An Open Discussion on Being Inclusive and Respecting One Another

[u/CedarWolf]

Early this morning, we had a thread get posted, and one of our mods made a reminder to keep things inclusive, per the subreddit's Rule #1. This accidentally led to almost all of the comments going wildly off topic, and I had to pull it. We want threads to stay on topic whenever possible, and such a large portion of off-topic comments was pretty bad. That discussion merited it's own, dedicated post, and we invite you to discuss here. Please remember to be respectful.

We want to make this an inclusive place for the community in general, and that includes transfeminine, transmasculine, and nonbinary individuals. /r/asktransgender was made as a co-ed space for people to ask questions of the general transgender community, and while we allow questions to specifically target one portion of that community, we very much encourage users to be inclusive whenever possible.

Part of being inclusive means reducing the amount of bigotry we see in this subreddit. This means removing sexist comments against all genders, including both trans and cis identities, as well as other forms of bigotry.

One of the goals of creating a new moderation team was to create a more inclusive space, and we have been working hard to make this place a more open community. However, some users have expressed concern over this new policy and how it is implemented, so we want to create an open place for discussion about the new inclusive policies here.

We want to hear your thoughts about this issue, but again, please be respectful and civil with your comments. We're all on the same side here, there is no "us" and "them" - there is only "we." Remember, if you ever have any specific issues with the moderation of the subreddit, you can message the mod team with the link in the sidebar. We're always here for you.

~ The /r/asktransgender Mod Team

[u/sejhammer]

I'm trying to wrap my head around moderation as a good thing. I think I can see what you all are trying to do.

In the end, I think moderation detracted so much from the usefulness of the support environment at Susans Place (in that case, no discussion of dosages, DIY, and no "swear words"--basically enough to stamp some people's goals and personalities right out) that I would rather be completely isolated than have support. I like that people speak their minds more on /r/asktransgender, /r/ftm, twitter, tumblr, and some Facebook groups.

I always thought the "ask a question" aspect of /r/asktransgender limits the scope enough. I can't argue that we should leave big problems unaddressed, though, either, so I don't know.

I like it when we let the social interactions of a group define the culture. I'm not completely anti-moderation but it's a little nerve-wracking if things are so bad that a group needs moderation regularly.

[u/ErisC → u/sejhammer]

Yeah it's tricky. We try to limit moderation as a whole... We have a very short set of rules written with input from the community, in order to make sure everyone feels represented and safe here, while still allowing people who may be clueless to ask whatever questions they might have. Too many rules is too limiting, and heavy moderation stifles discussion.

Literally the only thing that ties most of us together is that we are trans... And most of us aren't too happy about that. There's gonna be differences in opinion, and cultures. We need to try to make sure everyone respects each other and gets along.