How about a gay/lesbian forum for Forumosa?

And under the same logic we should start making forums for married people, single peoples, old people, young people, republicans (there’s a lot of them around), students, beautiful people and morons.

Brian[/quote]

Forgive me, but your response is obtuse. Perhaps you’re striving at humour, but I can’t equate discussing gay issues with “beautiful people”. The purpose of a gay forum is to discuss particularly gay-related issues, of which there are very many. It is not, as you suggest, a forum for a minority. No one has advocated that or a private gay-only forum. I would object to such a forum.

Some months back, you wrote the following

[quote=“Bu Lai En”]As only one moderator, here are my personal reasons why I argued that a ‘Gay in Taiwan’ forum should not be established.

When we do start new forums, I believe that they should be started for new topic areas, not for certain groups of users. [/quote]

We are in agreement. You also wrote

[quote=“Bu Lai En”]Everyone has different needs or experiences of living in Taiwan and there are a lot of groups which share needs or experiences. Examples are gays, singles, foreign spouses, the elderly, students, professionals, Christians, vegetarians, parents, etc etc.

Rather than start new forums for each of these groups, members of these groups can start their own topics (eg ‘How to be a good Christian in Taiwan’) in general or post their experiences/needs (eg ‘Difficulties for elderly people finding teaching jobs’) in the appropriate forums. [/quote]

We are in agreement again - almost. But, again, it is a gay-topic forum that is required, not a gay-minority forum. And I

Tricky one this, especially as I just got the forum I’ve been asking for for ages. On the other hand, business is something that you do, like travel, teaching, living, buying and selling, having fun, working, fixing your computer.

Being gay, like being female, being American, being black, being a moron, is something that you are. That’s a whole different ball of wax.

Personally I oppose anything that encourages a sense of otherness. We’re all in this mess together regardless of gender, orientation, ethnic or national origin. Can’t we have a website for all people, and divide it into activity-related topics, rather than lots of forums where people discuss beng different?

I would vote for no gay forum, no women’s forum, no redneck’s forum, no forum for old people, no … oh you get it. I think of forumosa as being like a physical place. You don’t divide it up into sections for different kinds of people. You divide it up into sections where different activities take place.

Sorry, this is way off of my own endeavors but I happened to talk with a bi-female friend that commented that is was difficult for her to meet people here. She is a member on this forum and I suggested she post and ask for a special string. She simply is not that “out”. Mods, we have a “women’s forum” are we progressive enough to push it another step? What’s it gonna hurt?

awww she can talk to me. I’m lesbitarian.

Well,tons of choice. I see many, at least here in Ximending, easy to recognize (to me at least). Many times walking hand in hand with their gf, not shy at all. Pretty brave.

She might wanna have a look at Sappho, Taipei’s most famous hangout for lesbians.
I am sure there are more places but for that she best try the Taiwan Gay/Lesbian info sites.

Here is a link to Sappho with address and info:
taiwanfun.com/north/taipei/n … sappho.htm

frans :bow:

If she’s on Facebook she can join the LGBT group

facebook.com/?ref=home#!/gro … 786&ref=ts

or Taboo…a club we all go to.

facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pag … 4314875739
but I guess the main thing is that she’s still in the closet and wants to discuss things without people knowing who she is.

either way, get her to contact me. I’ve been here for 9 years, have about 10 foreign bi and lesbian friends and we usually have house gatherings and go out for dinner, dancing together.

Um, this is an anonymous forum, right? So who’s to know? Sorry, maybe I don’t get it.

(Or she could PM Maoman and ask for her handle to be deactivated, then sign up for a new one under which she could post ‘openly’.) :idunno:

BTW, would anyone here really not be completely welcoming of a forum member saying ‘oh yeah, and by the way, I’m bi’? I have trouble imagining that – after all, what’s the big deal? This community seems pretty cool with that kind of stuff, right?

(And no, I have no objection to a gay/bi/lesbian forum; I’m just not sure why people would want one if you can already post anonymously, but perhaps there are good reasons.)

Hi Enigma

An LGB Forum has been suggested and discussed several times, since the earliest years of Forumosa. The difference between creating a forum about LGB Issues and a hidden Women’s forum is that an LGB forum would be subject to the same criteria for creating a new forum. That is, if there was a clear interest and if there is a volunteer to moderate the forum. A clear interest is over 30 threads that would be moved there.

Now, even if you found all of this, we have a basic concern about the “balkanization” of Forumosa thru sub-groups. Maoman explains our position on a sub-group forum here: flob.me/p124214

scooter argues for a Gender and Sexuality forum, in which LGB topics could be grouped: flob.me/p125020

[quote]Maoman has said on more than one occasion that gay related topics are for non-gay people to. I’m not suggesting that we start a forum FOR gay people, but ABOUT gay issues FOR everyone. That way gay-related topics are easier to find.

