[Admin required] Unfair points, warning and ban in CA category

...Ghost... · 08-04-2023 6:33pm #1

I have received an unfair thread ban and points in the CA category for thread title "Transgender man wins women's 100 yd and 400 yd freestyle races."

The topic is naturally one of the very divisive ones on Boards which can sometimes become heated and are prime for trolling, so lots of modding is needed. However, on this occasion, a usually fair Mod (Beasty) first sent a warning with 2 "instructions", one of which was unrealistic for the purpose of any discussion and both being condescending.

I should note that in the thread I was called a number of phobes and isms which I responded to with reasonable restraint.

The first mail with warning was in relation to what I would describe as a light hearted and jovial response to another poster. The exchange was deleted by Beasty, but the poster (victor8600) had written:

"I am not going to argue with you, I am "a large d!ck" both literally and figuratively. That's beside the point though. The only reason I have answered your post is because your arguments are so weak that I feel embarrassed for you and for people who are compelled to argue with you."

My reply, which was the reason for the warning:

"You can't argue, because you are out of steam and your views are coming under fire. You just can't take the heat. Get out of the kitchen 😂"

I conversed with Beasty and this was how it went.

...Ghost... April 7
Wasn't being uncivil. This was jovial.
The numpty comment in the other...OK, a little uncivil but check the context and see I was being restrained in my reply.
I know you have a hard job managing these threads. I don't envy you having to do it. You are a fairer mod than another on here....no names needed, but there needs to be more balance. I've seen a lot of benign posts deleted in recent times perhaps during sloppy thread cleaning. Annoying when I may have spent several minutes composing a comment....especially when on phone.

Beasty April 7
Never talk about other users
Stick to discussing the topic
Do you understand those 2 instructions?

...Ghost... April 7
Second "instruction" I try to do this as best as is reasonably possible in any thread, though they sometimes branch off.
First one, not so much. As it's a discussion with other forum users, to refrain from talking about other users would in effect end almost every thread before it got going. This is especially true in CA. Is there a user having an issue with how I am posting? I suppose I could block them so I don't see, or reply to their posts.
I am trying to have a robust discussion on the thread and I hope that is OK as long as I am being civil.

Discussion ended there

I think I was being reasonable and tried to explain myself here. I thought it a little rude not to receive a reply after my efforts, but left it there and moved on.

In the same thread I used one of the many acronyms used for the alphabet movement. Sometimes I type and sometimes I paste. I genuinely don't know and don't care to know what each letter refers to, as they seem to change or be added to over time and it becomes confusing to read. The acronym I posted was LGBTQIAP+ which I saw and found online numerous times.

The following exchange between Beasty and I ensued:

You are being warned for the following post:

...Ghost...✭✭✭
Apr 6, 2023

Transgender man wins women's 100 yd and 400 yd freestyle races.

OverhealApr 6, 2023
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120448640#Comment_120448640
Unspecific, vague, "I'm gonna make the claim not prove it lolz" zzz
There's more evidence of NO books being made available to kids than these specific books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDfjYCfU6rE
An image of the LGBTQIAP+ Kiddies section after parents walked through the library
View Post
What does the "P" you added refer to?

...Ghost... April 7
I assume it refers to pedophile judging by another poster commenting after the fact, but not confirmed. I've seen it in acronyms many times. I honestly dont know how many different letters apply to the alphabet acronym at this stage and don't know what some of the other letters actually refer to, but didn't repeat the same acronym after the other comment, just incase it does refer to pedophile. Being safe, I am now just using LGBT++++ or LGBTQ++++ as you can see in my posts.

Beasty April 7
And with that you are now threadbanned and I am applying a 2 point warning

...Ghost... April 7
Did you even read what I wrote? Must be better to be dishonest on here. I could have said the P referred to "pick your gender". But being honest I said I didn't know what it referred to when posting, you apply a ban. Good job. I take back my fairness comment from this morning.

Beasty April 7
You were being dishonest in what you said above
It's a terms that does not come up with Google search so a claim you have seen it used many times is absurd. You added that deliberately to troll the thread, and by the sounds of it you caused a reaction. There are still a number of reports I have to review and further action may follow

...Ghost... April 7
Really. I just found where I got it.
What does LGBTQIAP stand for? *Lesbian * Gay* Bisexual* Transgender* Queer * Questioning* Intersex* Asexual* Pansexual*

Terms & Definitions | Queer Resource Center | Amherst College

How is that for being Dishonest? There is is. Plenty of results here https://www.google.com/search?q=lgbtqiap%2B+meaning&oq=LGBTQIAP%2B&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512l7j0i10i512j0i512.5093j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

...Ghost... April 7
I found it yesterday when asking google what "I" in LGBT means and that's the page I found. I pasted the acronym, but when another poster mentioned pedophile, I thought it might actually refer to that, so I stopped using the term. I tell it as it is. I have no problem sharing my thoughts and beliefs. You have banned me unfairly and for being honest.

...Ghost... April 7
Do you intend to keep the thread ban active despite what I have said and shown?

Beasty 3:30PM
You posted it without knowing what bit meant? Seriously??
Yes the threadban remains

...Ghost... 5:52PM
Yes. I posted one of the many acronyms associated with the alphabet movement. Is it hard to believe that not everyone knows what each letter is supposed to mean? Especially when you consider there are multiple meanings for some of the letters.

