I think this sounds like a good compromise, though I would like to go into something that still does bother me, and makes me concerned about what kinds of things might be viewed as problematic still. This is just caution, I am not necessarily expecting that this would happen, I am more so concerned that it might, given that there is still some confusion here from my perspective.
And there are some people who feel it's already like that, who are totally happy with the current status quo. And I get that. They're comfortable, and to them, mixing things up has a big possibility of just making things worse for them. But there are many people who aren't happy with the current state of things. This includes me, Russ, and some other staff members, some members who have left, and some who have been active members through all of this. I don't think it's cool to imply that these people's feelings don't matter, because they're not active in Discord or the community at large. It's circular. They're not active because of the state of the community, but their opinions are invalid because they left? And, given that some active members felt passionately enough about the state of things to consider leaving, well ... I'd turn that around. These people also felt strongly enough about the community that they'd rather leave than see it become something they hate. I do think that the opinions of these people matter, and should not be invalidated because they haven't been around for awhile. They're members, too, and represent a group with an interest in the welfare of the community, and deserve to be heard.
I agree that it is unfortunate that people have left this forum because they for various reasons no longer like the atmosphere, but I do take issue with the underlying implication here still. Yes, people have left because they are not satisfied with Pure's atmosphere. Yes we should not diminish anyone's experience. But when someone's experience of other people conflicts with the experience of others, one should not automatically assume that the experiences of both parties are in line with what has actually happened.
You refer to discussions where people have supposedly suggested that trans people don't even exist. This does not mesh well with what I have seen in currentevents or Pure at large, and I wonder what specific conversations you are thinking of when you say this. This I feel has to be cleared up, in a very specific manner, and you guys have to be open to the idea that yes, your interpretations of those cases may indeed be worthy of criticism - because again, me and a lot of other people completely reject the idea that currentevents or Pure in general has ever been a place where being disrespectful and mean to other people has been acceptable. And seeing as I have been involved in some discussions surrounding gender-related issues myself, I am a little concerned that some of those may be part of what is seen as problematic here, and if that is the case, then hopefully you are able to relate when I say that it would bother me greatly to hear that conversations I have had, are being seen as disrespectful or hateful or anything along those lines - because that does not align with my own experience, and my own intent. And had I seen any discussions like the kind you are painting a picture of, that is something I too would take major issue with, so again I cannot overstate how confusing it is to me that you feel this way about this community.
Sometimes we make interpretations of things other people say or do, that simply are not fair (I am speaking from experience, as you are well aware. ). And I don't mean to be rude, but you guys have been doing that a fair bit lately, with the more recent example being the joke where the mechanics of the joke itself was misunderstood to the point where the meaning of it, and the target of its humor, was seen as something other than what was intended. I don't want to speak too much for the guy in question here but I am pretty confident that the point was not 'trans people are so crazy that they should get their heads chopped off'. The way I read it, the joke was mocking people who would be willing to chop their own head off as a medical practice. That may or may not be ignorant, but it doesn't target trans people, it targets a hypothetical patient of an absolutely absurd medical proposition (by today's standards at least, who knows how that might change), so to say that it is transphobic or hateful is simply incorrect. (To anyone reading this without context, trust me, I get how it sounds. I'm not going to provide context for the sake of an attempt at brevity, but if you're curious, hit me up in private.)
I don't mean to beat a dead horse but like I'm saying, I am concerned that what you are really referring to here, are multiple situations just like this one, where you have misunderstood what is being said, to the point where you're reading it as something it is not. And it may very well be misplaced concern, but given that this has happened multiple times in the past, including just a few days ago, I do think it is necessary to discuss this.
Sorry about my tone in earlier posts, but as I believe is clear to everyone at this point, this bothered me a great deal, and it was hard to contain the anger and confusion I've felt about this over the last few days.