Susan's Place Transgender Resources

There are a few things that I believe in above pretty much all else.  First is that communities cannot function well unless principles are placed before personalities.  The second is that when I am wrong to make what amends I can promptly and openly. 

A couple of days ago a friend of mine and contributor to this forum contacted me enormously upset about what she believed was a new policy regarding temporal limits on the ability of authors to edit and/or delete their entries.  It was related to me that her protests resulted in her being banned from  Susan's.    Well that was more than enough to get my juices going.  For those of you who do not know my history, and that includes most everyone.  I have been an on again off again activist within the anti-war and human rights movements in the United States for over forty years.  I have written for alternative newspapers, participated in organizing people at the grass roots level, and done other activities that have occasionally resulted in putting myself in harms way and on two occasions ended in being detained for short periods of time.

So after verifying that her account was no longer available and that the policies she referred to existed I posted here, in violation of the rules that I agreed to, an angry retort.  It lasted less than ten minutes before it was taken down which was about what I expected.  But that really isn't the point.

This is a community dedicated to providing a voice for the disenfranchised and lost.  Susans.org saves lives.  I better than most know what it takes to build and maintain public facing web sites such as this.  If I chose, I could configure a Linux box; install an Oracle database; configure the firewall and establish the necessary security protocols; write an Apex and Java Script front end; use controlled vocabularies and web crawler to collect relevant news; develop administrative and user roles; establish spam and abuse filters; and ten thousand dollars and a few thousand hours later roll out something that is a shadow of what is provided here.

And I, with hubris and lacking respect chose knowingly to publicly criticize, and to do so with incomplete information that I eventually discovered was exaggerated and in part incorrect.  In doing so I offended and disappointed Cindy, Susan, and I do not know who else.  What was their response?  They slapped me on the wrist and forgave me.  I feel a little ashamed.

I am one of a thousand voices here.  If I provide any solace to the troubled or hope to the despairing I am glad, but it is only a tiny fragment of the power of the remarkable community that is encompassed by the men and women who participate here.  We have lost voices recently that have been instrumental in my development as a transgender person because of a perception of discourtesy.  That I should in any way contribute to discord or distrust is both stupid and wrong.  We are a body politic, and only by consenting to the rules of civility can we fulfill a positive good.  No one, and certainly not me, can or ought to cavalierly and arrogantly question the work that has been done for fun and for free.

So Cindy, Susan and to anyone else I have offended I apologize.  I wish everyone who comes, lurks, learns, teaches here fair winds on their journey to authentic lives, and I hope to meet you all here, and with luck elsewhere too.

Respectfully

Julie Anne Blair.

Dear Julie,

Thank you, gratefully accepted.

As I said, we all have bad days.

Cindy

As I said everyone has a bad day now an then. :P

You both are generous, but it wasn't a bad day it was an inconsiderate and foolish attitude.

Peace,
J

You know me Julie. Sisters do not apologize and love each other no matter what. We are good SISTER.

Jessica,

Hugs

J

my respect.
apologizing isn't always an easy thing.
i'm also glad to know that things weren't exacly as bad as you first thought,
though it's understandable that someone who's spent their life fighting for feedom gets upset when they think freedom has been stolen away.

Surviving trans isn't a cakewalk.  And emotions can run super high.

Especially on high hormone levels.

It has to be tough to manage.

Julie, thank you.

Nuff said by me, and I am glad you did the apology.

Because it makes me feel more secure, and we can be a handful.

Thanks.


Blessings

Satinjoy

Quote from: Taka on November 16, 2014, 04:20:52 AM
my respect.
apologizing isn't always an easy thing.
i'm also glad to know that things weren't exacly as bad as you first thought,
though it's understandable that someone who's spent their life fighting for feedom gets upset when they think freedom has been stolen away.

Thank you Taka.  I'm smiling because apologizing gets easier with practice and I have had more occasion to practice in my life than I care to admit.

Cheers,
Julie

You're a class act, Julie, and a rather eloquent one at that.  If we show who we are by how we apologize, you're clearly an extraordinary woman at heart, someone who always tries to do what she thinks is right (and hits the bullseye 99.999% of the time.)

Julie,
It was one day in a lifetime of emotions.

Are we always right? Never but that's what makes us human.

I accept your sincerity and apology to the forum with a happy heart.

Hugs
isabell

Julie Anne Blair, you certainly are a class act!

Hugs, Devlyn

Julie you are indeed a class act, once again I was asleep at the wheel and missed out on the entire fracas. Good job though lady, it's always so nice to have some mature adults here in our midst who take responsibility for a frustrated rant!

Julie,

I am very proud to call you a friend and a sister. So to me there is no need to apologize. You've always been an inspiration to me since I joined this site. The one thing that I always try to live up to is a very simple saying"say what you do, do what you say". When I'm wrong, I'll admit I'm wrong and I admire that in other people. So in my eyes you are somebody to admire, look up to and be inspired by

Hugs,

Melissa Ann

Julie, please listen carefully:

What you did, you did out of concern for a friend and in the name of standing up for someone you thought had been wronged.

That's something you can be proud of.

Yes, you acted in haste, wrote things you wish you hadn't, and violated rules that you respect. For those you have apologized. But your motives were pure.

Please remember that.

Suzi,
You are truly my friend.  No I have no regrets.  I will break rules if I think I must, and pay whatever cost is brought to bear.  If in the end I am wrong or foolish I will own it and move on.  For me though, the resources made available here for people who have few places to turn to are too important for me or anyone else to degrade or debase.  That I was insulting to people I admire is the alpha and omega of this apology.  Standing up for people is fine, to do so in a way that is in any sense abusive is not.  To the extent that what I did is, or is perceived as, an abuse of privilege is what was out of line and what I hope I have made amends for.

How's the mid-atlantic this autumn?  Are you in the deep freeze with much of the rest of the country?

Peace,
Julie

Quote from: JulieBlair on November 16, 2014, 07:12:18 PM
Suzi,
You are truly my friend.  No I have no regrets.  I will break rules if I think I must, and pay whatever cost is brought to bear.  If in the end I am wrong or foolish I will own it and move on.  For me though, the resources made available here for people who have few places to turn to are too important for me or anyone else to degrade or debase.  That I was insulting to people I admire is the alpha and omega of this apology.  Standing up for people is fine, to do so in a way that is in any sense abusive is not.  To the extent that what I did is, or is perceived as, an abuse of privilege is what was out of line and what I hope I have made amends for.

How's the mid-atlantic this autumn?  Are you in the deep freeze with much of the rest of the country?

Peace,
Julie

Birds of a feather, we are sisters!

Aww Julie. Sticking up for someone you though was wronged is very admirable. Making a public apology is extrememly admirable. You are one of a kind for sure.

Quote from: Jess42 on November 17, 2014, 11:56:03 AM
Aww Julie. Sticking up for someone you though was wronged is very admirable. Making a public apology is extrememly admirable. You are one of a kind for sure.

She's a class act, a real keeper for sure!

Quote from: Shantel on November 17, 2014, 02:03:23 PM
She's a class act, a real keeper for sure!

You got that right. I think we all are though.