Welcome to Postcrossing and I’m glad you are here with us @miguel_luna.
I also would like to offer to send you a postcard from Iowa. If you are interested, please pm me.
2 Likes
I wasn‘t talking about applying a filter to blend something out in a technical way though… if Miguel, the first poster, talks about a place to meet other LGBT+ people it would not serve the purpose if all the other (not LGBT+) people hang around there, too 
Well, I leave it here, I just hope that discussing potential changes in forum structures does not make one being declared unwelcoming or even hostile.
Warm welcome @miguel_luna.
1 Like
No, it isn’t censorship what I mean. 
Maybe I could not express myself properly.
I mean that; LGBT+ people should decide for themselves if they want or need to have separate category.
1 Like
I’ve brought more controversial topics to the forum before and the moderators normally jump in right away and wave their big judgmental finger…but not here? Interesting.
They are still sleeping in their time zone
2 Likes
It doesn’t take much for people to feel included. Here is an example from Ravelry, a community of yarn crafters. On every page, you can see a little flag in the footer. As a gesture it isn’t hard to do but it means a lot to a lot of people.
2 Likes
But why should one minority be singled out for such special treatment? What is it about this forum, or Postcrossing in general, that makes you feel not included? It seems to me people have been perfectly fine until this thread came up, and suddenly this is not an inclusive place.
6 Likes
Hello @miguel_luna
welcome to our community 
Maybe you could explain what you mean by a separate category for LGBT+ people.
A category here in the forum is usually a large area in which there are different topics.
If such a section were to be created for LGBT+ people, I think it could give the impression that you are not welcome in other sections of the forum - or, if this section were to be created now after your request, that you want to separate yourselves from the others.
But is it that what we all want?
We are open-minded people and we want to exchange ideas here about everything related to postcrossing and also about other general topics, organise RRs, tags, lotteries etc…
Nobody is excluded anywhere - we all do that together, no matter what skin colour, nationality, religion or sexual orientation we have.
Because it is simply not important.
And exactly for all these activities there are different categories. This is for order, because otherwise you wouldn’t find anything again.
Of course, there are also the Language and Geographical Communities you mentioned, where people can meet to exchange ideas in their own language.
But all other users are also welcome there, as long as they speak that language.
Or maybe you just miss a topic where you can talk about your life and problems with other LGBT+ people?
If this topic does not exist yet, it is not because it is not welcome here, but because nobody has missed it yet.
I would be happy if you would comment here again in more detail so that we know exactly what you are missing.
P.S. I wrote that all as a postcrossing user, not as a moderator
17 Likes
If I might suggest a small clarification: instead of “not important,” I might say that sexual orientation does not have high relevance to exchanging postcards. Semantics, I know–thank you, Bille! 
9 Likes
apparently you have to identify as lgbtq+ to answer in this topic. so hello i’m gay and i’d like to give my opinion.
well i think it’s a matter of what you assume a category is. personally i think one topic is enough. like there are some topics for knitters and booklovers. i think it’s perfectly fine to have some topics that are not about cards (though if people could tell me where they are buying their lgbtq+ cards i’d really like that as well, i can find them almost nowhere).
well this is definitely the wrong question. are you talking about the forum or about life? though both is very wrong. like i said above, there are also topics for other minorities on this forum, like people who like to garden. and i wouldn’t call it ‘singled out’ it’s just a little place to talk with other people who will understand what you’re talking about.
it is. i’ve said that already in this topic. but sometimes it’s just nice to talk about something with other people that most people will never understand. difficult problems like discrimination maybe but also just about lgbtq+ films or music or where you go out. i never talk to my straight friends about some lgbtq+ tv show i’m watching. they just don’t care or understand why i would be excited about that.
it’s why it’s nice to have a place to openly talk about it without having the feeling people wouldn’t care or understand. that’s all.
14 Likes
I apologize that my comment was misunderstandable.
It of course doesn’t matter who forms groups and seeks for the people with same orientations, identity, beliefs and opinions (so long it is not harmful). What I am worried about is that having a whole own category (as for example country category) would separate us into closed groups and make the forum feel… well “closed-off”. I love it how open the forum is now, how we are all talking and meeting on the same topics without having to select which group we want to be with. Creating LGBT+ category would naturally lead to the demands for more categories like religious, political, ethnicity… I might be alone with my opinion, but I think the greatest way to unite us as people is to avoid separate us. I don’t even like to chat in my language group, but I see those useful for the country specific information and for those who are not as confident with English language.
So my answer was not about stopping LGBT+ people forming a group and creating space for them to talk, but to give opinion on how to make it possible to LGBT+ people to find each other. And my opinion is that threads/topics would be better decision than a whole category with several topics. I also feel that many LGBT+ topics would over-lap with categories, so we could have chat topic on Everything else, LGBT+ card exchange group on Trades (I understood that this already exists), LGBT+ stamps topic on Stamp category… and so on! So instead of making us sit in our own category with everything, we should spread out and join the talk with others.
That said, we should at least start with creating own topic/thread and tag for LGBT+ people to help us find each other, if we wish to do so, but leave the forum open for anybody to join the talk in other parts. I also like the idea of possibly having the option to express identity with a flag, like the country flags we have, if anybody wants to have it more visible (I myself prefer to keep my orientation as my private matter, but I understand that others may want to express it more).
