Solved: LGBTQIA people. Is there a need for a sub-forum?

[El Hefe 612]

Okay… First, I know I'm new here. Second, I'm genuinely curious. And third, I read the entire 18-page thread of the "LGBTQ Divers?" question. As a openly gay, married man I would love to have a place to connect with other gay men, women, and like-minded individuals to discuss dive travel opportunities, to find dive buddies without having to worry about whether or not they might have a problem with me, and to feel comfortable talking about things that might impact us.


If possible, I'd like to have a board created under Non-Geographic Clubs called:


LGBTQIA Divers and Their Friends


I have spent the past week-and-a-half searching the internet (and this board) for such clubs, and I was surprised how lacking they were. It's been six years since the original question was posted in the thread referenced above. I know if I'm interested, that there are probably many others who would be too, but they may just be afraid to ask. Many of the responses in the thread above were not very understanding of what it is like living as an LGBTQIA individual in a predominantly heteronormative global society. Having such a space is not about excluding anyone, it's about having space where we don't have to worry about being who we are and can focus on what we love - diving (among many other things).


Thanks!

 

[Crazy_Canuck]

I agree with your take Rain Pilot. Some Cool, Some Weird, Some downright off the rocker shall we say. but that doesn't mean they cannot say what they want. I will only read what I want and reply to such as necessary.

 

[RainPilot]

I agree with your take Rain Pilot. Some Cool, Some Weird, Some downright off the rocker shall we say. but that doesn't mean they cannot say what they want. I will only read what I want and reply to such as necessary.

Sounds good to me my crazy Canadian cousin. I envy you, as a mod I have to read a lot of .... stuff I wish I could ignore.

 

[kelemvor]

Isn't having a separate area for LBGTQ in itself divisive?

 

[RainPilot]

Isn't having a separate area for LBGTQ in itself divisive?

Only if we make it so.

 

[MichaelMc]

asks for something that has literally zero cost or impact for me

There could be a cost. It is a group that faces hostility for their existence. Which other mentioned groups do not quite face. This creates work for mods and may have impacts on the site. I support the idea, for reasons of safe space for *divers*, but still did not vote.

 

[doctormike]

Isn't having a separate area for LBGTQ in itself divisive?

It would be if they weren't allowed to post in the "straight" forums!

 

[RainPilot]

There could be a cost. It is a group that faces hostility for their existence. Which other mentioned groups do not quite face. This creates work for mods and may have impacts on the site. I support the idea, for reasons of safe space for *divers*, but still did not vote.

As mods, we really have no problem with a bit of extra work. Believe me, this forum is very unlikely to generate any more work than a quiet Friday evening in the Pub.

I very much doubt that it will impact the site as a whole. If some members choose to leave because of the existence of such a forum then I for one think that will be a nett gain.

 

[Scuba Scott]

I was under the impression this was not a dating board.
Beyond that, do you really feel you are that different or would you prefer to be treated as equals?
I have a lot of trouble trying to imagine how sexual orientation could possibly have anything to do with diving. I have been diving with people of different sexual orientations and to be honest with you, I couldn't see a difference.
You want to be sure someone will not have a problem with you? What behavior will you engage in that someone may have a problem with? Sharing a room with another man? Happens all the time... it's called doubles rate.
I don't advertise my sexual orientation while diving because it isn't relevant.
Don't make your world smaller than it already is. It is hard enough finding dive buddies without adding another filter.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Given a few more days, this issue has grown. I made a rough count of the number of posters (not counting multiple posts by an individual) who made positive comments, and it almost equals the number of positive votes. I found only a couple of disapproving comments, and they do not seem to be strongly disapproving. Yet, at the time I am writing, the negative votes outnumber the positive ones. It seems strange, but I have seen the same phenomenon in other areas of life.

A couple of years ago there was a survey done in the cave divers forum about making a change to the line setup in a specific cave. The people who wanted it changed gave reasons for the change. The people who wanted it to stay the way it was started with a couple of reasons that were thoroughly dispelled as invalid by those who wanted it to change, and those reasons were never mentioned again. Eventually I wrote a post in which I pointed out that the people who were suggesting a change had listed good reasons for the change, and made a list of about 8 reasons that had not in any way been refuted by anyone who wanted things to remain the same. I said that it seemed to me that those who opposed the change had an obligation to give a reason, any reason, for wanting things to be the way they were. My post didn't make a difference. The people who were opposed to change continued to oppose without stating a reason. The majority of people responding opposed the change, and things are now still the way they always were.

I was genuinely curious then about the fact that people could hold a strong opinion without feeling a need to explain it, and I am curious about that now as well.

I love how some here just basically labeled everyone who voted no a homophobe who “doesn’t accept” the gay community. Myself and others are sick of the identity politics being injected into every facet of life. Everyone who supports this was all for a poll when the numbers were going “yes”, but now that the numbers have a majority with a “no” answer—the poll is clearly biased, we should just discount their votes and have it only directed at xyz people.

Some posters have brought up the issue of comment vs votes. This thread is a perfect example. I was one of those who simply voted no and went along my way until I was prompted to comment by a post said “look at those no votes and no one is commenting”. Why comment? Anyone who does comment gets posts like some of the above saying we should discount certain people’s opinions or they voted no, but they didn’t really mean it. People are voting no because they want to talk about scuba and scuba related topic, they don’t want to deal with this identity B*ll5h*t.

If this gets created, we might as well start making more subgroup. Lets make a Democrat, Republican, and Libertarian subgroups. Because why should I be forced to interact with someone who believes in enslaving personal freedom. They clearly don’t agree with my life choices; when I interact with people, I want to make sure they will all agree with me so I know we will get along. We can use the forums to know which dive operators might have political beliefs we disagree with.

This is a scuba website, scuba comes first. It's ok if the OP does, but if the OP wants to prioritize all the Gay/Lesbian aspects over scuba then he should go to one of the many gay and lesbian websites and start a scuba group.

EDIT-Even though I replied to John's comment, this is actually directed at several people, not John directly.

 

[doctormike]