Since a year or so I’m noticing that I see more and more posts on media such as YouTube or Reddit (particularly on subs like r/programmerhumor) featuring queer memes or queer topics in general, and it seems to me that there are more queer people (or they stand out more) in the IT-sector but also within the DT-Community.
Does maybe the occurrence that I see Videos and posts about these topics a lot more frequently get distorted by the algorithms of social media, or did you notice something like me as well?
On the other hand: on my phone I am not even logged into Reddit and still see a lot of these posts.
Maybe the app still collects data from the posts I look at and then “thinks” I want to see more of that which reinforces the amount of queer posts I get recommended even more?.
Also, since I started working in the IT sector myself I’m having a lot more contact with queer programmers (and queer IT-interested people in general).
Is this a psychological thing that I just think there are more queer people in the IT sector because that’s what I spend most of my time with, or is it maybe the fact, that I’ve been spending a lot of time with other queer / trans people in the last 2 years and now just “notice” such people more?
Do you folks get the impression that it’s just a coincidence that a lot of queer people are coming together in these technology / programming communities, or does it just seem that way to me?
The last time I had the feeling that there was something to it was when I saw that there were a lot of trans / non-binary people in the DT Discord (like 10-20%?).
As time passes there appear to be more LGBTI people because they were hiding. Cultural acceptance allows them to feel more comfortable being open. I don’t think there’s any data to support that there’s a higher incidence of them, you just see them more. It wasn’t that long ago that they could get publicly stoned for their “sins”, and still do some places.
IT and tech seem to be full of people who are willing to accept new ideas. Perfect place to have a surge of sexual spectrumization and openness. You’re right about the Dangerous Discord. There are reasons they’re there and not here as much though.
i have no sources to back it up but from my experience as a queer person the tech sector workplace and community culture just seems immediately more welcoming of my experiences and individuality. i dont have to be scared to sign off my emails with my pronouns or discuss my boyfriend with collegues and friends lest i loose my job or friends.
and i think a lot of LGBTQIA+ do flock to tech for this reason as well as the fact that spending years hiding who you are, secretely hiding away in IRC chatrooms and kik channels of fellow youths mixed with the fact millenials and genz have grown up along side the advent of modern tech has bred generations of people who know its ok to be themselves and encourage the technical skills gained while growing up
thats not to say there isnt queer ppl all over the industrial market id just not be suprised if many/most were still closested due to workplace culture.
i like feeling safe and my friends on discord and collegues at work have never batted an eye at the notion of making me feel unsafe
Don’t think there’s more of us just don’t feel the need to hide. The main feeling is open minds sort of group together so seems natural that people end up in the same place
As an observation, I feel like there is a higher % into biohacking in general because it has to do with changing the body. People who are significantly more uncomfortable with the body they were given than your average normie are actively looking for change and seem to naturally gravitate towards biohacking and human augmentation.
That, or they are more outspoken than your average normie about it. Hard to tell actually.
(I can say the “n” word because I am one, and I have normie friends and they’re cool with it)
I think it also has to do with bodily autonomy. When you’ve been told all of your life that you can’t do what you want with your body (whether it’s same sex relations, gender identity, or something like HRT), and you finally rebel against that, why not take it a little further? What’s stopping you?
I feel like most non-cis people + non-hetero people usually end up with very liberal views on bodily autonomy for that reason (myself included).
There’s not more gay out there, it’s more acceptance that is shinning the light to give people the courage to be seen.
The nerd community has generally been that, a community of like minded people thinking outside the box, or what the box is made up of, or how to improve it, but not what’s inside it.
I’m asexual. I learned te word some years ago. I think I started when I was about 14 / 15 I was never intrested in a relationship or s** When I was a teenager - most people think I’m a guy - I weared always trousers abd t-shirts (star trek) I must also say - only persons which I can trust are allowed to touch / huge me.
(…) We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth.
We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity. (…)
I think this has a lot to do with why people who are “different” meet up online, or at least among those who remember the wonderful ideas the internet started with, before being overrun by greedy companies and utter assholes.
To the percentage of queer people in any sector - I guess it’s pretty leveled, actually. If there are x% of queer people in the population, there will be x% plus / minus a little bit in about every area of life. Like, there are as many gay people in Saudi Arabia as in Germany, they just hide “better”, because they fear for their lives. But they’re not less…
As someone who is neither transgender, nor gay… (I don’t like the term Normie because that implies abnormie.)
I agree that acceptance of bodily autonomy, and the openness of the community both have something to do with it.
The people who are judgemental of others don’t seem to last long here. No matter in what way they are judgemental. In my personal life I am the same. I don’t care what you are, but how you behave. If you try and force or denigrate others I am not likely to be your friend. If you accept others then you will accept me whether I am like you or not.
