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Dear NationStates Community,

I would like to fully acknowledge not only the actions involving extreme hatred, aggression, and mistreatment of the furry and LGBTQ communities; I also want to share how I will improve going into the future. I plan on showing respect and kindness towards people with differing views, as well as being less discriminative of their beliefs. Additionally, I would like to apologize to these groups; I am well aware of the hatred I have spread, and the pain that has caused people. Nobody should have to be exposed to that kind of behavior, nor do they deserve to be mistreated, or misunderstood. These mistakes should not have been made in the first place to begin with. But ultimately, the damage had already been done, and I understand why I was removed from Karma.

Upon my removal from Karma, I made the decision to move to a region called Wintreath. I chose Wintreath because it contained members from both inflicted communities, in which I sought to achieve a better understanding of these groups by becoming less ethnocentric, and building acceptance for the people associated.

I am deeply sorry for my actions; all I ask for is forgiveness.

Sincerely,

Dawcreek.

(Brief description for those of you who are unaware; I had recently been banned from a region called Karma back in February due to rash behavior, which included the discrimination of the groups mentioned in the letter above). 

In all the interactions you and I shared, you never once showed any hatred toward myself or my sexuality. You were in fact always courteous and made abundantly clear your beliefs and feelings toward the LGBT community. Though we did not share the same beliefs, it is of my opinion that you acted purely with a kind and respectful manner toward me. When you had questions, you asked, and not once did you ever make me feel threatened or anything less than a human being deserving of equal and mutual respect.

To that end, I feel your apology is not necessary for myself, though I do appreciate your words and the acknowledgement of your actions. It takes alot of courage to admit ones own mistakes.

Also, it is of my strong belief that people who think or believe other than oneself are not to be shunned, bullied, harassed or belittled or made to be less than oneself in anyway. It is their difference of mind that makes them welcome and valuable, because they see things in a light I may not. It is through their differences that I am able to grow and mature.

Sadly, it is too often I find myself at odds with the LGBT community. Just because someone else doesn't like us or doesn't believe as we do or doesn't understand us, does not mean that we have to attack them and label them as haters... they simply believe differently. It is through open dialogue and mutual respect that we progress on both sides and learn to accept and appreciate each other...

I agree with Mateo on this.  Despite any personal feelings you may have had/currently have, you've been nothing short of respectful during your time in Wintreath.  This region has always been considered a haven of second chances (and sometimes 3rd/4th chances), and despite the reason you may have been removed from Karma...you've been nothing but very awesome here, being incredibly willing to push aside any personal biases toward the LGBT community (and in fact chose Wintreath because of its community to learn to overcome those biases) and have been a very welcomed addition to the members.

Like Mateo, I generally also find myself at odds with the LGBT community (despite being part of it) because that hatred that you speak of doesn't necessarily just reside within straight people outside of that group.  There's always quarrels and squabbles within the community itself between the different people which I've never been able to fully understand.  I've seen Lesbian/Gay/Bi and straight people that dress as drag queens/kings that have no love for the Trans group because of that lack of understanding or disdain for their "choice", and I've seen the reverse of Trans disliking Lebsbian/Gay/Bi people because of a similar lack of understanding and disdain.  As I said, it's absolutely baffling to me when I see these types of squabbles.  I normally distance myself from the community simply because I believe that everyone has a right to be who they want as long as they're not hurting anyone else, and that hatred sometimes to the point of mockery against any group completely clashes with my beliefs.

Regardless of your past history with Karma, I've never gotten any negative impressions from you here in the region in any of those types of capacities.  You've never bullied or harassed anyone in here or shown any hatred toward anyone, and in fact have been incredibly friendly and pleasant in every conversation I've seen you in.  It's not very often that someone not only realizes and owns up to their own biases, but chooses to go to a region specifically with the intent of overcoming those biases.  As I said earlier, you've been nothing short of respectful and friendly to everyone here since you joined, and I'm very grateful and feel that Wintreath has been very lucky to have the benefit of having you as a member here.

The important thing is you've learned and grown. In any interaction we've had you've come across to me positively.

That's all I have to say. I think Pengu and Mateo perfectly summed up any other thoughts I had.

When we first talked about this back when you arrived, three things immediately struck out to me. First, you were honest...you didn't sugar-coat what had happened in Karma or tried to claim that you'd been unfairly banned. Second, you had the character to understand that your behaviour was wrong and to commit to improving yourself. Third, you had the inner strength to go the long, hard route in doing so. When you were banned from Karma, you could have gone to many other regions that wouldn't have cared or even that had people who shared your biases, but instead you chose a region full of the very people you were biased against. Those aren't easy things...most others in your position would not have done the same as you.

For those reasons, I immediately felt you deserved a second chance in our region, and you have never disappointed. You've been kind and respectful to everyone the entire time that you've been here, even in situations where it was obvious you were irritated. You have become a great part of our community, and you have made many friends here, including me. And now you've taken a big step in telling your story, and I can say that I'm very proud of you and the progress you have made since coming here. You've become a comfortable and familiar part of our community, and beyond that I'm glad to know you and to be your friend.

Thank you all for the kind words. What I hope to achieve is no easy task, so I am relieved to hear what y’all had to say on the matter. That being said, I’m very grateful to be here with you guys, it has been a blast, you’ve all been extremely welcoming and kind to me, despite my views, which has convinced me enough to make my choice of joining this region feel worthwhile.

Once again, thank you all. It means the world to me.