This is a FAF defederation vote for !multiverse.soulism.net. Note that I have tried to summarize views both for and against this proposal, rather than pushing a particular view. Please feel free to comment if you want to contribute your own thoughts and experiences.
The reason for this vote is that admins have been getting a lot of reports about Grail and Their instance from our users lately, but tbh I am not sure whether the reports warrant a ban or not. While most cases are more clear-cut, I wanted some more admin & community feedback on this one.
For context, the soulism instance is (for all practical purposes) a personal instance run by infamous fediverse "personality", Grail. Grail is suspected to be a recent alt of DroneRights aka HardlightCereal aka Exocrinous aka Dragon Rider aka Drag.
Grail, the current incarnation, is (imo) a liberal progressive masquerading as a leftist (a self-described "Anarcho-Antireal theorist" whatever the fuck that is). And I really don't think this qualifies as a "No true Scotsman" situation where it's arguable either way - it's immediately obvious from reading Their comment history.
I don't really want to rehash the extensive history of this user and Their alts in detail here, however I'm pretty sure long-term Lemmy users will be aware of at least some of these previous alt accounts, which have been almost universally banned. I'll try my best to summarize the issues below.
The case for defederation
Here's some recent examples/summaries of why the user is so problematic:
- Concise summary of past trolling behavior:
. - Recent YPTB post: Banned for Nuttin'
- Recent example of Grail's electoralism and criticism of c/flipanarchy rules, including a claim that pugjesus isn't a turbolib ๐ https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/63720883
- More blue MAGA electoralism demonstrating that the user is about as "leftist" as Joe Biden
Recent examples of hating on / agitating against our instance:
The case against defederation
- Grail is neurodivergent (trans and NPD afaik), so we should be willing to make some accommodations for Their behaviour
- While some folks (including myself at the time, unfortunately) took the "DroneRights" account as an attempt to troll transgender folk with the "my gender is an attack helicopter" line, it could also have been a genuine attempt to advocate for xenogenders. There's no way to know 100% for sure what Their intentions truly were, but on reflection and with the benefit of time, I think it could be reasonably argued They should have been given the benefit of the doubt on that topic.
- Just because this user seems to have a grudge against our instance and bad-jackets anyone to their left as politically "right wing" doesn't mean we should ban them. They are still entitled to express their opinion.
- Given Grail's unique personality, is there anywhere else They would potentially fit in other than the Fediverse? Maybe we should cut Them some slack and just let users block Them individually.
Warning
Please do not attempt to re-litigate the topic of xenogenders in this post. Such comments will be removed as off-topic. As an instance, our policy is to respect personal pronouns, whatever they are. This is not a referendum on the validity of xenogenders. The topic of the post is clear - whether or not we should defederate from the multiverse.soulism.net instance. If you want to bring your own experiences into the comments that is fine, but please keep them pertinent to whether or not we should defederate from this instance / user on the basis of Their problematic behaviours, not on the basis of Their identity or pronouns.
Instructions
The proposal is:
We should defederate from the multiverse.soulism.net instance due to an extensive history of trolling by the main admin's alts, and due to the admin being openly hostile to our instance.
Please upvote this post to vote for defederation. Downvote to remain federated. This proposal will require a 2/3 majority to pass.
P.S., Please be sure to use Grail's preferred pronouns of "capitalised They/Them", so we don't have to remove comments for misgendering.
all very reasonable before the addendum, you're being transphobic. the question of "would you be able to tell when spoken?" is moot because we're not speaking. we're on the internet where you can tell.
that's all to say, I appreciate your arguments that are relevant and not your transphobic irrelevant little nugget (that you were specifically asked not to attempt to relitigate) at the end
Not pandering to an obvious troll is transphobic now? Tumblr delusions like that are actively ridiculing of actual trans people who experience the condition of gender/sexual dysphoria...
Edit: Your usage of the word transphobia also actively waters it down and distracts from the real discrimination trans people face. Broadening it to shit like this does no favour to our struggle
This sounds exactly like what hateful people say about xenogenders not being valid as trans identities or saying that we are making a mockery of "actual" trans people. This isn't something that's up for debate. Xenogenders are as valid as any other trans identity. It is shitty and transphobic to argue otherwise.
yes, refusing to use someone's preferred pronouns is transphobic, regardless of how you feel about them. basic human respect. how is this still up for debate in your mind?
Some people think attacking queer people with more radical identities will protect those with more normal identities. I've seen it on many different scales. I've seen gay people who think calling trans people predators will gain them acceptance. And I've been otherkin who think calling p-shifters trolls will gain them acceptance. It's a cognitive trap that anyone can fall into.
Of course, they can't all be right. They all disagree about where to draw the line! So I call it hubris and I think they should all have a long think about what happens if someone else draws the line before them.
I once helped bust a kinphobic troll. There was this guy going into otherkin communities identifying as an ice dragon. Then he'd take screenshots from private conversations and post them to r/otherkringe. I helped get him kicked out of those communities and protected his victims. That's how you spot a troll: when he laughs at you.
Nobody's seen Me laughing. Because I'm not.