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Testing to see if I can post videos - Camp Referee hopefully coming up

mehastings said:
I understand that you didn't intend to be offensive, but that doesn't mean you didn't. I'm not going to go round and round on this all day, but I will explain my feelings on this one, so perhaps you'll all understand a bit better. I don't think finding this video innapropriate is being politically correct or "crying wolf". Invalidating another person's opinion that something is offensive as "being uptight" is negative and inappropriate. I'm about as far from uptight as it can get, this is just an issue I feel strongly on. Here's why. One of my very close friends is a gay man. We've been through a lot in the years that we've known each other, including him coming out two years ago, dealing with stereotying/prejudice and him being the victim of a violent hate crime shortly thereafter. He's also as into books as I am and has lots of free time, so I suggested he try signing up here. I told him what a friendly group people are here and that he would probably fit right in with some of the discussions here (he loves Dan Brown almost as much as Stewart and feels the same about Harry Potter that Jay does). He decided to come and take a browse and was rather bothered to find this video. This is the general gist of what he wrote:

So, I checked out your webpage and I have mixed feelings. There were a lot of things there that I liked. I saw that they have a monthly reading group, which is an interesting idea. I already have a book group, but I know people like you living in the sticks ;-) don't. I also found a couple books mentioned there that I haven't read and would like to...(talks about borrowing books from me). There are some interesting characters there...(goes on to ask me about a number of you folks). You guys even seem to have a pretty large social area, which is cool. These I see as the pros. The thing is, I'm not so sure I really want to join. What's the deal with this (links to post)? I see that this guy is a recent member, but what's his deal? Someone questions it and he just brushes it off as being a joke. Clearly he has never been the brunt of a joke or a hate crime. I wonder if he realizes that a video like this is like using blackface. Is this the kind of stuff you normally see there?

I replied back to him telling him to give it a while, that it probably wouldn't go over well anyway. So, he said to let him know how things went down and he'd get back to me. He came back on his own this afternoon though and needless to say, he's decided not to join. He says he knows he's being sensitive, but that it's hard to feel welcome in a place where everyone thinks a joke at his expense is so acceptable. While many gay men may be able to laugh at something like this, some can't. I think it is an unfortunate thing that we have lost a potential new member as a result of something so silly. It reminds me of when we lost a member because she felt she was being attacked over the "right to die" thread. Just because an opinion isn't popular, doesn't mean it isn't valid.
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Disappointing to hear that your friend decided not to join because of something so trivial. What can I say, its a big bad world out there and sometimes you are going to disagree with things and see things you dont like. Its how you respond to that and make your way in the world which defines you. I think its a real pity that an issue has been made of this.

I stand by what I posted. It was meant to be lighthearted and its disappointing that anyone has chosen to take it as anything else. But as I said, some people are more easily offended than others.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this i'm afraid.

As a practising Roman Catholic I feel strongly about certain things too but that doesnt mean i cant deal with someone poking fun at my beliefs. there is a difference between that and anything malicious. I also respect the views and opinions of other who would oppose me in debate on any issue.

but this wasnt a debate, it was a joke, nothing more nothing less and my conscience is clear.
 
I mean it has a spell checker. You enter your words into the search bar and it corrects your spelling.
 
i think the bottom line is that someone has been offended, and we should never take that lightly. whether we feel someone is being too off the cuff or too pc is not the issue, someone feeling unwelcome is and that is wrong.
 
well it wasnt the intention and someone being offended by something so trivial isnt something I can or would even try to legislate for. If we all worried about every small thing when we were posting we would never post anything. What next? books which contain stereotypes not being discussed because someone somewhere doesnt like whats in it and the book not being discussed in case it makes people feel unwelcome?

Censorship is dangerous in my view. I can understand if someone makes hateful or malicious posts but this is nowhere near the case in this instance.

I accept yours and m.e hastings views but my conscience is clear. I hope you can accept mine.

I'm honestly not a bad guy but I wont be told what to think by anyone and i certainly wont apologise or edit it out when I remain convinced there is nothing wrong with what I have posted.

I hope you can understand my position, I can certainly see where you are both coming from we'll just have to agree to disagree. The majority of posters including an admin have no problem with it.

I'm not out to make enemies and of course I'm just new. I hope we can just agree to disagree and move on.
 
Nor I. But I hope not to see a video of a young, mentally-handicaped boy with one leg and a bout of Tourette's running a marathon on this forum any time soon. The video posted gives off that vibe of "Hey, everyone, look at this! It's a video of a gay referee acting all gay-like and silly!"
 
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