48
submitted 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) by ada to c/main

Whilst this is not a local only post/community, it is primarily intended for blahaj lemmy members. Top level replies from non blahaj accounts will be removed.

=======

I want to take the moment to clarify the Blahaj Lemmy position on things, given recent events and the fallout that has followed. This will give people the chance to decide for themselves if blahaj zone lemmy is the right space for them, or if it doesn't meet their needs.

First and foremost, blahaj zone lemmy exists to give a space for queer folk to exist, with their needs explicitly protected as the highest priority, and with a particular focus on the needs of gender diverse folk. Most lemmy instances are not run by trans folk, and whilst many are still inclusive, they don't always prioritise our needs. Others barely consider trans folk, and react only to the most blatant of bigotry.

We are not a political instance, however political communities have a space here, as does any community that is actively protective of the needs of queer and gender diverse folk. Given the impact of politics on gender diverse folk, that means lots of dialogue and strong opinions exist, and as long as those opinions are honestly held, and not bigoted or exclusive, people are welcome to have and express those opinions here.

For what it's worth, I am a member of the Greens Party in Australia. I have no time for the middle ground politics of the Australian Labor party, let alone the right wing beliefs of the Australian Liberal party. Yet a community of queer Labor Party aligned folk would fit on blahaj lemmy, because the parties ideologies, are not explicitly anti queer. A community aligned with the Australian Liberal party likely would not have a place here, unless the goal of the community was to work at actively challenging the anti queer policies of the party.

That being said, political communities (or any other communities) that exist solely to target and take aim at other queer folk have no place here either. The goal of blahaj lemmy is queer inclusion, and a community whose sole goal is division, will be removed.

The downside to this is that as we assume good faith in members and we don't gatekeep or deny access to people because of their pronouns or gender identity, (even when those identities are challenging to many) it is possible for bad faith actors to take advantage of our inclusive policies. Unfortunately, that's just something we are going to have to navigate as it occurs, because I won't let bad faith folk push this instance to defaulting to exclusion or gatekeeping the validity of someone's identity. I will respect a trolls pronouns even as I ban them, because to not do so, normalises the idea that pronouns are something that are earned by good behaviour, or that other people have a say in the validity of another person's identity and pronouns.

So that's where we stand. Hopefully this will help people decide for themselves whether or not this is the right instance for them.

[-] ada 4 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

The post you linked to by MindTraveller is an active misrepresentation of events by them

Traveller and I are not "in agreement" about much of anything. Their politics are very far removed from mine

This is the text of the message I sent advising that I was shutting the group down.

After consideration, I’ve decided that non voters does not really fit the stated goals of blahaj zone. Your motives for creating it seem based on a personal vendetta, and whilst your views are genuine, nothing constructive comes from the community. All it does is create division, because its sole purpose is to target others, without really focusing on any progressive ideas or discussion of its own.

At the moment, it’s causing more harm than good to the overall community.

I’ll leave the community open, so that if you choose to set the community up on another instance, you will have the opportunity to direct them to the new location.

Given the post which you linked, (which I had not seen until now) I will be removing Traveller and the new community, because once more, the goal appears to be to create division

The goal of blahaj zone is not political. The goal is to allow trans people to have a space where they can exist on their own terms, without having to pretend to be someone they're not. My own political views are closer to Links/LibertyHub than nonvoters or its ilk. Yet as long as there is no bigotry or gatekeeping, then trans people with politics at odds with my own are welcome. It's why we have an "armed queers" community, despite my own strong distaste for gun culture.

It is communities/posters that exist primary to create division, without adding anything positive back, that have no place here.

[-] ada 3 points 2 days ago

There's some sort of ongoing issues with our hosting provider. We're trying to get to the bottom of it

1
submitted 2 days ago by ada to c/birding@lemmy.world

Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) - 7th Brigade Park, Chermside, Brisbane, Australia - July 2024

Image description: A Kookaburra sitting in the fork of a paperbark tree, looking straight at the photographer

[-] ada 17 points 3 days ago

Rather than just banning trans folk who don't align with their politics, or targeting their political ideas, Hexbear actively enables dogpiling and harassing of individual trans folk

That's not the behaviour of "the most trans positive instance", especially given that Hexbears political ideology is fringe at best, making the majority of trans people valid targets for its harassment.

