[quote=@Dagger] Legitimate question: What attacks have been going on toward marginalized groups on this site? Maybe my social circles here just haven't overlapped with those that have seen it, but I've never come across anyone who's here to terrorize or belittle someone from the groups mentioned above. I've also got some concerns about policing speech on the Guild unless this issue extends beyond one or two jackasses who could be dealt with by alerting the mods about their behavior. Adding rules doesn't stop people from being bigots, after all, and there will probably always be a few skulking around. Second question: If this issue is prevalent enough to warrant action, what solutions are being suggested to handle it? I'm interested in hearing the specifics. [/quote] [quote=@Ammokkx] Y'know I was about to quote [list][*] [b]Respect all members.[/b] [color=ffffff]Be pleasant to each other and treat people how you would like to be treated. Remember that respect comes in all forms and should be applied in everything that you do. When disagreements arise in discussion be sure to address them in good faith, ensuring that you avoid escalating them into any unnecessary conflict.[/color] [/list] as being an anti-harassment rule but, as it turns out, this one is worded super lax. Still, I think the spirit of a rule called "respect all members" naturally umbrellas into "also respect the members of a more marginalized identity", don't you? Otherwise I mostly agree with Dagger here; if there's harassment, I haven't seen it. If it's private enough, then I'm sure the members in question should be reported and dealt with accordingly. The mods on this site are pretty open folk; I really doubt it's a systemic problem. I'd also really like not to be stalked on this site; people can report me if my conduct is out of line (though most of my warnings come from the status bar, so I'm basically painting a target on myself, really) I'm not ruling out the possibility of there being nasties on this site, but I really doubt they're ubiquitous enough to be much of a "root cause" problem. [/quote] I don't see why adding it in the rules should be a contentious topic. I think it's really just the bare minimum they could do in order to make those groups feel safer. The other common argument I've seen is that "bad people will be bad", but at that point why does anyone have any laws passed in the real life? The constitution also says there are certain unalienable rights, but there was still the civil rights act among others that needed to be passed down the line, despite the constitution saying "all men are created equal". Sometimes things have to be outright stated, even if we are to assume common sense is common. Saying that you have not seen any harassment towards marginalized groups is great, but I could easily say that I have seen people share some extremely bigoted views towards race and LGBT people on my time here, so I don't think that's also a good point to put across. Perhaps sometimes not outright harassment, but it leads to an situation where some people don't feel safe participating when the environment isn't always welcoming. I believe putting it in words makes sure there is no ambiguity in the guild's views on bigotry, and is a step forward in ensuring that better/more accountable moderation is put in place. The action taken to help marginalized groups feel safer can't just be the words added to the rules sure, because in the end those are just words. People have to enforce them, but having it in writing has little downside other than a more wordy rules section. Of course more needs to be done, but the guild should start taking the steps to do so.