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    How exactly has SOi hurt members of our LGBTQ+ community? Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 2:22
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    @RonJohn I haven't seen much hate against LGBTQ+ on here until this whole mess happened. In the past week, I've seen more than in the past two years. See also the last sentence of the quote: Worse, through our handling of this situation, we made them a target for harassment as people debated their right to express themselves and be addressed according to how they identify. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 5:10
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    Don’t all people here refer to each other by username mentions anyway? Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 5:43
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    @Mabedan - Based has on the hundreds of comments that was one of the concerns. If specifically asked by a user to address them a specific way, could another user continue to address them by their chosen username, instead of respecting their wishes to be addressed differently. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 5:48
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    @RonJohn I have seen really transphobic stuff in the last week. Thankfully most of it has been deleted, but I still saw them and it still hurts. I also felt like I had to defend my rights. I hadn't felt mike that here before. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 6:42
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    I was completely unaware of any drama happening on StackExchange and after reading this apology, some of the comments and some other posts about the incident that were linked here, I honestly still have no idea how actions taken against a moderator by the staff have caused (or could possibly cause) harm to the LGBT community. What exactly did SE do that was inherently harmful LGBT people specifically? Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 9:24
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    @Lawyerson It's a good question that could us a details answer. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to answer you. If you care enough, you could ask a separate meta question. Otherwise, let just say that the way they deal with all of this put a big red target in our (LGBTQ+) backs and unleash a lot of transphobic stuff on us. (sorry for the repost, my comment add several grammar error that made it hard to properly understand) Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 10:23
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    While I myself am not LGBTQ+, my understanding is that this entire incident over pronouns has called attention to the fact that there are LGBTQ+ users on the site. The increased visibility has brought out latent queerphobia from some other users. As a result, LGBTQ+ users have faced increased harassment because of the attention called to them due to recent events. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 13:21
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    Even if how someone self-identifies is irrelevant to the technical matter at hand, if someone wishes to be identified in a certain way (e.g. using "they/them/theirs" pronouns), respecting that person requires respecting that choice. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 13:21
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    @dimitarvp their bungling of the whole situation, starting from declaring a policy that could not work as written, then over-reacting to questions, then doubling down with public accusations, has emboldened the haters and invited malicious compliance and just generally made life ugly for the LGBTQ community SE was supposed to be protecting. It's ugly and painful. See this message from a queer mod. For every mod who's been hurt by this, hundreds or thousands of users probably have. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 14:13
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    @rlee827 I have no problem respecting anyone's self-identify. My point was -- and I didn't elaborate, please accept my apologies for it -- that in the regular Q&A setting in the StackExchange network, the communicational exchange is, at best, 2-3 replies between two people. This really leaves no space and time for inserting self-identification and its deserved respect. It's like this: "How do I do X?" -> "Try Y or Z" -> "Thanks, that works". In such an exchange the LGBT aspect of a participant is irrelevant (or it should be; I realise there are a lot of unreasonable haters out there). Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 15:04
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    @dimitarvp 1 Sure, on the technical sites, matters of gender identity rarely arise, although you should be aware that on those sites many women intentionally use gender-neutral or even masculine user names because they feel they won't get fair treatment otherwise. 2 Following on from Monica's remarks, over the last week there has been a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment expressed on MSE (& I expect also in many chatrooms), ranging from mildly disrespectful remarks through to blatantly nasty transphobic / homophobic stuff that is against the old "Be Nice" policy and the current CoC. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 15:32
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    @dimitarvp (cont) Some of the anti-LGBTQ+ stuff has been said in a diplomatic way, so you have to read between the lines to see it. But the worst stuff is as plain as day. That bad stuff is now deleted, but due to the huge amount of activity & the scarcity of mods, some of the bad comments persisted for hours, and received upvotes. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 15:40
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    There was even a "question" posted here on MSE by a member who primarily posts on science sites (where he has several thousand rep points) which was basically a proclamation that he henceforth refuses to interact with any trans members. It was deleted in under 10 minutes, but it was still very unpleasant while it lasted. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 15:45
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    As a member of the Lavender aka Queer aka LGBTQ(etc) community who is not trans or nonbinary, I did feel personally attacked in the aftermath of this. No one said anything personal to me (almost no one) but I felt it all the same. It was enough to send me into panic attacks and needing a leave of absence from my moderator position. The hate is real. Having Monica back as my co-moderator will help tremendously. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 21:08