Don't get me wrong. Hexbear is incredibly supportive of its trans folk. It's why I tried to make federation with them work for so long. But it's only supportive of its own trans folk. If you don't align with their political stance, you get harassment, not support.

[-] ada 25 points 4 days ago

'Dunking' on them is a pittance in comparison

This statement is at odds with the claim that they're the most trans inclusive instance around.

Hexbear is incredibly protective of trans folk that share its views, but it green lights active harassment of trans folk not in that group.

An instance that is ok with harassment of some trans folk isn't as protective as you're claiming.

[-] ada 13 points 4 days ago

Transphobe has been banned

[-] ada 9 points 4 days ago

They stop stinging after a while. I mean, you might never feel great about them, but for me at least, the urge to burn them in a fire went away after a few years. Now, I don't bring them up for no reason, but if it's relevant, I'm happy to bring out an old photo of me pre transition

Which is to say, keep them. You can't unthrow them away later. But you can simply never look at them again, even if you keep them

[-] ada 35 points 4 days ago

People here will be salty about me saying it but I think they’re the most trans positive instance. I say this as someone that looks at everything trans related from lemmy.ml on purpose so I can check in on everyone

Hexbear is very inclusive to trans people that align with its ideology, but it actively allows harassment and "dunking" of anyone, including trans people, who don't align with its ideology. In my opinion, it's hard to be the most inclusive trans instance when you are only inclusive of some trans people, and are willing to harass the rest.

[-] ada 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I'm not sure where this idea comes from. Libertyhub is explicitly welcome on blahaj.zone. I've actively refused many requests to remove it.

Queer and gender diverse folk with genuinely held beliefs on politics that directly impact them are welcome to express them and talk about them.

considering what happened to Libertyhub.

There have been zero admin actions against the LibertyHub community or its mods from Blahaj Zone admins as a result of any of the recent events. The moderator stepping down and handing over ownership was internal to that community.

[-] ada 6 points 5 days ago

I've edited the post.

[-] ada 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

The obvious, the blatant, absurd obvious option, is to remove MindTraveler becase they have been doing everything in their power to harass and abuse other members of this board.

Please DM me with some links, or report the content harassing other users (rather than their political beliefs)

I'm not American, and I'm not active in liberty hub, non voters or 196, so I'm not automatically across everything happening on the instance. I rely on reports and communication.

[-] ada 51 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I'm sorry you feel that way. I'd like to take the chance to explain a little bit.

I've had multiple requests to ban LibertyHub from people who see strong left opinions as being trolls or inauthentic. I've refused every time, because I'm not going to remove queer folk from a queer space for genuinely held beliefs over politics that directly impact them.

The same goes for non voters. There are left wing folk who think that voting for a president that encourages genocide is the best option in the limited options available, and they think that pushing back against this president will lead to more harm than encouraging people to support him, and so, they have strong reactions to people who disagree.

Yes, the non voters community was a direct response to liberty hub, because of these two political positions. But it too, is a community run by queer folk, with genuinely held beliefs, and the space is allowed to exist only as long as it does not target specific lemmy users or communities. They can push back against political ideals they disagree with, not against the users or communities professing those ideals. Hexbear has a similar community that doesn't have this limitation, and explicitly dunks on people, not just political ideals, and that was something I wanted to avoid here.

My options are

  1. Ban politics. This is unrealistic, and unhelpful, given how much politics is impacting our community at the moment

  2. Enforce a particular political perspective. If I were to choose to moderate in line with my own political perspectives (which are closer to libertyhub than 196 or non voters), it would split the community even further, and fragment queer and gender diverse community on lemmy in to spaces that don't prioritise their needs. I won't have that. We're dealing with enough shit already.

