yahoo.com

[cdmorganashley]

not sure if this is the right section for this, but i was on yahoo.com and saw an article about a transsexual contestant who was going to be on a project runway all-stars type edition of the show, and i happened to check out the comments at the bottom of the page and was pretty shocked at what i saw... almost every comment was really mean spirited and calling the contestant "it" and saying how she will always be a man no matter how she mutilates herself and things like that, and the comments weren't meant to be a discussion but seemed to be written with the hope that the contestant would read them and hopefully be hurt by them, and while this was not completely a surprise what really amazed me was that there were no comments supporting the contestant or even just pointing out how mean these people were being to make the comments they were making... so... i was hoping someone on this forum could help me understand what the heck is going on here? is there some kind of weird thing going on on yahoo where close minded mean people just get together and bash minorities or some odd contest to see who can post the meanest comment or what is going on? i'm assuming yahoo know what kind of posts are being written on their website, so why would they even post such an article if the majority of people seeing it are just going to spew hate at seeing it? it was really scary to think this is how people see people like us when we are out in the world as i assumed there are some people like that but probably not the majority and probably not such strong anger and hatred for gender variant people... it actually made me feel kind of unsafe at the thought of someone finding out about me, which up until now i really hadn't even considered given that it is the year 2013... maybe i was ignorant?

[Zylia]

Well welcome to The Internet, the place where anonymous trolls, 12-year-olds and bigots can say anything free of guilt or consequence. Public comment sections like on Yahoo and Youtube are vile cesspits best avoided.

[Rachael Leigh]

Hatred is hatred no matter what your opinion is on this aspect of this issue. I'm not afraid to say here that for me Im not sure what the real answer is for those who are TS, I struggle to understand those of you who feel this is the only way you can live and be happy. I'm a conservative Christian and it really bothers me when anyone spews hatred toward one another and Ive seen it thrown at Christians as well. I've learned a lot being in this forum and never have hidden who I am to all who are hear. Again I don't understand those who choose to transistion and those who want to be very public about themselves. I will not however speak out hatred toward others it's not how we should act. You are right the internet can hide a lot of people so it's just as easy to ignore them.

[julia marie]

Check out the comments on your local newspaper's site, whether the story is about crime, a car accident, or some political issue. Those comments don't represent the public at large. Whichever side they take on an issue the comments are filled with hate and presume the worst in everyone else.

[Marcelle]

I find that the internet gives you a faceless soapbox to stand on. It is likely these people lead very small and sad lives and will pounce on the opportunity to spew hatred from the safely of a faceless computer screen. These same people would most likely say nothing if you confronted them in person. As Zylia aptly said . . . Welcome to the internet and we can only hope that this does not represent the majority.

Hugs

Isha

[Angela Campbell]

for those who are TS, I struggle to understand those of you who feel this is the only way you can live and be happy. I'm a conservative Christian and it really bothers me when anyone spews hatred toward one another and Ive seen it thrown at Christians as well.

I know it is hard to understand if you are not TS. And it is nice to say you do not understand, instead of the ugly things such as was discussed under the Yahoo article. We are kind of used to it for the most part.

By the way I am also a conservative christian. I am also TS.

[thechic]

Your find its just a bunch of Neanderthals leavening comments , there Brains are just to small to comprehend.

[Angela Campbell]

I was thinking something else was too small..............

[DanaM64]

Being an avid user of yahoo... it doesn't come as a surprise, but as mentioned it doesn't matter what the article is about there are always gonna be haters!
I know on quite a few occasions there have been counter attacks in our defense, but then they would get attacked and in the end no matter how much you want to reach thru the screen and wring some of their necks one realizes it's just not worth the energy or time for that matter... Not online anyways, I'll voice my opinion in real life situations, but even then if someone is implanted with the views that they have, you might reach through to one if you're lucky.

All in all, when one reads those comments it's best to take it with a grain of salt... maybe a little tequila wouldn't hurt either!