Start forums for different aspects of life in Taiwan? I’m all for it. Let’s start with a forum called: Gender and Sexuality. That’s a pretty large part of life in Taiwan, and appeals to a large audience (ie: everyone).[/quote]

Been done already?

taiwanho.com/talk/viewforum.php?f=45

I do not know if this site is still in operation, but it appears they have attempted this forum-type.

The last time this was really openly suggested was back in the days of “Oriented.” If you look back on the above posts, any mod can clearly see the reason why a conservative gay/bi/lesbian would be hesitant to post here. I totally disagree that this is fragmenting Forumosa. It is simply a place for specific people to share thoughts with like minded people.
I truly think there are some reasons for the hesitancy. BTW, I don’t belive it is a narrow minded attitude. We all lost that years ago. The reasons:
Don’t fragment the discussion. OK, I can buy into that. Yet, we have a German sub-forum. Why is that? Common interests and language?
Women’s forum? Ok; I can buy into that too. I sure as hell don’t want to be debating over the advantages of various female hygiene products or “come ons” that you have heard. (I am just guessing but I think I am accurate)
I really dont want to know my friends intimate details of life.
Yet, there seems to be a large group here that would like to express themselves regarding their sexuality. Do you, as mods, really believe they can do so without the type of crap that have been seen in the some of the above posts? She isn’t looking to hang out in a pub (dyke bar?)
How do you monitor who is a member? I was asked to tell my friend how I knew another friend was really Jewish. My answer was that, “He told me so”. That was good enough for me, you and any others. “Who would say he was such, if not”. (Sean Connery) That’s good enough for me.
She just want’s some space and, please don’t just send her someplace else. She is HERE and is with us. Let’s cut her some slack. Try it! You might be surprised.
And other of the members that are like minded, regardless of orientation, it would be nice to have some support.

I know several of the more actively-posting gay members of Forumosa. I’d like to hear from them, actually. I’d like to hear from your friend, too, enigma. Opinions from the people who the forum is targeted at will carry a lot more weight than from their friends. Communication doesn’t have to be on the forums, it can be a PM, or an e-mail. I will preserve anonymity.

I’m not “against” the idea, I’m just not sure how it would work. New forums (ones that aren’t “resource forums” like the visa forums or the legal affairs forums, should be vibrant, or they become dead weight. It’s why we no longer have a Spanish language forum or a JRR Tolkien forum. (Yes, we used to have both of those!) They had a gay/lesbian forum experiment on TaiwanHo, which failed, IMHO. (I say this as a big fan of Malc, Jake, and of TaiwanHo).

The women’s forum hasn’t always been active, and although I was initially opposed to it, I’ve slowly come around. I’d like it to be even more active than it is, and I think that the banners and the new link at the top of the page will help draw awareness.

Anyway, with regards to a rainbow forum, keep the comments coming. I’m all ears.

I’m out so I don’t need a seperate forum:)

I am gay. Is that “in” or out" and if so, of what??
I don’t see any need for a gay/lesbian section.
If I remember well there was always so much talk about integration and acceptance and stuff.
Well than, since we are all considered equal
(did you see I didn’t use the word Normal? :roflmao: ),
we all have to do with just this: forumosa.com

I probably need to think about the issue a little more and that I will do.

But I can give my gut-reaction personal preferences right now. I kind of like people of all groups mixing it up together. The gay population on forumosa seems to be as respected as any other group. And aren’t going to be any more respected by squishing themselves into a box.

Even if there was a gay-related forum, I’d have more fun posting on other topic threads, such as Deuce Dropper’s “HBO and the Gays” under Arts and Entertainment.

Why force oneself into a little closet? Why seperate oneself from others and define oneself as only “gay”? With special gay interests, unrelated to the rest of the world?

The nice thing about forumosa, I think, is that you can have fun arguing with somebody in a religion forum and then discover that you agree with them in the health forum. They’re republican and you are democrat but you both agree to hate people who jaywalk on another thread. I like it all mixed up. That’s how you get to know people and make bonds with people you wouldn’t otherwise give the time of day to.

I, therefore, personally don’t like the idea of lots of group-based headings with people sticking to their own.

I could be wrong though. Maybe every group deserves their niche on forumosa. For the time being, I can only say that I prefer topics to groups. I am many things and have many ideas; if they existed, I would occasionally drop in on sections labeled “gay” or “South African”, but would certainly find my enjoyment of discussion elsewhere.

It’s early days for me on forumosa, so forgive me if I misspeak. But I believe that forumosa can’t do everything and satisfy everyone, but what it does now (advice, topic discussion, meeting place), it does extremely well. It would be too unwieldy to splinter into too many groups.

Anyone can open a blog dedicated to their own group if they wish.

I like forumosa’s mix and match as it is now.