As a result I think that others are free to be themselves here and may be more open about who that is than in person.
I have to say that some people have said things in this thread that I didn’t know about them, but that neither changes my opinion of them, nor how I will interact with them. Mostly because it is irrelevant to most of my interactions on here. Whatever you are if we are talking about ideas or technology related to RFID, most of the time it will have nothing to do with whatever you think makes you different.
True… but… those are still real terms and can be applied to anything including people. There is a vast majority and then there are outliers. It would be perfectly acceptable to classify the vast majority as “normal” because that’s what it means… the norm. That said, I realize I cannot claim to be a normie because I’m not Chinese. Of all the human beings living right now, Chinese are the norm… followed by maybe Indian. I’m definitely an outlier.
I get that and I am not saying you shouldn’t use whatever language you want.
I am not sure that I am “normal” but then again, as the old quaker said to his wife… “Everyone is a little bit queer except thee and me. And I’m not so sure about thee.”
It’s important not to generalize, but neurodivergents of many types do proportionally tend to be more systems-minded. Whether one is introverted, agorophobic, on the autism spectrum, etc, I’d say that, (provided they have means and access), it’s a high probability they spent a much higher amount of time on the computer and internet growing up than someone neurotypical. The anonymity and ease of access to information lends itself to being introduced to concepts to be questioned, discussed, and internalized far more freely and personally without the full confines of social pressure inherent in small-town/village/tribal/religious mindsets one might otherwise find themselves when not online.
Having communities readily available just a screen away to be introduced to novel differing opinions as opposed to growing up enclosed in an echo chamber, one can more freely discover and forge their sense of Self while growing up.
With the Internet readily providing information on sexualities, genders, and other concepts that can be considered far outside “the norm”, the familiarity with navigating computer systems and the internet born of growing up utilizing it and gained through trial and error, and possibly the requests and comments of those less familiar with computers asking for help with them prompting ideas of increasing ease of usability and personalized/customized UI or OS, seem quite likely to culminate in someone considering/pursuing a study and/or career in IT.
Also as an aside, I’ve heard from a doctor I trust that there’s a rather high statistic of autists in the trans community, though I’m not aware of any formal studies researching a correlation.
This is similar to the optimistic ideal I posted above - sadly, today, most people just exchange their “real life” echo chambers against online echo chambers. It is extremely rare to find a platform like this, where so many different opinions meet and are able to talk about all those differences, usually mostly peaceful.
I was (and am) always interested in discussions with people who had different views on life, different experiences and opinions, but online, it can be hard to talk to those. I was on a quite anonymous imageboard for some time, and to be honest, the amount of hate, racism, ignorance and scorn finally drove me away. Well, before that I had some interesting discussion with a creationist guy, so it broadened my horizon at least a bit
I am afraid that now, where the internet is mostly full of big companies selling stuff, we just have a new “normal” to adhere to. Like, the other, fun, freaky stuff is still there, but it’s getting overrun and covered by “beautiful people” again
I have a different approach to that - I always hated the adjective “normal”, because it was always just used to describe what I’m not… it was pretty much used as an insult.
But what if each person has its own internal set of norms? Like, I am perfectly normal, because I live my life according to my own norms. For me, it’s normal to get cut up by a friend regularly, to do bodymods in general, or to feel the things I feel, say the things I say, whatever. And all those people who just pretend and disguise, trying to be something they’re not, all those people are - not quite normal
Yep! Again this comes down to scope. Norms apply to scopes. Out of the group of five bacteria, four are using their cilia to wiggle around in circles and one is just wiggling in a diagonal pattern. The norm is circles. That’s a pretty myopic scope but you get my point. Normal is just an adjective. Nuclear bombs are just atoms. The problem is how they’re used. This is why I have a problem focusing on the word and not its use… It’s kind of like saying we should abolish all plumbing because it uses pipes and pipes could be used to launch projectiles like a gun so because pipes equals gun then we should get rid of all plumbing and pipes of all sorts. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
That’s kinda true, and of course you’re right - in general daily use, “normal” refers to what the masses do. But sometimes, words just become unfitting over time (and due to globalization and all, “normal” becomes more and more difficult - like you said, being normal would be being chinese? Or being religious? Being straight? Not living in a democracy?), and I think this special word has been used too long not to positively describe what most people do, but rather to single out and stigmatize those who don’t fit in. And yeeees, maybe it’s just my little personal beef with that special word
So maybe we should just abandon the word “normal” in general, because it’s almost impossible to use without classifying something else as “ab-normal”, or we should slowly alter its meaning a bit. This frequently happens with words, over time, when society changes
I mean, IT overall is probably the most progressive and inclusive field professionally out there so I think and know a lot of LGBTQ people in the workforce, myself included.