[Robin777]

Comments on any site that does not require the commenter to post their real name are the worst. You get the most moronic people on these sites.The dregs of society are the ones that usually make comments. The best thing to do keep yourself from getting upset is not reading them.

[SarahSerene]

Just today I was reading the comments section on an unrelated (local) news article, and I thought "I'll never read the comments section ever again."

[NathalieX66]

98% of yahoo commenters on LGBT issues are really less than a half dozen people, probably actually two people who LOVE to troll , and will post as Gary, Bill, etc, generic names, and say nasty and crude things.
Go away and don't fight them, it's not worth it. They'll just suck you in. The comments section just attracts the miserable folk who have no place else to go but the internet so they can say mean things.

Instead, go shoe shopping, go to a restaurant dressed in the gender that you weren't born as, and hit the town and live your life. It's the real deal. Nobody can take that away from you.

[Melissa in SE Tn]

Ignorance begets ignorance. The Internet is such an educational tool. Unfortunately, one can remain ignorant ... it's a choice. Be happy and stay focused

[Brooklyn]

Yeah, it's a shame Yahoo! doesn't have fabulous mods like we have for this forum.

[Aly Cat]

I know it is hard to understand if you are not TS. And it is nice to say you do not understand, instead of the ugly things such as was discussed under the Yahoo article. We are kind of used to it for the most part.

By the way I am also a conservative christian. I am also TS.

I also am a conservative Christian and am definitely on the TS end of the spectrum. It's not an easy task to explain the why's...in fact I'm going through all of that right now with my parents who are even bigger conservative Christians. At least they aren't spewing out hatred and are making an attempt to accept, even if they don't fully understand. In fact I think the only way to fully understand what a TS feels is to create a technology where we can link up our minds to share emotions and feelings. I think those trolls would cry in sadness if they were able to feel personally how their words affect others. I'm gonna have to ask you engineers and inventors to get on that invention stat.

[Mssusan]

Well welcome to The Internet, the place where anonymous trolls, 12-year-olds and bigots can say anything free of guilt or consequence. Public comment sections like on Yahoo and Youtube are vile cesspits best avoided.

What she said....and you can add CNN.com to the list. It amazes me how the most positive, innocuous articles are slammed.

[Beverley Sims]

When you see a thread like that and you will see it here also.
People with a polarized view will start replying and those with an alternate view will look at it and say nothing.
If the thread had been complimentary you would have seen the other view.

[Allesandra Rhodes]

I do hope the ones that leave these comments on sites like that find links back to here. I read these a lot. Negative people find negative people and can not create a positive. If they are reading this: let me just say they are proof of how miserable, narrow minded and useless some people who do nothing for the world have become. It's really too bad for them, because anyone that is actually happy doesn't make time to badmouth and debate everything/or everyone outside their little bubble of ignorance.

Sad...

I'm over it

[Vanessa5]

It seems that it is easier to join a herd of ignorance than to be the brave and set out a good example and support those who are different.

[melanie206]

The "news" stories featured on Yahoo tend to be sensational and tabloid-like. In a word, trashy. This attracts the lowest common denominator in our species which is hatred for the "other". There was an article on the NYT site last week about trans people that had hundreds of thoughtful comments that almost made you think the world had improved slightly.

[Nitas]

This morning on Morning Express with Robin Meade, Robin reported on a story about a transgendered person going to jail injecting Fix a Flat into her friends butt cheeks, she said "How strange, the part about using Fix a Flat" I assume she was being careful not ot offend...progress...maybe?
Ari South was voted of Project Runway All Stars last night BTW, I liked what she came up with but it wasn't really punk (that was this weeks challenge).

[Jaylyn]

I used to read the yahoo comments at the bottom of articles but I found myself almost sick about everything from gun control, politics to just plain reporting of anything in the news. I quit reading them they are hateful in many ways. I hate the name calling and the hurtful things some can print on there. Best to just not read them, but I also have found many news articles posted on Yahoo seem to be getting worse, as of the reporters just have to meet some sort of quota on new subjects. Many are just bad journalistic reporting.