Trans Awareness Week and Forum Moderation

The suspensions should have happened a lot sooner, but it's a good start.

I'm glad that the suspensions have begun, and very glad that you have clearly stated they will be permanent. Thank you for this step forward to the CS team. Hopefully this will sent a valuable message to those who would harm us that they and their viewpoints are not welcome here.

Thank you for taking these steps.

Good to see a clear statement on this.

I'm heartened to see such a strong statement. Thank you. ^_^

I'm heartened to see such a strong statement. Thank you. ^_^

Hey I may have been a jerk to you in the past and our interactions have been odd at times but I just wanted to say both I'm sorry and I'm glad your a member of the community. I appreciate your work greatly and it's helped me realize who I truly am and become a better person.

Absolutely the correct stance to take. Sending my love to all the trans folks out there!

Thank you, Paizo.

Nuke 'em where it hurts! I hope it works to make the forums a better place.

Thank you for addressing the elephant in the room and letting your team break the elephant guns out of the Armory.

The problem was that the elephant guns had been in the armoury this entire time. Tonya just kept the door locked while the rest of the team was clamouring for them.

Thanks to the team for doing their work now that they're allowed to.

I have only ire for management.

Hopefully this will lead to something of a virtuous circle. Banning the most visible transphobes will lead to a drop in the volume of moderation, which will make it easier to keep up, which will lead to further drops since threads can be moderated before they get so far out of hand.

thank you. hopefully things will get better

Thank you for this.

Worth noting that the week ends with Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is for remembering all those of our trans siblings who are killed each year. This world is still largely not a safe one for us; please, listen when we speak, and speak out when you see or hear cruel rhetoric.

Thank you for taking a firm stance.

FYI! In order to better protect our community's trans members with our currently available tools, we'll be locking this thread when we're off the clock at 5PM (PST). Apologies to our late night/international community members!

As Bill and Ted Heather would say, be excellent to each other!

Thank you for this stance. I also appreciate Keftius statement reminding us of TDoR

Thank you.

Thank you for this. My own partner is trans so it means a lot to me.

Hey CS staff? I appreciate you very much, and this was a much needed blog for my spirits today. Thank you.

Thank you for the strong stance <3

Thank you for the strong stance!

Thank you, CS Team, for always going the extra mile, even with one arm tied behind your back!

Great job folks.

Whoever drafted this blog post should probably be asked to do future blog posts updating us on any issues around UPW, Forum moderation, etc. Acknowledgement of the problem, clear statement of where the team stands on the issue, and a clear change in policy(action paired with the clear enactment of that action). Very well done.

It's really nice to see movement towards progress.

Thanks for this. This is making more positive that Paizo as a whole can turn the corner - but it's clear the workers and staff themselves are good peeps.

This is a good first step, but removing the worst posters on these fora does not automatically make them an affirming and welcoming place for all members of the community.

I would like to know that someone on the team had a primary responsibility to learn about online community management and exercise techniques to guide us all toward healthier forms of discussion. Several employees have posted about expectation management and civil discussion at various times. Community members have posted about how to better engage with each other. I would like to see one person tasked with nudging us to be our best selves on the forums, even if for a few months. Taking out bad actors is only bailing water unless you also build up good and healthy discourse.

I hope our transgender members can feel welcome on these forums again.

P.S. A transgender woman won Jeopardy! last night. Cheer on Amy again tonight!

This is a good first step, but removing the worst posters on these fora does not automatically make them an affirming and welcoming place for all members of the community.

I would like to know that someone on the team had a primary responsibility to learn about online community management and exercise techniques to guide us all toward healthier forms of discussion. Several employees have posted about expectation management and civil discussion at various times. Community members have posted about how to better engage with each other. I would like to see one person tasked with nudging us to be our best selves on the forums, even if for a few months. Taking out bad actors is only bailing water unless you also build up good and healthy discourse.

I hope our transgender members can feel welcome on these forums again.

P.S. A transgender woman won Jeopardy! last night. Cheer on Amy again tonight!

There are other plans already in progress and we should have more to say on those subjects in the next few days. This is the first step in an ongoing process.

I will say that since the implementation of the "INTOLERANCE" email system, the forums have gotten immensely better in just two days.

Indeed - it's like night and day.

Thank you. This was very sweet and heartening to read. <3

Wow I hadn't realized that posts about this issue were becoming bad. I guess there's little discussion about these topics in the online campaigns area. But congratulations on the firm stance! Hopefully this will help people think about how they interact with others before posting!

There are other plans already in progress and we should have more to say on those subjects in the next few days. This is the first step in an ongoing process.

I am glad to hear that, thank you.

It was high, high time. These hateful posts, and the completely justified pushback they had generated, were making the threads unreadable. Strong action badly delayed is way better than weak action or no action at all: Thank you.

It's heartening to see the needle moving on this, and is something the leadership team should take note of with respect to msking demonstrable change.

Since you are going to implement a policy that says that any “transphobic” statements are going to be met with a permanent ban, can we get a clear cut definition of what will be regarded as “transphobic”?

I need to know, explicitly, where the line is in order to decide whether or not I wish to stay.

