Happy Pride Month!

Hello all,

I wanted to take the opportunity to say happy (somewhat belated) pride month to our members of the LGBTQ+ community. While it has been rough (to say the least) for the community in the past four years, I was very elated to hear about the recent SCOTUS decision, and I hope progress like that continues in spite of our current bigoted political leader(s). I'm amazed the progress and acceptance that's occurred just in my lifetime (remember when gay marriage wasn't even legal?), especially in regards to the trans community recently, and while there's still much to be done, it gives me hope.

We as a mod team stand with all members of the LGBTQ+ community. If there are ever any problems within the community you have/will face by just being who you are, please feel free to contact us.

As a community with many addicts, a lot of us have experienced prejudice and how harmful that can be. Many addicts have died because of it, and that holds true for the LGBTQ+ community as well. It's important for us to stand together, especially in these times, to combat the discrimination that continues to plague our societies around the world.

In terms of related sub rule changes, you may have noticed automod responding to some comments with,

That is not an acceptable word to use here. Please expand your vocabulary and choose a noun that is not offensive.

While I understand that some slurs may not always be intended as actual bigotry, posts and comments are not private conversations between friends. This is a public forum, and we have many members from stigmitized groups participating in our community. We do not want our community negatively impacted by such language. While we haven't made an official announcement up to this point, we implemented a soft rule change a few months back to no longer allow bigoted speech and slurs, regardless of how intended (i.e. joking or not). While we may warn in some cases, we also hold the right to ban immediately in more extreme cases. If you hold an opinion against gays, lesbians, trans, non-binary, etc., your opinion is not welcome here, so do not share it. A junkie discriminating against another ostracized group is probably one of the greatest ironies I've witnessed in my life. If you feel the need to be bigoted here, maybe just go punch yourself in the face to find some sense.

And with all that said, to all our LGBTQ+ members here, happy pride month!

-/r/opiates mod team