Banned for dissenting from orthodoxy

JPNelsforearm

I was banned from posting in a thread that concerned a court case in which a transgender woman/man had intercourse with a woman, without telling her. She was convicted.

In a general reply to various posters saying that a transgender "shouldnt bother/has no obligation to tell someone they are sleeping with that they are transgender, and that its no big deal no one would care etc etc etc.." In general displaying a blase attitude to what many would deem to be a serious deception.

I replied

What type of bubble do you live in, to think the vast majority of men wouldn't think its critical information to know? Thats borderline rape imo, massive violation.

In the UK such an act would be regarded as a sexual offence
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2013/1051.html

Sexual offences act 1956
Evidence that the complainant was deceived as to the identity of the person with whom (s)he had intercourse.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/consent/


I would regard it as being raped as it is something I definitely would not consent to.

I was banned under these rules.

8. Abusive language that is homophobic/transphobic will not be tolerated and the persons posting it will be banned from the forum. Saying that transgender is a choice, saying that trans surgeries are cosmetic, or calling trans people "a man/woman who thinks they are a woman/man ", will result in an immediate infraction and/or ban, as these things aren't "opinions", they are falsehoods rooted in transphobia.

14.This forum is welcome to everyone regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity to discuss LGBT issues. We do however insist that people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and that the forum be treated as a safe space for LGBT people. If you contribute to a thread you are expected to be willing to learn about the issues involved, and listen to what is said by members of the community/ies involved.

I fail to see how my post broke those rules when considered in the context of other posters and the thread in question saying they see nothing wrong with violating the Sexual offences act in the UK, and I merely expressed my shock and opinion that such a course would be "borderline rape" considering many men would not consent. I would hazard a guess if such a case was to arrive before the Irish courts we would follow the UK decisions..

I have no intention of trolling the LGBT forums or engaging in debate with people who are so thin skinned they cannot handle an alternate viewpoint(backed by legal facts), however I dont see why I should have a ban on my account just because someone couldnt handle being disagreed with.

Toots

JPNelsforearm can you please confirm that you have PM'd the moderator who banned you, and attempted to resolve this with them before starting a thread here?

Thanks

JPNelsforearm

Toots wrote: »

JPNelsforearm can you please confirm that you have PM'd the moderator who banned you, and attempted to resolve this with them before starting a thread here?

Thanks

Yes, I said I have no intention of posting in that forum if what I said is deemed bannable(though its not against any rules I can see), I dont want a ban on my acc, he said post here, refused to change his/her mind

Toots

Grand so. I'll look into this. Please be aware that because of the time of night and the fact that the next two days are Christmas Eve and Christmas day, it might take a bit longer than usual.

Toots

OK, I've had some time to look over this and I can see that your post does indeed break the forum rules.

In relation to point 8, saying that someone who is transgender and doesn't disclose that fact before engaging in sexual activity with someone is a rapist, is transphobic. It's akin to saying the person is a man dressed up as a woman; the woman didn't "used to be" a man, they may have had a male body, but they were still a woman.

In relation to point 14, your post was definitely not respectful or treating trans people with dignity.

While you're entitled to your opinion, the manner and forum in which you chose to express it was not appropriate.

With this in mind, I am upholding the 2 day ban.

JPNelsforearm

Toots wrote: »

OK, I've had some time to look over this and I can see that your post does indeed break the forum rules.

In relation to point 8, saying that someone who is transgender and doesn't disclose that fact before engaging in sexual activity with someone is a rapist, is transphobic. It's akin to saying the person is a man dressed up as a woman; the woman didn't "used to be" a man, they may have had a male body, but they were still a woman.

In relation to point 14, your post was definitely not respectful or treating trans people with dignity.

While you're entitled to your opinion, the manner and forum in which you chose to express it was not appropriate.

With this in mind, I am upholding the 2 day ban.

Eh, how can it be against site rules to cite UK law(when they come from a similar common law jurisdiction)? Also, I specifically said borderline rape, not rape, as I dont know how it would play out in Ireland as there are no decisions that I am aware of to back up my statement.

Toots

The inclusion of the word "borderline" doesn't change the nature of your post. You didn't mention any laws in the post that got you banned. What you posted was not in keeping with the forum charter and that is why you were banned.

As I said, I will not remove the ban. If you wish to appeal to an Admin you can, however the ban will expire today anyway, and by the time an Admin has a chance to look at this it could well have lifted anyway.

JPNelsforearm

I dont really care about the ban from the specific forum, Im not going to post there, as it clearly has a 1984 interpretation of what constitutes acceptable speech. I made a statement that was backed up by law, I didnt cite the law, nor did anyone ask me to expand or clarify my statement before banning me, I have cited the law I was referencing to you, yet somehow that still has no bearing on your interpretation of the direction my initial statement was stemming from.

Imo, you should put up a "no dissent/safe space" warning or require posters to opt in like in the football/soccer forum if its designed to be an echo chamber. Its very disconcerting to click into a topic on the main page and the speech policy suddenly reverses depending on where you go, regardless of the way the topic is framed in the OP.

You can close this, there is no point in discussing it any further. Cheers anyway.