want to say, how to say it, or if they even want to say anything at all.

Everything is all good with me! 🤷 😁

The whole Pride parade season is over, and honestly, I’d rather just leave those topics in the past. 🙂

But if you're really hell-bent on this, I could bundle all those points together and get them onto the close politician PDF by Saturday. 🙂

Make up your mind.