Gay Teen's family has aggressive & violent reaction, to his coming out

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Don't know about epidemic but Calgarypuck has a shocking amount of continued homophobia.

I don't know, I hear way worse stuff, and far more often, in every day conversations, either directly or eavesdropped, than I do here. I would say on the whole the CP community is actually more progressive than the average population, and definitely more progressive than the average sports fan.

Of course, what people say out loud without thinking vs. what people thoughtfully type out on a forum with rules that restrict offensive language are night and day, so I'm sure it's much worse than what I actually see on here.

In short, a lot of progress has been made in the last few years for LGBT people, especially here in the States, but there's still a LOT of work to do.

[Thor]

The change on CP within just the last 5 years has been very noticeable, people have really turned the corner I think as a general rule in public and especially on here where people are more likely to speak their mind than when face to face with people.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Thor

The change on CP within just the last 5 years has been very noticeable, people have really turned the corner I think as a general rule in public and especially on here where people are more likely to speak their mind than when face to face with people.

Ain't that the truth. Back in 2005, when the Liberal government of the time was attempting to legalize gay marriage and we had lengthy threads about the issue, I was one of only a small number of posters on CP to support the motion. It felt like maybe 10% of us were in favour of legalizing gay marriage, 50% supported separate but equal "civil unions", and 40% were outright opposed to any recognition of homosexual couples. Now it seems like virtually everyone here is on the pro-marriage side, and support for civil unions has disappeared completely (rightfully so). Only a small number of posters (the religious extremist contingent) are still in favour of denying equality to LGBT couples altogether. The shift in this forum's collective attitude on the issue in recent years has been most welcome to see.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Thor

The change on CP within just the last 5 years has been very noticeable, people have really turned the corner I think as a general rule in public and especially on here where people are more likely to speak their mind than when face to face with people.

I think the attitudes towards gay marriage have largely evolved, but there are still plenty of dudes on here who think it's perfectly fine to use quasi-homophobic and/or misogynistic insults all over the site.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Ain't that the truth. Back in 2005, when the Liberal government of the time was attempting to legalize gay marriage and we had lengthy threads about the issue, I was one of only a small number of posters on CP to support the motion. It felt like maybe 10% of us were in favour of legalizing gay marriage, 50% supported separate but equal "civil unions", and 40% were outright opposed to any recognition of homosexualcouples. Now it seems like virtually everyone here is on the pro-marriage side, and support for civil unions has disappeared completely (rightfully so). Only a small number of posters (the religious extremist contingent) are still in favour of denying equality to LGBT couples altogether. The shift in this forum's collective attitude on the issue in recent years has been most welcome to see.

I think things have change but a lot more than 10% were supportive of gay marriage back then. I would say most of the site was

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I think the attitudes towards gay marriage have largely evolved, but there are still plenty of dudes on here who think it's perfectly fine to use quasi-homophobic and/or misogynistic insults all over the site.

They certainly are the minority but their posts standout for sure

[MoneyGuy]

Wow, that video was disgusting.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I think things have change but a lot more than 10% were supportive of gay marriage back then. I would say most of the site was

Well, one of us has a mistaken recollection of those days. I very distinctly remember being among only a small minority who was supportive of legalizing gay marriage (at least among those members who were actively posting in threads related to that topic; there very well might have been a pro-marriage "silent majority" who just didn't participate in threads about gay marriage). Unfortunately, I think the old database was wiped during a forum upgrade years ago, so there's no way to verify what the prevailing attitude was at the time.

I think CP's historical opposition to gay marriage can at least be partially attributed to partisan tribalism. Harper and the CPC are the "home team" when it comes to federal politics here, so many people toed the party line and repeated Conservative talking points against marriage equality.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Well, one of us has a mistaken recollection of those days. I very distinctly remember being among only a small minority who was supportive of legalizing gay marriage (at least among those members who were actively posting in threads related to that topic; there very well might have been a pro-marriage "silent majority" who just didn't participate in threads about gay marriage). Unfortunately, I think the old database was wiped during a forum upgrade years ago, so there's no way to verify what the prevailing attitude was at the time.

I think CP's historical opposition to gay marriage can at least be partially attributed to partisan tribalism. Harper and the CPC are the "home team" when it comes to federal politics here, so many people toed the party line and repeated Conservative talking points against marriage equality.

Here is a thread from 2004:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...light=Marriage

My observations are that the argument has those from both sides - and you are correct that more people are in favor of applying the term civil union. However, there is overall a really small number of folks participating in the debate (2 page thread?).

A thread a little later that year:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...light=Marriage

The lean appears to be in favor of gay marriage.

Also from 2004:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...light=Marriage

And later
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...light=Marriage
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...light=Marriage

Didn't go through all the threads but it is interesting to see how the collective mindset has evolved. I would however object that CP ever had an historical opposition to gay marriage. Certainly we've always had very loud and very vocal folks that have opposed gay marriage - but for the most part those folks aren't around any longer (though others always come along). But overall, it seemed like most of the community couldn't find a good reason for two gay people not to be allowed to marry.

[rubecube]

I was definitely on the civil union side back then, and it's embarrassing to think that I held a lot of those beliefs, as well as some other really terrible ones.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

*Links to old threads*

It would appear my memory was coloured based on some back-and-forth debates I personally engaged in with a few very outspoken opponents.

Some of the anti-gay marriage comments in this thread are just embarrassing with hindsight from the year 2014 (from Incinerator and BlackRedGold25 in particular):

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...?t=9980&page=3

Here's another one. Bonus points for transplant99 playing the "you're the REAL bigot" card in that thread while defending religious Canadians who want to enable government-enforced discrimination against homosexuals. :P

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...l+union&page=3

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

They certainly are the minority but their posts standout for sure

Re: misogyny. Might I direct you to the entire "you love, you lose" thread?

[Arya Stark]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Re: misogyny. Might I direct you to the entire "you love, you lose" thread?

Oh, give me a break. Misogyny is not liking girls in bikinis.

Also ironic considering your avatar.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Re: misogyny. Might I direct you to the entire "you love, you lose" thread?

I wasn't talking about misogyny.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I was definitely on the civil union side back then, and it's embarrassing to think that I held a lot of those beliefs, as well as some other really terrible ones.

Ditto. I am embarrassed of the person I used to be.

[Zulu29]

Just watched the video, pretty disgusting display on the parents part. I hope the kid picks himself up and goes on to have a better life. He must be going through hell right now but he's better off without those people in his life.