  3. Allow both groups to exist, and deal with the tension that comes from it. This is the only option that keeps the community in one piece, and able to talk about topics that are directly impacting our lives at the moment. It's also the option that creates the greatest amount of tension from day to day, but unfortunately, I don't have a solution for that.

[-] ada 12 points 6 days ago

That thread was removed by a community mod and I can't find any examples of deliberate misgendering in remaining posts.

I will action deliberate misgendering, but in this case, the posts have already been removed.

106
submitted 2 weeks ago by ada to c/main

The2024 fediverse canvas has started, and it's busier than last year! We need your help placing pixels and making Shonky come to life!

@totally_notAcat@lemmy.blahaj.zone has created a template for us to use!

Get those pixels happening!

29
submitted 2 weeks ago by ada to c/birding@lemmy.world

Image description: A silhouette of a vulture, wings spread wide, circling on a thermal. The silhouette of the bird is strongly contrasted against the misty white of the waterfall behind it

#bird #dailybird #avesArgentinas #Iguazu #iguazufalls #vulture

50
submitted 2 weeks ago by ada to c/blahaj

If you're not aware, the fediverse canvas is a collaborative canvas, where fediverse users can login with a fediverse account, and place a single pixel every few minutes. The project will run for a few days, and at the end, the we will have a giant collaborative canvas!

This was the 2023 lemmy effort! https://cdn.sc07.company/canvas/2023/finished.png

For 2024, the entire fediverse can join, not just lemmy!

The canvas site can be found here https://canvas.fediverse.events/. It's not open yet, but we can create and test templates, ready for go live!

You can find more details about the 2024 fediverse canvas project here https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/14077575

I'm keen to see our new mascot Shonky get some visibility! For those of you who are graphically inclined, we can pre-emptively create a template, so when the event kicks off, we can hit the ground running! Shonky's image files can be found here https://github.com/blahaj-zone/shonky. If someone creates a template, please share the link!

52
submitted 2 weeks ago by ada to c/birding@lemmy.world

Image description: A close cropped shot of a masked lapwing standing on a grass lawn.

28
I rejoined flickr recently (self.photography)
submitted 3 weeks ago by ada to c/photography@lemmy.ml

I've been using flickr on and off for 20 years now, so my flickr time stream gives me a nice snapshot of how my photography has changed and improved over the years.

In theory, I've got all of my old photos available, but on flickr, the ones I posted are the ones I considered my best at the time. So my flickr timestream gives me an perspective on my photography that the 10's of thousands of photos in my home collection does not.

It's been really interesting going back through my old photos and seeing the change first hand...

33
submitted 3 weeks ago by ada to c/birding@lemmy.world

Image description: A kookaburra sitting on a branch in a tree above the photographer. A blurred apartment building is visible in the distance behind the foliage of the tree

499
submitted 3 weeks ago by ada to c/main

Thanks to the lovely Heatherhorns (https://trello.com/b/8dvKmvtc/commissions) we have a new icon! We'll be updating the instance icon soon!

So, with the new fediverse canvas project just around the corner, it's time for our new shonk to represent!

36
submitted 4 weeks ago by ada to c/birding@lemmy.world

#bird #birds #AustralianBirds #duck #DailyBird

Image description: A close up of a paddling Pacific Black Duck

12
submitted 1 month ago by ada to c/linux4noobs@lemmy.world

I run a raspberry pi that identifies birds by their song, and records time, date, and species etc in an SQLite3 database.

The rpi app comes with some basic reports, but I'm wanting to expand on them, so that I can show monthly/yearly trends etc.

On windows at work, I'd use something like Power BI, but a) it's windows and b) it's overkill for my current needs.

I've only recently moved entirely to linux, so I'm not really sure of what the linux alternatives are, and I'm looking for suggestions :)

18
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by ada to c/brisbane@aussie.zone

Image description: A photo of a partially demolished Toombul shopping centre. Cinnabon and Bakers Delight signs are both visible. The area they are in used to be entirely inside the centre, but is now exposed to the elements due to the intervening walls being torn down. Construction machinery is visible in the foreground

view more: next ›

ada

joined 2 years ago
MODERATOR OF