geri_chan | Proposition 8 discussion on FA

Generally, I avoid discussing politics on my journal because it's my fun fandom space, my way to get away from reality. But recently reality and fandom crossed paths when I was browsing the Fiction Alley forums.

(For the record, since I am delving into reality here, I am thrilled that Obama was elected, and outraged that Proposition 8 passed. The latter was especially disheartening after seeing the joy of the gay couples who were finally able to get married, including Star Trek's George Takei. I used to be a bit of a Trekkie, and have been to a few Star Trek conventions. People often mispronounce his name as "Takai," and I love the little spiel he always gives about it: "It's 'Takei,' rhymes with 'toupee' or 'too gay'. But it's okay if you call me 'Takai,' because in Japanese that means 'expensive,' so you can call me 'George Expensive'." Masi Oka of Heroes did a killer George Takei impression with that speech on a talk show, I think it was on Conan O'Brien. ^_^)

Anyhow, getting back to Fiction Alley, I don't have an account there, but I like to browse the forums for interesting discussions, and I came across a discussion of Proposition 8 on the slash forum. Fans were expressing their outrage and disappointment, and there were some remarks about how bigoted people can be. Just general remarks, not attacking an actual forum participant (everyone there seemed to be in agreement on the issue), and nothing that I thought was out of line. One person did say that they understood the frustration, but that if you want to change someone's mind, calling them a "bigot" is probably not going to help. People both agreed and disagreed with that poster, and personally, I think that the forum members were more expressing frustration than trying to convert anyone, but it was a civil discussion.

And then a mod steps in and says that calling someone a "bigot" is considered flaming, and not allowed under forum rules. They may say that they disagree with Proposition 8, but they can't call the people who voted for it bigots.

Now FA has the right to choose and enforce their own rules, but this really made me shake my head and go WTF? You can't call a bigot a bigot? If we were talking about a law that reinstated segregation, would it be flaming to say that people who believe in segregation are racist?

One forum member reached a similar conclusion and asked if calling people who opposed interracial marriage "bigots" was also a violation of the flaming rules, and if not, they should think about the image that they're projecting by singling out homosexuality. The mod said that they would consult with the other mods and let the forum know when they reached a decision.

Obviously, I'm not asking anyone to go over to FA and bash the mods, but I think sometimes there's such a thing as bending too far over backwards to be fair.