Happy LGBTQ+ Pride

Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket

Happy LGBTQ+ Pride

Happy LGBTQ+ Pride month! :)

submitted by AutumnArtist(A.A.), age 14
(June 28, 2018 - 10:12 am)

I love this thread <3

first of all, Hawthorne, that is absolutely amazing ahhhh

also it's great to see everyone again! I hope everyone has an amazing pride month :D

oh and @dreamii my two pride-related comments (both here and on your thread) were very edited as well :/ I guess it's just related to not giving out too much personal stuff.

submitted by Starchaser, age 13, Pyrrhia, (she/her)
(June 6, 2021 - 8:05 pm)

@Admins, I've already left a comment about your censorship and had it deleted. (I wrote the "a poem" thread and left a further comment there, which you may or may not remember.) I considered leaving it there but, seeing Starchaser's comment, I can't leave it be. I'm not entirely sure what content was censored in all of these comments and there's no real way to know, aside from the few CBers I am in contact with elsewhere. From what I've gathered and/or guessed, the content you have removed has been along the lines of "I'm trans" or "thanks for accepting my pronouns" or "the CB helped me figure out that I'm bi" and so on, and you have said that this is "personal information."

How clearly can I say this? That is not personal information.

That is not information that will allow us to identify people in real life. That is not dark secrets that will come back to bite people. That is not inappropriate content that younger CBers shouldn't see.

The only reason you might be removing this information is because you are homophobic.

Now, I understand that you might not want to post negative comments about yourselves. I understand that your first response is going to be to delete this comment and not deal with it. Well, that is unacceptable.

You have to accept criticism and people pointing out your mistakes. We have been commenting about this all month -- all pride month, while you have been censoring our pride -- and you have been ignoring it. This cannot go on forever. At some point, you're going to have to respond to us, and to give us a better answer than just "we aren't posting personal information," when the information you are not posting is not personal and would be entirely acceptable were it not about LGBTQ+ identities.

I don't want to say this, but you know... we have the power to boycott Cricket. Perhaps we will.

Will you please just respond to this?

submitted by Kitten, age too young, to vote, she/her
(June 9, 2021 - 10:57 am)

Thank you for your comments, Bakerloo and Kitten. As you’re aware, the CB, like Cricket magazine itself, is read by a wide range of ages and aims to be appropriate for kids as young as 9 or 10. Some topics and comments that we believe may be correct for kids entering their teens may not strike the admins as appropriate for somewhat younger ages. There is no list of words or ideas (other than obvious ones) that are disallowed, and admins attempt to give CBers reasonable latitude in expressing and sharing ideas that are important to them. In deciding whether or not to approve a comment, perhaps with some editing, we take into account the tone and intention of the comment, the context of possibly more mature vocabulary and ideas, and the overall trend of the thread. 

We’ve discussed the matter among ourselves, and although we have sometimes been perhaps overly concerned about sharing gender IDs and orientation—maybe from an abundance of caution—this is not really at the heart of our concern. We’ve agreed that sharing this information appropriately should be allowed, and we’ll ease up on occasionally restricting gender self-identifying posts. Our concern is more with the depth and detail of discussions of sensitive issues and personal experiences. Every comment is different, and admins have the responsibility to use our judgment in reviewing each one. Even well-intentioned comments may stray into areas of discussion not really meant for the CB. 

We’re sorry for the confusion we’ve caused. We’re thrilled with how positive, supportive, appreciative, and intelligent CBer’s comments are, and will do our best to make our decisions reasonable and consistent.

—Admins

submitted by Admin
(June 10, 2021 - 5:07 pm)

Thank you.

submitted by Sybill, age He/they, Ikea
(June 10, 2021 - 8:08 pm)

Happy Pride Month! The CB has been a key factor in my understanding of the queer community and eventually figuring out how I'm part of it (I'm an ace demigirl and very confused about romantic attraction). It's my hope that other CBers will be learning like I did. Remember that you aren't alone and you're completely valid! <3

submitted by Luna-Starr, age she/they, Existential Ponderment
(June 9, 2021 - 11:07 am)


Dear Bakerloo and Kitten,





I want you to know that we haven't posted your comments yet because we are seriously discussing your points. We are talking with each other about the consistency and point of our policies, and we really appreciate you making such passionate and articulate comments. We will try to address both your comments by the end of the week. 



--admin

submitted by --admin
(June 9, 2021 - 11:43 am)

Happy LGBTQ+Pride month! I have no idea where I’m going with this since this is my first Pride month, but I’m happy to say that I just discovered that I am genderfluid! It’s the best way to describe me for now! I HAVE ANOTHER MEANING IN THIS WORLD AGAIN! * rainbow confetti *

submitted by Zealatom , age ^-^, Meh
(June 10, 2021 - 11:11 am)

I made some pride flag rubber band rings, and a rainbow necklace (which I'm wearing as a bracelet b/c I only want to show my hands). In order, left to right:

Ace, bi, lesbian, pan, poly, genderqueer, non-binary, transgender, genderfluid, and intersex pride rings.

I'm sorry about the bad editing, I just wanted to keep the rest of my body out of the picture. 

canvas (4).png
submitted by Wolfy_Walker_7, age 12, she/her, Happy Pride!
(June 10, 2021 - 12:06 pm)

Hey everyone! A.A. here, the original author of this wonderful post thread!! Just wanted to pop in since it's been a looooong time, I'm 17 now! Wow I'm so old haha. Anyways, hi!

Hi, AA! It's good to hear from you.

Admin

submitted by AutumnArtist(A.A.), age 17
(June 18, 2021 - 7:45 pm)

Happy Pride! Be safe, all.

submitted by Viola?, age Secret, Secret
(June 29, 2021 - 11:37 am)

Hey everyone! I don't know if anyone will see this since it's the end of June, but I thought I'd stop by and I got so excited when I saw this thread! Sometime in the fall I realized that I was ace, and now I'm calling myself an aroace lesbian. I had no idea so many CBers were queer too! I don't know any ace people in real life, so seeing so many people mention it on here is so cool! I came out to to 2 of my best friends a few months ago and they ended up being lgbtq too, so now we've all been able to talk about it with each other and it's been amazing. I told my family a month ago and they were really supportive and I can tell they're trying really hard to do everything right. And then yesterday I actually came out pretty publicly on social media because I really wanted people to know this part of my identity, but I knew I could never do it in person. I'm super shy, so I'm honestly surprised I did it. But people have been so sweet and I'm so excited! I know I'm really lucky to have such accepting family and friends and I'm so grateful for it. Happy very end of pride month everyone! <3 

submitted by Dragonrider
(June 30, 2021 - 10:34 pm)

I came out to my mom last night and it went well! 

submitted by Leo
(July 1, 2021 - 9:40 pm)

That's amazing! And I know it might not matter at all to you coming from me, but I'm proud of you! <3

submitted by Spellbound , age 12, nowhere to be found
(July 2, 2021 - 4:13 pm)

Thank you, Spellbound and it definitely does mean a lot to me! I've been wanting to tell my mom for a while and I'm really glad that I did. 

submitted by Leo
(July 2, 2021 - 9:00 pm)

I want everybody to know that you are valid, accepted, and loved by everyone here on CB, no matter your pronouns or sexual identities are.

submitted by Hunter, age Millennia, Camp Half-Blood
(July 12, 2021 - 4:43 pm)