Lavender mods had written a [letter][5] to SE pertaining to their issues. They asked roughly for three things: - Pay attention to the complaints by LGBTQ+ users about disrespect - Consequences for disrespect should be clearer and applied consistently - Offer sensitivity training for mods that request it. As of November 8th, 2019, that letter had been signed by 171 members of the lavender community and their allies. No question a lot of ink has been spilled over the pronoun issue. At this point, for better or worse, SE seems to have reached an equilibrium of sorts. There is an official update to the [CoC][1]. The [disastrous initial FAQ][2] has been walked back somewhat in favor of a [softer line][3]. Although some people remain [not completely satisfied][4], the revised FAQ does at least have a positive net score at present (91 vs -1927). Fewer new threads are being posted to meta.SE about these issues (in contrast to Monica's unresolved situation, which seems to be the major remaining source of strife). So it seems like this situation is beginning to settle down and that SE and the community have reached a 'resting point' for the moment. I am wondering how members of the lavender community feel about the changes made so far, and the implied future trajectory. Here are some specific questions: 1. Do people feel they are, or will be, safer and/or more welcome, for example? 2. Do the changes made seem adequate from trans users' point of view, at least as a first step? 3. It isn't clear what the status of the request that sensitivity training be made available is. Is that fact a source of consternation? Etc. ------------------- Notes: - I am explicitly asking the members of the lavender community for their perspective, not even really that of their allies. Many of the changes have been from SE in response to, or on behalf of, the lavender community. I want to provide a forum for members to speak for themselves. I'm interested in hearing what they have to say. - I am aware that the issues surrounding the lavender community have unfortunately been entangled with Monica's unjust treatment, but I ask respondents here to leave those issues aside for the sake of this conversation. - Likewise, I am aware that there are other legitimate perspectives on these developments, including freedom and compelled speech, religious concerns, difficulties for non-English speakers, and difficulties for people with autism and social phobias, among others. I share many of those concerns. I am asking that the focus of posts here be on the lavender community's perspective. I ask in part because there has been at least [one thread][4] that has discussed the other side of these recent changes, but I am not aware of a thread that specifically asks the lavender community about their views. --------------- So, it seems this post was previously closed for the following reasons: 1. I'm creating a venue for members of the lavender community to defend their viewpoint, and 2. the only answer I want to hear is that the issue is more or less resolved. Neither of these interpretations is correct. Moreover, I have trouble seeing how they follow from what I wrote. I am neither advocating for or against the recent changes. I wonder what trans users opinions of them are. There have been many places where users have criticized the changes and members of the lavender community have tried to push back (e.g., saying things like, 'the new CoC doesn't require that', or the like). I'm not aware of a place where they have stated their own perspective outside of the context of an argument. Responses could be things like, 'I would be fine with an even softer line than the second version', or 'when I flag something I think is trans-phobic, it seems more likely to be deleted now'. It could be something entirely unrelated; I don't know—that's why I'm asking. I'm asking for a statement of their current perspective, not a defense of one side of a particular argument. I cite the lavender letter in the first sentence. The word "pronoun" does not occur even once in the letter. I am not requiring that members of the lavender community feel like the issue has been resolved or hasn't. I do argue that the tensions around this issue appear to have *lessened*, but I also acknowledge that they have not gone away. I don't know whether trans users think the big issues have been resolved, look like they will be resolved in time, or (still) look like they're worse. N.b., several posts during the height of tensions suggested trans users felt less safe as a result of the changes. Is that still true? For what it's worth, the on-hold notification reads that this question, "... does not appear to be about the software that powers the Stack Exchange network... ". That's true. This question is about policy and cultural changes in the SE network, and how members of the lavender community feel about them. However, there have been *lots* of questions about these changes over the past month that were likewise not about the software. [1]: https://meta.stackexchange.com/conduct [2]: https://web.archive.org/web/20191023011602/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/334900/official-faq-on-gender-pronouns-and-code-of-conduct-changes [3]: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/336364/what-does-the-code-of-conduct-say-about-pronouns [4]: https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/336765/187282 [5]: https://dearstackexchange.com/lavender