Howldy!
I realize that our previous responses in this thread were a bit cryptic which, in some situations, just left things open to the imagination and interpretation of others. Our original intention was to not fan flames in hopes of calming situations (plural) down so that everyone could take an objective approach at things to figure out what was going on, what actions needed to be taken, and so on without being emotionally reactive.
Hopefully this response will serve as a neutral run-down of the situation, both for those who know something was going on and those who didn't. There were various personality clashes and interpersonal conflicts tossed in as well and we've tried to remove those from the analysis of things and stick to facts and evidence provided.
1) Accusations were made about several community members pertaining to potentially damaging behaviors (in a real-world sense). Considering the severity of some of the accusations (and how some could have veered into defamation of character or other things that aren't cool either), the TG staff team attempted to perform due diligence in its investigations to validate or substantiate these claims so that appropriate action could be taken not just as a site but so that coherent communication could take place with other community leaders in order to figure out the best ways to protect the community in similar situations.
2) Statements were made on social media at various points of the situation against individuals and branches of the community (including Therian-Guide) regarding the safety of community members over various issues (privacy concerns, harassment by community members, that zoophiles shouldn't be allowed and simultaneously that zoophiles aren't adequately protected within the community).
While these (and other topics not listed) certainly need ongoing discussion and evaluation for how the community at large functions, some of the methods used on social media resulted in emotional reaction from many community members over fears that something drastic had suddenly changed, and often without a coherent understanding of the situations being discussed, proper evidence, or proper chance at communication about the situations.
At several times in the past, Therian-Guide or its members have been a result of targeted social media campaigns and has made efforts to provide benefit of doubt and measures to investigate these claims objectively (based on the evidence provided). This situation should be no different and the staff team agreed to do its best to understand the situations without the bias of outrage or cancel culture campaigns taking place; the stance of Therian-Guide has been that outrage culture and cancel culture are toxic and that has likewise not changed.
3) During the course of these situations, LycanTheory provided a formal statement on social media regarding his retirement from being a staff member at Therian-Guide. We understand that there are various sides to this decision and hope that community members do their own research and form their own understandings of this departure.
Lyc deciding to leave certainly has a direct impact for many Therian-Guide members and for various reasons. His decision to leave the staff team was his own and we respect that some members may not want to continue participation at Therian-Guide in his absence.
His departure does not mean that any other changes have taken place at Therian-Guide. If we are made aware of specific concerns, the staff team will do its best to address them and you can reach out to one of us directly or create a thread in the
Write to Staff subforum, where the entire staff team will be able to review and respond.
If people do not feel safe for some reason or other, the issues of concern very likely existed before the last few weeks and were therefore also problems prior to Lyc leaving staff. Please use this as an opportunity to bring them up to staff now for consideration.
4) Some community members who are emotionally impacted by these events have acted in ways that staff or other members may view as intentionally damaging to Therian-Guide or the community at large. It is our current effort to do what we can to help de-escalate these situations and interpretations as they arise; without being able to approach each other with respect and maturity, we're not going to get anywhere with some of this.
That isn't to say that emotional responses to these situations are bad. People are entitled to feel how they feel and likewise to form the opinions they form and, if anything, the community should respect that sense of self-agency and expression. With things like continued social media outrage, hopefully it's reasonable to understand that staff members are human too, react emotionally, and are also prone to making mistakes while under duress.
As we try to make efforts to help the community members impacted by these events become more grounded, we're working to do the same with each other. And we absolutely want you to feel comfortable speaking up (respectfully!) if it seems like we're not on solid ground, ourselves.
5) Over the course of the events and conversations that have unfolded, we've had a first-person glimpse of how lack of direct or coherent communication, cancel culture, harassment and other things can influence the decisions of an individual or community.
Some of the claims that have come about seem entirely unsubstantiated or simply retaliation between community members, with uninvolved people being harmed in the process.
Things like this absolutely have to stop.
There are also some situations, such as an instance of offline harassment experienced by a member of the community, that need more discussion across the community and genuine efforts made to protect individuals from acts of abuse.
Discussions like this absolutely need to begin.
Some of the situations that arose in the last few weeks seem almost entirely "tribal". Different individuals have different needs and can only have them met through different avenues within the community. No one place, person or principle is going to work for everyone and it's vital that we realize that we all need to get along in some capacity or another.