Since you are going to implement a policy that says that any “transphobic” statements are going to be met with a permanent ban, can we get a clear cut definition of what will be regarded as “transphobic”?

I need to know, explicitly, where the line is in order to decide whether or not I wish to stay.

It seems pretty clear-cut to me.

Since you are going to implement a policy that says that any “transphobic” statements are going to be met with a permanent ban, can we get a clear cut definition of what will be regarded as “transphobic”?

I need to know, explicitly, where the line is in order to decide whether or not I wish to stay.

It's pretty simple. Trans women are women, trans men are men. Their existence is not up for debate or discussion and dissent to that has no place here.

Since you are going to implement a policy that says that any “transphobic” statements are going to be met with a permanent ban, can we get a clear cut definition of what will be regarded as “transphobic”?

I need to know, explicitly, where the line is in order to decide whether or not I wish to stay.

No. There will not be a clear cut definition that lets people know exactly how close to the line they can get without getting banned. Nor posters be able to rules lawyer some strict definition. Or at least there had better not be, because that's just inviting disaster.

Human social interaction is inherently fuzzy and not clear cut. It's context dependent

What will most likely happen is a continued practice of warnings and temporary suspensions for most problems and permanent ones for repeated offenses or the most egregious violations.

FAKE EDIT: This is not in response to the above posts, for the reasons keftiu, Raychael and thejeff deftly outlined. I started writing this post well before I saw the recent exchange.

Anyways~

I think a point of nuance sometimes lost in broad condemnations is that transphobia can be hard to spot. Please understand that when I say the following are dogwhistles, I mean they are made to look innocent by design.

If you feel alarmed--"Well, someone might do that one by accident!"--then take a step back and remember: All of this is still dependent on context. Mistakes happen, sure. Do we know the poster to be friendly to us? Does the poster back down when called out, apologizing if needed? Does their behavior change?

• Refusing to gender someone correctly, or to acknowledge previous misgendering of that person. Accidents happen a lot here, but especially if they're in an argument with one of us, the least they can do is check our profile/default to "they", right?

• Arguing for a "middle ground" or the importance of "balance" with regards to trans rights... while refusing to clarify what they think the "good middle grounds" or "bad extreme pro-trans grounds" are.

• Mocking people for caring about the treatment of Crystal Frasier, or implying it's "political", while never elaborating on whether her treatment was justified. In general, a poster mocking people for caring about trans rights issues without explicitly saying what he believes is a huge red flag.

• "I can't be transphobic, I have LGBTA+ friends." Optional Bonus Round: "And they're a lot less obnoxious than you. They'd agree with me."

• Citing concerns about "fake trans women" who invade women's spaces might seem like a fair boat to float--that poster isn't anti-trans women, they're anti-cis men who pretend to be trans women! Except... in practice, this is always a hypothetical used to deny trans women their rights as women. And it doesn't actually happen, because society doesn't trust trans women more than cis men.

• Making fun of nonbinary people, such as by deriding neopronouns or gender identities they haven't heard of before.

• Implying trans people are "anti free speech", especially if they aren't prepared to elaborate.

• Making up extreme "what ifs" where trans people could take over the world and start doing horrible things, like making HRT mandatory or sending misgenderers to gulags. We don't have any power and never have. Acting like we soon will is absurd. It's scaremongering to make us seem like a threat.

• Expressing more concern about how mean or abusive trans people are acting than over actual transphobia. "The real news story here is the too-loud smoke alarm!" At best, this is tone policing. At worst, the poster is trying to paint a narrative of trans people as the aggressors, always barking up the wrong trees. Related: implying that transphobia doesn't exist on the forums, or is "less common than people act like", or is only a problem because trans people call it out too often.

• Using transphobic remarks or behaviors as a "punishment" for a trans person behaving badly. For example, supporting a trans poster being misgendered because you think that poster was rude in an argument.

Also, this list isn't exhaustive, nor does technically falling into one of these pitfalls--or not quite fitting the parameters of any of them--seal your fate one way or the other. Do not take this as a how-to guide for avoiding wrongdoing or spotting wrongdoers. I'm just offering some insight on what I personally consider warning signs.

okay google how do Paizo lists work

EDIT: ALEXA HOW DO PAIZO LISTS WORK

EDIT x2: *copy-pasting furiously*

okay google how do Paizo lists work

EDIT: ALEXA HOW DO PAIZO LISTS WORK

EDIT x2: *copy-pasting furiously*

On Windows you can press alt + numpad 7 to get a bullet point.

••••••••

And alt + 777 gets a little circle!

○○○○○○○○

^○•○^

*grumbles and shakes fist in Ubuntu*

Much appreciated, KC.

A much needed breath of fresh air. My thanks to everyone who helped to actualize this.

Also, in regards to faith:

Some faiths do not believe in transgender people, that they either cannot exist or are a crime against their deity/religion.

This is not a religious website upholding those beliefs. It would be recommended gently that one adjourn to one of those that does uphold those beliefs, rather than try to violate policy here by the shifting sands of 'I'm not touching the line yet!".