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\$\begingroup\$

It's been a few years, much has changed since I last visited here, especially for me. I am alive, happy, and in the best health I have ever been. For long timers, I am sure you can puzzle out who I used to be, even 4 years away and I'm just outside of the top 10 in rep.

Nevertheless, the old saying, "you can never go back" seems to be very true here. I am going to share a screen capture here and, content warning wise, it's got a couple of transphobic slurs in it. One of which has a distinctly Australian flavour to it. Anyways, I am deeply saddened on two fronts:

  1. Simply encountering this in the first place. Despite my frustrations a few years ago, with a lot going on in my world, I never felt that the community here was anything other than welcoming and open.

  2. They didn't have the nerve to reveal who they are. They chose to post an "answer" to an 11 year old question (Does lens speed still increase meaningfully when the physical aperture is larger than the sensor size?) of mine knowing that I would get notified, but they did it with a sock account.

Sorry, I guess this is goodbye for me again.

bigotry

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    \$\begingroup\$ I am sorry. This is incredibly offensive behavior and is not in any way acceptable on this specific site or anywhere on the network. I've removed the answer, reset their username and will investigate further. People who behave in this way are not welcome here. \$\endgroup\$
    – Catija StaffMod
    Commented Oct 3, 2021 at 23:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Absolutely. It's the least I can do. I understand the stress of trying to participate in a space where you don't feel safe and if this leaves you feeling like you still must leave, I completely understand that. On the company level we feel very strongly that you should be able to participate here safely and we're working to support that. If you'd like to reach out by email, mine is on my profile. I've also shared this post with the head of our Trust & Safety team. \$\endgroup\$
    – Catija StaffMod
    Commented Oct 3, 2021 at 23:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ What the absolute hell did I read in that "welcome" to you? I am so beyond pissed at that horrific message. You are absolutely welcome back here, and I will do whatever I can to make sure that at least this corner of SE is as accepting as I can possibly make it. I promise. \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb Mod
    Commented Oct 3, 2021 at 23:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @scottbb I appreciate that. It was very disappointing for a whole variety of reasons. I was trying to decide if I wanted to be involved again, I had said at the time it was unlikely that I would return, especially if I wasn't moderating. Nevertheless, I thought why not? Moderating was fun, but could also be stressful. Why not just poke around and answer some questions? I'm mostly just saddened that this is from someone I would possibly have called a friend once. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 0:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Catija thank you for the offer. I'm okay right now. It's an unfortunate aspect of the trans experience that this will happen, I've accepted that some will hate me for the simple act of existing. I've been mostly extremely fortunate in my day-to-day world with incredible support from family, friends, and work. It's like wearing a suit of armour some time. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 0:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Catija the username was still visible to me (not sure what others would see), so I just unilaterally renamed the account. Not sure if that's the best way to handle anything like this, but this is a first for me. Let us know if there's anything else we can do. \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 0:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, looks like they plan to harass for a while. :| \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 0:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ I realize I'm a bit late to this as I hadn't been on in the last week, but wow, I'm so sorry you experienced this. We've missed you and I sincerely hope we can put a swift end to this behavior so that you can feel welcome and safe here. You are a huge part of this community even if you haven't been around the last few years. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson Mod
    Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 16:20

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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To state what I'd hoped wouldn't need to be stated: you are welcome here. That welcome is independent of race, gender, sexuality, religion or anything else. Anyone who violates the community standards on that front will be taking a very long trip to suspension town.

I hope you will choose to stay here, but I understand fully if you don't after this incident. If you don't, I will take this opportunity to thank you for your contributions to the site over the years, and wish you happiness in your life.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Thank you Philip! I haven't entirely made up my mind, to be honest, but I am worried about escalation and I don't have the tools available to me that I used to. I guess I will wait and see. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 0:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ Not sure how much you've followed the process changes over the years, but if you feel that having the diamond back is something you want, the current process is here. While that's a very long document, 90% of it is dealing with the difficult cases and I can't see this being one. \$\endgroup\$
    – Philip Kendall Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 1:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for that, I truly hadn't been back in any form until just recently. I might do that eventually, it was a big part of what made this site fun for me at the time. I felt I made a difference then. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 4, 2021 at 1:25
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    \$\begingroup\$ Welcome back! I hope you will stay. If you'd like to return to moderating, I'm happy to step aside, as I am not as active as I used to be. <3 \$\endgroup\$
    – MikeW Mod
    Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 19:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MikeW thank you my friend. I don't imagine I'll be here that much to moderate, definitely not rushing in! \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 15:27

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