Suspending Users Who Disagree?

[Ric Flair]

I was recently suspended for two weeks for stating my opinion that the transgendered phenomenon is a form of mental illness.

It seems self-evident to me that if you are anatomically male, that is, born with a penis and testes...and have male chromosomes and DNA,  but your brain tells you that you should be a woman, the problem is a mental one, not a physical one. The default treatment should be psychiatric, not injecting hormones and lopping off parts to make the body conform with the mental image. 

This is a perfectly valid viewpoint, supported by any number of psychiatrists, doctors, and health professionals, as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association. 

Yet I was suspended for posting this viewpoint, with the rationale that it might make any transgender folks who post here uncomfortable.

First, the truth often makes people uncomfortable. That doesn’t stop it from being the truth.

Second, opposing opinions often make people uncomfortable. That’s a part of learning, growing. And thinking that’s integral to debate.

Third, what kind of ‘discussion’ board bans or suspends posters for posting opinions that are politically incorrect, unpopular, uncomfortable, or simply at odds with what an administrator or moderator believes? No wonder this board is an echo chamber, where everyone basically agrees. As I discovered, anyone who dissents or desires an actual discussion is quickly shown the door. 

If I’m wrong, then prove it by...let’s see....DISCUSSION. Suspending people you disagree with is a coward’s way to run a discussion board. 

 

[knapplc]

I was recently suspended for two weeks for stating my opinion that the transgendered phenomenon is a form of mental illness.

That's not why you were suspended.

First, the truth often makes people uncomfortable.

Hello mirror. This is you.

Third, what kind of ‘discussion’ board bans or suspends posters for posting opinions that are politically incorrect, unpopular, uncomfortable, or simply at odds with what an administrator or moderator believes?

A short-lived one. Which makes HuskerBoard not what you're describing, because it's been around for about 90% of the life of the internet (in Universe terms, this would be about 12 Billion, 125 million years of the total existence of... existence.)

If I’m wrong, then prove it by...let’s see....DISCUSSION.

Well, we've had "DISCUSSION" here for more than a decade & a half. So maybe the problem isn't beyond your screen. 

Or maybe it is and you're the only one who is right, who is willing to think outside their box, who is willing to actually discuss issues, who is completely neutral.

Maybe you're that unicorn.

But I think not. 

 

[Landlord]

If that was why you were suspended, I'd be disappointed in the mod team.

Doubt it's the case, though.

 

[Ric Flair]

That's not why you were suspended.

Here’s the message I received. I was joking about being offended in order to point out the ridiculousness of such claims. And I took the position that being transgender is likely a mental illness, which the American Psychiatric Association and innumerable psychiatrists, mental health professionals, and doctors agree with. 

Completely ridiculous. What kind of discussion board is it when any poster who posts something controversial, politically incorrect, or which a moderator simply disagrees with, and backs it up with evidence, is suspended? 

Warning issued by Enhance

March 12


Penalty

• Given 1 points which will never expire.
  
• Restricted from posting - 13 days and 23 hours
  
• Banned - 13 days and 23 hours
  

Note for member


Ric, you're being issued a warning for your comments made here in the Politics & Religion forum.

This is a two-part violation: first, it is quite clear part of your intent is to troll the thread. You are welcome to disagree with members based on their political viewpoints and ideologies but going beyond that (i.e. calling it a bad thread, saying you're offended, etc.) is unnecessary and inhibits productive commentary.

Second, you have violated board rule #5 which thusly states "...we expect members to adhere to behavior that does not offend based on race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation or other discriminatory or racial basis." Referring to people whom identify as transgender as suffering from a "mental illness" is controversial (even in the medical field) and offensive to the members of our board whom many identify as transgender.

You are also being issued a temporary suspension due to the above behavior in order to hammer home the seriousness of keeping these types of comments out of Huskerboard.