Kholibrii

I think that @ScoutTheWitchreally summed up the core question that needs to be asked, what is lost if homophobia were to be banned from LOTC? Does what is lost, if anything, outweigh the benefits of having a community that is fostering a open and welcoming environment for people of all walks of life. There are a million in world ways to discriminate against someone that doesn't relate to serious real life discrimination. I don't see anything that is lost by taking away homophobic roleplay. One could argue that it limits a character's "flaws" but is being a bigot isn't a creative flaw, but even if you are basic af, removing homophobia doesn't limit you from playing a bigot who hates elves or humans who speak with a different accent/language, or someone with red hair(the true villains). Also just because the server removes homophobia doesn't mean you have to run around waving a pride flag. You can just go about your roleplay how you normally would, I doubt most people supporting homophobic roleplay were even doing homophobia RP before this topic blew up, so it's not going to change anything. You can continue to be homophobic in real life, I personally don't give a damn whether some random person on a mineman roleplay server supports me, nor should any other queer person. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life outside of lotc or what sort of personal morals you should have. With that being said, I'm not a big supporter of outright banning homophobic RP, I think it's much better for individual communities and the server as a whole to foster an environment where it is less acceptable rather than being not allowed at all. I think the approach to homophobia should be similar to sexism, in that it has become less acceptable roleplay rather than being outright banned(to my knowledge IRP sexism isn't banned, it just is less common now). There are still people who have storylines involving sexism in consenting, mutual RP, but it shouldn't be forced on outside parties who finding it extremely discomforting. Similarly, if a group of consenting individuals want to tell a story involving homophobia then they should be able to, but their homophobic roleplay shouldn't effect large swaths of players who are made extremely uncomfortable by the roleplay.

Princess Eirene sat a wreath of flowers atop the shallow grave of a hippo who lost his life valiantly defending his territory. While some hippos perished, their children will live on in their natural habitat.

As Princess Eirene scavenged the battlefield for equipment in the wake of the battle she caught a glimpse of an imposing Balianese Hippo taking a post-battle shit on the mangled body of a Veletzian Soldier. "Good Shit." She commented as she plucked a fresh lance from the field.

Princess Eirene gawks at the illustration atop the missive!

Within the Portogene Bastion sat the exhausted Princess Eirene, polishing away at her armor. She must look good while slaughtering her enemies.

"A leader should never negotiate with terrorists." Princess Eirene Novellen muttered with a sigh of disappointment.

A long unseen d'Arkent rushes past Franziska, making a bee line for the Royal Quarters.

Eirene Daria sits in her bedroom, gooped, gagged, gobsmacked.

“I got mine a Claire’s, but I will have to visit Dr.G when it comes time for the next!”

IGN: Kholibrii DISCORD: Kholibrii SKIN: Offcuts 1: Brita AMOUNT: 140 Mina

IGN: Kholibrii DISCORD: Kholibrii SKIN: Offcuts 1: Brita AMOUNT: 60 Mina

Having just left the Haenseti City of Valdev, where her father and the King of Hanseti-Ruska refused to march upon Aaun, Princess Eirene Daria muttered prayers that both the Queen Mother and Princess Aleksandra Milena would be seen free from the treacherous hands of the Stassion and Veletzian men.

Penned on the 11th of Peter’s Glory, 78 B.A. In recent saint’s weeks, the Kingdom of Haeseti-Ruska has been struck by a perpetual snowstorm unlike any seen in recent history. The detrimental effects of such unforeseen weather have been evident within the Kingdom, even despite the strength and determination of the Haeseni people. In only the last few saint’s days a similar snowstorm has fallen upon the region within the United Kingdom of Aaun commonly referred to as Lemon Hill. Having seen the storm befall Balian's northern allies, Princess Eirene Daria of Balian set forth to provide assistance to both the Kingdom of Haeseti-Ruska and the people of Lemon Hill. After extensive preparations, Her Royal Highness is pleased to announce a large shipment of fur-lined cloaks and coats to the citizenry of the Capital City of Valdev and the settlement of Lemon Hill. Alongside the articles of clothing, the shipments to each nation shall contain rations of food and yarn, for the creation of blankets and scarves. An Illustration of the Coat and Cloaks provided by HRH, The Countess of Caluzzo @Mio@sarahbarah@Fishy SIGNED, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, Princess Eirene Daria, Countess of Caluzzo

Men, women, and children in all corners of humanity say their nightly prayer that the Rightful Emperor, Edward Clement of Aldersberg, will return to them!

I do believe that LOTC still has a lot of issues with misogyny and that it could be part of this, but I believe a large part of the problem lies in many players' dislike toward other players who don't conform to their expectations at both an OOC or RP level. Using the example of Alasdair and Galina, you note that people seemed to be more welcoming to the young and adventuring Al, while most seemed to ignore or take little interest in Galina. This isn't necessarily just because the character is a woman, but rather that players have an expectation that the young boy should be more adventurous while the girl should be better protected and less adventurous, as such, they encourage one and discourage the other. I'd personally argue that this is a form of misogyny, but when you look at other examples it becomes clear that it's larger than that. Imagine instead of Alasdair and Galina, you have two characters, Bob, a more "traditionally masculine" boy, and Robert, a more "effeminate" boy. I'd argue that you'd see a similar outcome, with Bob being more accepted by the overall LOTC player base, while Robert would likely experience a similar disinterest to Galina because he is not conforming to the expectations of how a male character should behave. This extends to OOC interactions as well, where people will likely shun you if you aren't conforming to their idea of what you should do, say, and think. Gender Identity, Race, Sexual Orientation, etc all play a role in this and it's not something you can simply call "Misogynistic" or "Homophobic" because it is ALL of it at the same time. I could say so much more about my personal experience on the topic, but I think this post is already getting long enough and I have one more thing I want to touch on. THIS ISSUE IS A LOT WORSE IN SOME PLACES THAN OTHERS!! Since 2021, when the push for equal inheritance happened in human nations(<3 @Ivoreyy Rosemoor Bill), most human communities have put a lot of effort into making sure people of all identities feel safe and welcomed within their nation. Overall this has had an amazing impact on the server and you will find a lot more welcoming nations than you did a few years ago, but there are still places lagging behind. Some smaller communities still allow, or even support, differing levels of OOC and RP discrimination and that's where you will feel the effect of all of this a lot heavier. It's pretty easy to figure out which communities aren't putting energy into making sure people feel safe, so I'm not going to call anyone out, I'll allow everyone to analyze that themselves. Note: This final comment IS NOT meant to be targeted at any specific nation/community and shouldn't be correlated with any specific communities mentioned in @esotericas's post or mine