Ah, Politics...the bane or the blessing of our Republic depending on how it's handled.
For most of our history, it was a topic where we could talk about issues citing facts, opinions and even humor without descending into personal attacks or silencing the opposition by calling them practitioners of some cultural evil.  This is no longer the case in our highly technological 21st century where  the 'facts' are no longer statistically based, but assumed so because one shouts and repeats them often enough that listeners believe it rather than check for themselves.  Someone said words to the effect that 'we support truth over facts'...my question is, and it ought to be everyone's is: When did truth and facts become separate ideas?

Young people now assume the way we do things today: playing the blame game, silencing other views by shaming or even threats of physical attack, or banning them from appearing at public venues is the approved method for things to be done.  They are wrong.  This all began when some few decided they knew better ways to reach young minds in the classroom; dates and events became  'boring', so lets concentrate on the process of learning itself--, but they forgot that in order to think things through, you need a framework, and the context of the ideas to apply them in real life.  Without a plan to guide the student, you achieve nothing but chaos.    The Founders knew this when they said a democratic republic can succeed only with an educated citizenry to make the decisions  So, what happened?  We dropped teaching government or civics in our schools, and began simplifying even fundamental courses to the point of uselessness.  History--more needless dates that don't matter in our daily lives....who cares what happened hundreds of years ago?  It won't help me earn a living--until someone who has learned that history uses it to bend your vote to his own ends.  Those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.  

To achieve a better society we are told each man is different and no one should trample on his rights, unless he doesn't agree with your own views.  This is the politics of divisiveness and will destroy our country like no foreign invasion ever could, because it pits us one against another until no one is left standing.  The remedy is not to point out our differences, but our commonalities: we are all human beings, equal and valuable and filling a role that we should respect.  End of story.  All else is a label someone wishes us to wear so they can exploit us for a cause of their own, to further their own power over the majority of our fellow citizens.  Reject these labels if you truly want to be free.

In my time, I learned from history and government classes that were aimed at presenting the facts without slant to either the Left or Right, and it's made me a more thoughtful voter and informed listener.  My first election was 1976 when I voted for Jimmy Carter because he was highly educated and yet saw a path we could all feel part of that went against Washington's established practices.  Since then, I've voted my conscience many times paying no attention to whether the candidate was a member of either major party.  That could have been Independent or Libertarian, or indeed a Democrat or Republican.  What mattered was if their position made sense, and I could see my life being better for it.  What mattered too was whether the candidate came across as honestly concerned about the people he was trying to court, or just saying what would get him elected.  

So, I urge all of us, wherever we live, to look at the issues, think about them in a reasonable and clear manner, and then make up your own mind without regard to social pressure from family, 'experts' or even the parties themselves.  Look at the facts, read up on the issues and the candidates views both past and present...and let your own informed judgment guide you and not emotional bias.

I will make only one personal statement here: I am gay, not rich by any means, and am a fairly logical and unbiased thinker...as such, I don't feel that either party as they now stand, represents my spectrum of ideas.  What will I decide?  Perhaps fall back on the ancient Hippocratic Oath of 'Do No Harm'....                    

13 hours ago, Graeme said:

Anything that involves or encourages political debate is politics. For example, it was okay to mention and celebrate when same-sex marriage became legal. Commenting on the views of those who opposed same-sex marriage was not, because that was (and still is) a political topic. Anything that is advocating for a law change or debating an existing (contentious) law is political.

As a general rule, any discussion of 'rights' is political. There is, however, a spectrum, based on how contentious that right is. Gun rights in the USA is a highly political topic. Race issues are also very political. The right to privacy is much less political, though it can still be contentious and hence could be banned here, depending on the context. After all, it was the Supreme Court of the USA that used the right to privacy for the Lawrence v. Texas decision that banned laws that made private homosexual behavior illegal, and that ultimately led to the Windsor decision making same-sex marriage legal. Given the nature of this site, it's okay to celebrate rights for sexual minorities, as long as those celebrations don't move into discussion/debating opposing views. It's fine to mourn the loss of lives (though I would prefer it if that was never necessary), but pointing fingers and assigning blame can be political.

When in doubt, feel free to contact one of the moderator team and we'll give you our opinion on what you want to post. We don't mind. Just remember we're all volunteers and so we can't always respond quickly.

So we can all agree that same-sex marriage is good, but not that forcing trans people to use facilities that don't correspond to their gender is bad, since that relates to current legal battles? If someone shares something transphobic and I point that out, am I being political? If someone says it's hard to write minority characters and they don't want to get it wrong so they just don't, and I argue in favour of diversity and link to a document describing how to respectfully portray minority characters, am I being political? If I argue in favour of the singular they and other non-binary pronouns, am I being political? If someone talks about sexuality in a way that erases the B in LGBT, and I point out that bisexual people exist, am I being political? If I'm in a thread where the topic crops up and I share my experience with transphobia within the LGBT community, am I being political? And if so, in these examples, why am I the one being political and not the people I'm responding to? I'm asking honestly. I would like to know whether every letter in LGBTQ is welcome here, or if we're merely tolerated as long as we don't talk about it. Because I've felt for a long time now that it seems as if my existence is just too political for GA and I have to bite my tongue for fear of offending someone who 'disagrees' with my gender.

Personal opinion, as I am not GA staff, but using the term "argue" in your examples is implying political debate. As you will be aggressively defending your idea, as much as the other guy is about there's. So, in that light, and to use a current event as an example. A non-political post would be something I posted earlier:

"I had a funny moment during the Impeachment Trial today, when my First Boyfriend walking across my TV screen through the Halls of the Senate. He still looks perfect!"

He works on Capitol Hill... and I'm getting all the Tea.... 

That's my two coppers. 

2 hours ago, Brayon said:

Personal opinion, as I am not GA staff, but using the term "argue" in your examples is implying political debate. As you will be aggressively defending your idea, as much as the other guy is about there's. So, in that light, and to use a current event as an example. A non-political post would be something I posted earlier:

"I had a funny moment during the Impeachment Trial today, when my First Boyfriend walking across my TV screen through the Halls of the Senate. He still looks perfect!"

He works on Capitol Hill... and I'm getting all the Tea.... 

That's my two coppers. 

Well, I don't think I should have to argue that my gender or sexual orientation is valid on a supposedly queer website, but here we are, and I have had to do so in the past. So I believe my question remains valid.

And as pointed out in this very blog, are where the proper places are to take such discussions: The Pit or Personal Blog. I would assume Private Messages as well.

-Bravo Six, Going Dark.

@Stellar

Where should I send my contribution?

1 minute ago, Stellar said:

@Graeme Uh. Yes. I do actually know this already. My humour is apparently indistinguishable from a serious question, but thank you anyhow.

@Carlos Hazday I don't know! Maybe a website needs to be made? 

I get your humor! LOL

I've begun stocking up on matches and lighter fluid  for the revolution to come.

27 minutes ago, Myr said:

On a more serious note... we could rename the Political Club the Dragon Pit...

That would almost get me to resubscribe.

Seriously considered last year getting a Vote for Cthulhu yard sign last year. Slogan was, "Why vote for the lesser evil?".  This year seems to be, "Big apocalyptic change."