Nor, more importantly, warranted, Eric. I take his post as somewhat tongue-in-cheek, although he's got a lot of cheek for making the suggestion considering how serious this must be to shut Chat down for days.
Look, everyone, everytime I popped in to Chat, everyone was sitting in the Chat Lobby, none of the categorized rooms was being used--these categories can be age protected so that those of us who are adults discussing highly erotic fiction (read 'close enough to be called porn by prudes') will not be accused of compromising the 'tender' intelligence of minors. Likewise, those who are 'under' legal age in their jurisdictions can have the lobby, and/or other rooms for 'underage seeking advice' which adults can visit, or 'underage chat room' which only moderators can visit/monitor, for obvious purposes. Let's face it, if they're intelligent enough to use a computer to search for a place like this, they're going to find out stuff whether or not we tell them.
Yes, cliques develop. Yes, that can be problematic. Should we have to put up with a clique getting down on anyone? No, it's not reasonable, and it's uncalled for.
Can we handle ourselves as trustable and able to deal with minors who are searching for the answers their (and our) lifestyles are demanding they find? I should hope so. Come on, people, buck up and get it together! These kids come here looking for help! What are you doing, pretending you're still in Middle School?!? If you haven't got it together then don't give them advice, but don't try to scare them away, either--that's not what this place is for.
I think a certain amount of teasing among Chat users is expected, but some may not be aware of how others tease--it's hard to put inflection into the printed word, especially in an electronic medium like our Chat. I am not bad at it, but it's an imperfect skill, and unless someone knows you personally, is difficult to interpret in an online medium; those who come here and are still closeted and seeking answers may be very put off by even the slightest of teasing--consider how much some of us got while we were in school. A guideline on this: Mine started when I was 5, I had no idea what "Gay", "Homosexual" or "Puberty" meant, no idea of what sex was, and was being teased mercilessly because of my name--don't forget, kids can be more cruel than adults--it wasn't until High School that I researched the name's origins: It means Lion Heart, which really helped me resolve that issue, too bad it took 12 years and was too late to really change anything.
We have a chance, here, to help others understand what we're all about--don't blow it!