Things like community members trying to destroy someone's image, reputation or lives over interpersonal conflict need to stop.
In some instances, places that already exist within the community may not be able to offer some members what they need to feel entirely safe.
That's fine, and it's reasonable for an individual to evaluate whether or not they should participate somewhere. If it's deemed that other places in the community need to exist to provide better support,
those conversations should happen, and without people being afraid of being attacked, ostracized or otherwise harmed.
And, of course, community members who feel safe where they are shouldn't have to feel worried about being attacked, ostracized or otherwise harmed if their "home" in the community can't reasonably accommodate for the needs of others. This is a complex thing that needs longer discussion but, as in the case of topics such as zoophilia, Therian-Guide members shouldn't feel prone to attack by members of other parts of the community due to a) its determination to allow discussions of the subject within reason, or b) that restrictions have been placed on such discussions to best accommodate for the perceived need and interest of members in this part of the community.
It goes without saying that Therian-Guide members should likewise not feel entitled to attack members of other sites for having complete restrictions or more relaxed restrictions on that subject.
Different individuals have different comfort levels with different topics and that should be respected, not weaponized.
6) None of the individuals involved in the analysis and response of these situations is squeaky clean. We all have points to learn from and I encourage community members to find ways to become more comfortable bringing issues up directly and figuring out how to work through them.
As someone who is considered one of the leaders of the community, I reiterate that
you should feel comfortable challenging the authority figures within the community. If it sounds counterintuitive or counterproductive, good; while others might not agree with my stance, it is my hope that individuals can find ways to feel empowered enough to make informed decisions and correct actions.
If you feel like your concerns aren't being heard or given the proper attention, please speak up! If you feel like one of us is being an ass, please speak up!
With some issues, like offline harassment, many of us aren't adequately equipped with tools to respond accordingly and it might take some community effort to find proper ways forward. If you perceive genuine threat, it may be more appropriate to contact local law enforcement or similar offline authorities to help provide realistic support. In cases of an offline threat, please do your best to protect yourself with the resources you have available in the immediate area and notify appropriate people online if and when you are safe.
When it comes to online harassment, the community clearly failed in recent situations. Private conversations from TG's discord were linked (and in the past we've been aware of similar being shared from forums) which is a blatant disregard for the privacy of forum members. Community members verbally assaulting each other, trying to turn community members against each other, using false claims against each other to bully each other into action...
Something is drastically wrong there and I'm personally at a loss as to how to get these behaviors, which have gone on for years, to stop. And I realize it's a catch-22 because speaking up against some of these behaviors can make someone a new target for those very behaviors, while failure to do anything about them just allows them to continue anyway.
I sincerely don't think the community needs to feel driven by fear. Nor by blind optimism.
It's purrobably clear that a large portion of the last entry is reflective of my own interpretations. I genuinely feel like a lot of people were emotionally exploited or harmed by the way things happened - intentionally, collaterally, it doesn't matter.
Through the conversations that have ensued, it's clear that those using call-out techniques, emotional ragequits and the like have genuine concerns as well (which shouldn't be dismissed) but I think a lot of headache and confusion would have been cut out of the last few weeks if the people involved tried to keep each other rational, objective, and tried really listening to others as things unfolded (which I admit is something I failed to do at certain points, myself).
And these points have come up before and have been addressed in other, similar announcements:
Integrity of Community
Outside Drama
Online Harassment/ Bullying in the Therian Community
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To conclude, the staff of Therian-Guide asks that you evaluate claims that come from cancel culture and the like based on the evidence that is supplied and, when possible, in an emotional state that isn't heightened. Just like with the absence of a formal response on our part, it's easy for people to fill in the gaps of understanding with their own projections or imagination. Sometimes, it's better to just ask.
In recent situations, we were trying not to answer until we had something more solid and conclusive, ourselves.
Therian-Guide isn't going anywhere. The way it's being administered (aside from Lyc being gone) isn't changing.
If anything does change as a result of things like this, we hope it's for the positive.
We will continue to analyze things that are brought to our attention in ways that hopefully seem logical, respectful and fair. That often takes time, and any efforts by the community to de-escalate situations will help tremendously with that process.
It will absolutely take more time if we feel like we're under attack as well. Hopefully that makes sense.
We can't change the way things unfolded and can only look to our next steps and move forward.
- ZN
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