Ended there

As you can see, I was upfront and gave links to support what I had posted and why. Perhaps the subject is close to Beasty judging by the irrational ban and unusually condescending warnings for someone who I would normally describe as a fair mod. I think it fair the warnings an ban be rescinded. I suspect it won't be reversed, as Beasty is right up there in the admin, but I thought I would make a general appeal to see if sanity and fairness would prevail.

Ten of Swords · 12-04-2023 8:51pm

Hi @...Ghost... I will take a look at this for you

Is that all of the PMs listed above? And is there anything else you want to add (context or background info)?

...Ghost... · 12-04-2023 11:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120470885#Comment_120470885

Thanks. That's most of the pms. There was another with the warning or ban attached. Beasty sent another pm after I posted here. I responded and heard nothing back. His comment was to accuse me of deception, by this method, or that. My response was that he had already made assumptions so bias in his decision was implied.

I would add that I'm aware the topic is very charged. Trolling was not what I was doing.

Ten of Swords · 15-04-2023 5:15pm

@...Ghost... I've looked at the overall context of this and based on what I've read above and chatting to the mod in question I really don't see anything to mitigate the sequence of events.

You had a warning from earlier in the thread for calling a poster a numpty and the mod included a specific warning when issuing the warning "next time it's a threadban". Instead of taking that to heart you persisted with your aggressive posting style and told another poster they couldn't argue and to "get out of the kitchen"

This prompted another warning and the mod instruction in the above PM

Never talk about other users
Stick to discussing the topic

This is not a new concept and doing either of the above has always attracted mod attention/sanctions. I don't know why you chose to argue these in your reply PM, they're not up for debate.

Next, you decided to troll the thread with the LGBT acronym, adding a number of letters including P at the end and, when asked what it referred to, suggested pedophile. I don't believe you didn't know what you were posting (ie random letters) and that you simply cherry picked a suitable definition from a google search once it was queried by the mod.

I also don't know why you chose to omit the final 2 PMs of your exchange, which offered a pretty weak defense of your previous actions in the thread and a doubling down of your after-the-fact google picked definition.

Given the previous warnings due to your posting style a threadban was the logical next step. There were no indications that you were going to change your abrasive posting or stop having a go at other posters. Throwing troll posts into the mix is just making yourself a time sink for the mods.

Finally - once you were threadbanned you immediately headed over to After Hours and started an extremely similar thread there (which subsequently had to be closed).

I'm not overturning the warning or threadban

Do you want an admin to review this?

...Ghost... · 15-04-2023 6:45pm

I appreciate you looking into it, but I think perhaps your ties to the LGBT forum has resulted in you viewing the complaint through a lens of bias. Everything I said was my honestly held opinion and I answered with honesty when asked about the acronym.

On the response to the numpty comment (fairly light tbf), I put my hands up. I was however being called common slurs and nothing is ever done to the posters who use these slurs. So calling the poster a numpty was hardly an unfair response and was quite restrained.

On the kitchen comment, this was a harmless jovial reply with no malice. It is ridiculous to take it as anything but and I am amazed it was even mentioned.

These explanations which imo didn’t need explanation were ignored. When someone has their mind made up, it’s not often their opinion can be changed and any proof is rubbished and dismissed.

With regards to the acronym, I did not and did not claim to say the letters were random. I had taken them from previous searches and as I said previously, not everyone knows what each letter in all the available acronyms mean.

I also did not say that the p stood for pedophile. I said that (based on another poster who replied to the comment with that suggestion) it might refer to pedophile. This is not the same as me suggesting it meant pedophile. I didn’t know what the “I” or “A” referred to either. I don’t live in that sphere and I’m not privy to all the alternate meanings of every variant of the LGBTxxxxxx acronyms.

I wonder if a single poster has been banned for calling someone a homophobe in CA. I very much doubt it. I didn’t see the poster who threw slurs at me get any warning or ban. Yet I get a thread ban because someone assumed I said or meant something I did not.

I pasted everything relevant from the PM thread. You don’t say what was relevant in the smaller PM thread other than to suggest it was a weak argument.

Finally, if you see a problem with the thread I created in AH and claim it to be similar to the thread in CA, then you are full of bias and are not suited to dealing with this resolution. Anyone can see the AH thread was borne of an intellectual curiosity and trying to understand something confusing within the LGBT sphere.

Having been banned as a direct result of not knowing something I posted, I saw it reasonable to ask the question and had received excellent replies.

Perhaps an admin should look at this and ideally not be closely tied to the LGBT sub-forum.

awec · 18-04-2023 10:37am

Hi,

I have reviewed this thread.

I do not believe your story that you were unaware of the acronym, certainly you are familiar enough with the acronyms as you engage regularly on threads regarding LGBT issues.

This is also not your first points picked up for being uncivil toward other posters.

Warning and threadban upheld. I suggest you improve your posting style, dial down the aggressive comments, particularly in threads about LGBT issues as unfortunately there is a pattern emerging here.

[Admin required] Unfair points, warning and ban in CA category

Transgender man wins women's 100 yd and 400 yd freestyle races.

Terms & Definitions | Queer Resource Center | Amherst College

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