8 Likes
This isn’t a controversial post though. LGBT existence and wanting there voices heard isn’t an opinion of “right” or “wrong” because there is no moral issues involved, it’s simply a group of people wanting simply that, a group for people of like minds. If the moderator is stepping into your controversial posts, it begs the matter what are you posting about?
11 Likes
Just to use Ravelry as a good example again, here is my profile photo with a flair anyone can choose to add.
6 Likes
Woah, woah, woah. I’m gonna leave the point that I disagree with your view on the topic aside, but do you really need to approach a new member in this way??
There is no right way to join this community. There is no written or unwritten rule about introducing yourself etc.
And besides that: This is literally under the category: suggetions. In no way is this a disrespectful complaint or something.
I think it is really sad, that you have to be so mean to this new member and probably make someone here not want to engage in postcrossing anymore with your attitude towards them. Please be mindful of your words.
12 Likes
until op answers here to clarify what exactly they mean i don’t think we should make assumptions.
i feel quite safe here, i’m pretty sure i’ve already said that. i’ve also said that it’s nice to talk about things with other people with the same experiences and/or interests. i think just one topic is fine, like there is a topic about anime or books.
also i’m a bit done with this ‘newbies can’t have an opinion’ thing. why not.
9 Likes
They want recognition and appreciation, just like everyone else. I think it would be nice to have a little group somewhere but I would settle for any kind of official acknowledgement instead. Inclusivity statements are quite common these days and I would expect to see one here.
Ignoring differences is not equality, you cannot ignore us and expect us to feel valued.
5 Likes
At first a comment about my profile: I did make another profile not linked to my normal profile, because some of the comments make a very hostile impression, and I do not want to get hateful comments to my main account.
I thought PC is an including place - seems I’ve been very wrong about that. Usually people use the phrase “I have nothing against the LGBT+ community, but …” if they have something against LGBT±people., but would like to give the impression that this is not the case, as probably many of us have experienced themselves. Especially your other comment, @mazenfakih (and the comments of some other people), makes me think if I should quit postcrossing. Such agressive comments, especially to someone who started this topic, leave a lasting negative impression. And no, LGBT±people do not claim that they are not safe, in many places of the world they simply are not.
Even some other posts give the impression that LGBT + people are seen as “second class” people. Not really what I expected.
8 Likes
My thoughts on this and I hope I’m able to convey what I feel…
I feel people see categories here differently. I see them as spaces where you can interact with people who share a common language or a common geographical area. If somebody posts only in the German category, are they doing it because they are not welcome in the rest of the forum? Or are they posting there because that is the only place where they feel safe? Of course not, they are just looking for a little interaction with folks of their kind.
That I believe is what OP was asking for, a place where they could interact with people who share their views and are their allies. They didn’t ask for preferential treatment.
It’s another matter that the forum categories are based on geographical areas. I support the idea of tags for this reason. It can be hard to find topics when you are new to this forum.
People do postcards for different reasons and some people are looking to make connections with people via cards. There are a lot of places in the world where being open about your sexual orientation and gender identity can get you in trouble with the law and with society. The advantages of the internet and forums like these are that you get express your views and make connections with people without having to worry about that.
5 Likes
I was quietly reading this thread, shaking my head at some of the comments and ignoring others… But then I saw this, and I have to say that I really felt compelled to come up with my own contribution.
Really? This reminds me of “All Lives Matter”, which was created during the “Black Lives Matter” movement. This is a topic about LGBTQ+ people, why bring in the narrative “but what about everyone else?” We know that everyone is important, but in this context, where we bring LGBTQ+ stuff to the spotlight, it’s really not the best thing to remind us that “Oh, but other people are important too!” It’s like depriving people like @miguel_luna of the very few instances in which he could have his say in an environment he feels comfortable in.
This, honestly, baffles me. An LGBTQ+ group serves as a safe space. They constantly face problems in real life and, in some countries, their very lives are under constant threat. Why would straight people need a subforum in this case? Is it so that they can also have a safe space from gay people? I think we should be careful of the things we say, especially if we don’t relate to the same struggles that other people face everyday. It just sounds entitled this way.
I know that there might be logistical hurdles when it comes to creating a subforum just for gay people. And, as we’ve seen, many people seem to disagree with it. Maybe we could do something else… Banners, maybe? It’s important for LGBTQ+ people to be able to find each other.
I also STRONGLY disagree with the comments that say “This is not a dating site!” Oh well, you really think that LGBTQ+ people think about sex all the time? It’s not even about sex, as I’ve explained. It could be related to the safe-space thing, it could be related to finding like-minded people… There are so many reasons, and going against OP’s proposal on the basis that such people would potentially use the function to fuck each other really reduces reality to a handful of ignorant stereotypes.
21 Likes
@elanlei I think you may have misunderstood my point. No one is ignoring LGBT+ people. But being LGBT+ has nothing to do (in my opinion) with postcrossing. The categories and subcategories on the forum are postcard and postal related and I fell that we should not divide the forum on things that have nothing to do with both.
@Martin404 I do not wish to offend anyone. Please tell me which comment made you think you “should quit postcrossing” and I will gladly clarify or apologize for the comment.
I have nothing agains the LGBT+ community. No buts.
@ChristianJ. An LGBTQ+ group serves as a safe space
Do you feel there’s a need for safe spaces on this forum?
2 Likes