D&D 5E D&D Beyond Self-Censorship: Pride Month Digital Dice Blocked In Some Countries

[Echohawk]

But I guess we can chalk it up to "Westerners know better than anyone else" and ignore people that actually live in other countries.

Pish! Us Southern Hemispherers know which side of the planet really knows best.

 

[Flamestrike]

"Could." It could rain frogs, too.

See, here you are still talking like you know Turkey and its politics better than the actual Turkish person who is saying that worst-case-scenario is all very unlikely. But I guess we can chalk it up to "Westerners know better than anyone else" and ignore people that actually live in other countries.

I'm from the South not the West. Australia to be precise. Turkey is closer to Western Europe than I am.

And I have every right to talk about Turkeys abhorrent LGBTI practices, including banning LGBTI marches on the grounds they 'insult public morality' and persecution, discrimination and oppression of LGBTI people.

But fine. Here it is from a Turkish Gay mans perspective:

Murat has watched for years as LGBT people who face persecution in the Middle East have found refuge in his cosmopolitan neighbourhood of Istanbul.

Today, in the face of growing government hostility and vitriol from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, the young gay man says he has just one wish: to leave.

"Before, there would be a wave of hatred and then it would calm down," said the 30-year-old computer engineer, his eyes piercing through a haze of cigarette smoke.

"Now, it's been going on for months, turning into a tsunami."

The article goes on with something directly relevant to this discussion:

The immediate cause of Erdogan's fury was a student artwork depicting Islam's holiest site in Mecca draped in the LGBT rainbow flag.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu reported the arrest of "four LGBT freaks" over the display, condemning the "degenerates" in Twitter posts that got flagged for "hateful conduct".

Erdogan later told his female supporters not to listen to "those lesbians", adding there was "no such thing" as the LGBT movement in Turkey.


"It's a hate campaign" aimed at discrediting the student protests, said Can Candan, a documentary filmmaker and professor at Bogazici University.

The top Turkish institution has been spearheading the protests after Erdogan appointed a loyalist as its rector at the start of the year.

The controversial artwork prompted officials to shut down Bogazici's LGBT club, where Candan was a faculty adviser.

Targeted by Erdogan, Turkey's LGBT community face 'tsunami of hate' - France 24

Artwork depicting the rainbow flag in Mecca, prompted hate speech from the President, and the shutting down of a LGBTI club.

And again, totally relevant to this discussion:

While there are no official figures, Turkey has slid down the LGBT rights index published by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).

Last year, Netflix cancelled the production of a Turkish series featuring a gay character after failing to win the government's permission to film.

In June, the French sporting goods retailer Decathlon became the target of Turkish media boycott campaign, after saying it stood in solidarity with the LGBT community.

And in April, Erdogan rallied to the defence of a top religious affairs official who linked homosexuality to the spread of diseases, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Decathalon company literally got boycotted by Turkey after saying it stood in solidarity with the LGBTI community.

Again, if I was the lawyer advising Hasbro in light of the above, I would be telling them not to poke that bear.

 

[Flamestrike]

double post.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We can't blame Hasbro if some choices are based in certain sources of information. At least we should thank the effort to avoid possible homophobic tropes in the fiction.

In some countries the homosexuality is a serious taboo for family-friendly fictions, and even where it is allowed, lots of parents are willing to boycot when certain products mention some threats "that aren't suitable for little children". And if we see a new wave of "satanic panic", I am afraid what will be one of the targets of the "mass hysteria". Some things can be too dangerous to be linked with.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The Director of the company has fiduciary obligations to the shareholders. He cant take any course of action that breaches that obligation.

And this outlines the problem inherent to the system. They are legally required to be scumbags. All publicly held companies are. They're not good guys. They're not your friend. They're not worthy of defense when they do scummy things.

 

[bedir than]

Artwork depicting the rainbow flag in Mecca, prompted hate speech from the President, and the shutting down of a LGBTI club.

And again, totally relevant to this discussion:

I was unaware that the DnDBeyond pride dice used Islamic holy places. Now I am

 

[Umbran]

I was unaware that the DnDBeyond pride dice used Islamic holy places. Now I am

Please don't be snarky. You focus on how the analogy is not perfect, but miss the point - some places can still be extremely intolerant, and that can have repercussions on people who try to put good messages out.

 

[bedir than]

Please don't be snarky. You focus on how the analogy is not perfect, but miss the point - some places can still be extremely intolerant, and that can have repercussions on people who try to put good messages out.

We know with certainty that rainbow iconography that doesn't include religious iconography is permitted. There's a list of companies that have done so.
Bringing up religious iconography is not honest debate. It is a false pretense.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Please don't be snarky. You focus on how the analogy is not perfect, but miss the point - some places can still be extremely intolerant, and that can have repercussions on people who try to put good messages out.

Then we should stop doing business with those places instead of saying 'well we exist to make money, so it's okay to work with bigots and murderers'.

 

[Umbran]

Bringing up religious iconography is not honest debate. It is a false pretense.

Mod Note:
Stop. I now must put on the Mod Hat.

You may not feel it is a valid point, but it is not "honest debate" to accuse people of being willfully false without solid evidence. If your go-to approach will be to accuse folks who disagree with you of dishonesty, please leave this discussion now.