(Deleted)

[Skinner]

This discussion thread was locked by Skinner (a host of the Announcements group).

Last edited Thu Jul 12, 2012, 08:03 AM - Edit history (1)

Clearly, that was a mistake.

We are going to choose something else. When Elad gets online later today, I will ask him to disable the URL shortening function.

[unblock]

1. swe.et!

[Ian David]

2. I appreciate the thought, but why are we giving money to Uganda?

.ug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ug

Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Anti-Homosexuality_Bill

I hate to nitpick, especially since I was one of the people suggested a custom URL-shortener in the first place.

[Skinner]

3. The standard for short URLs is to pick a two-letter domain that best fits the name of the site.

For Democratic Underground, dem.ug was by far most intuitive URL for the site.

Yes, Uganda has a terrible human rights record. Sadly, that is the case for the majority of the URLs available. Bit.ly is one popular example.

[Ian David]

5. I like .bj from Berundi. Not for DU, but for my other, favorite site.

I'm trying to see if I can suggest a better alternative than .UG, since I opened up my big mouth to complain in the first place.

[Ian David]

6. How about Republic of Ireland?

.ie Republic of Ireland

No, too close to DUM.ie

[Ian David]

7. I can't find anything better. How about if each year, whatever we pay for the .UG domain...

... we match with a gift to a Ugandan gay rights organization?

Sexual Minorities Uganda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) is an umbrella non-governmental organization based in Kampala, Uganda. Headed by Executive Director Frank Mugisha and Chairperson and founder Victor Mukasa and formerly co-headed by Advocacy Officer David Kato (until his murder in January 2011), it pushes for the protection and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans.

Founded in 2004, the organization is composed of a number of member organizations:

Icebreakers Uganda (a group which focuses on LGBT research and youth issues)
Integrity Uganda (a chapter of the Episcopal LGBT inclusion organization Integrity USA)
Freedom and Roam Uganda (a group which focuses on the rights of lesbian, transgender, and intersex women)
Spectrum Uganda (a group which focuses on the health and well being of LGBT people in Uganda)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Minorities_Uganda

[William769]

10. Sorry but I have a major major problem with this.

There is absolutely no excuse for this to be done, associating This website with that horrible place. Not only are human rights terrible, they kill people just for being Gay! I will stop my monthly subscription over this immediately.

[HillWilliam]

12. It's terribly offensive

I'm floored.

I can't support supporting Uganda however tiny a contribution it may be.

DU has been home. I'm pleading with the admins here: Please don't make DU suck.

[Fearless]

14. Agreed 100%

[stevenleser]

11. Skinner, not sure what all has been invested in this, but can I suggest Dem.De

De=Deutschland=Germany, which is now a pretty progressive place.

I understand if you cant because of time/money invested, but I think that any association with Uganda is going to be problematic.

[Jamastiene]

17. That is awful.

I cannot believe you can just shrug it off like that.

[fizzgig]

18. i can't believe this site would give any money to this kind of hate

and the offensiveness of this to our lgbt community seems to be met with little concern.

[LuvNewcastle]

19. This was a big mistake.

Please acknowledge it and fix it.

[Fearless]

13. Agreed 100%

Preach one thing and do the other.

Don't support terrorizing LGBT people in Uganda. Because that's what it is. Terrorizing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Anti-Homosexuality_Bill

If you monetarily support the killing of my peers, you lose my money, my time, and my traffic permanently.

There is no middle ground. I do not want to otherwise, but I will leave.

As it stands, I will make no further posts until this absurd misunderstanding has been remedied.

[WillParkinson]

15. I'm afraid I have to agree...

Anything that would go to promoting hate and violence against ANYONE is way outside of what DU should stand for.

[Ian David]

28. We can match what we're paying for the domain with an equal payment to Sexual Minorities Uganda.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1013&pid=1758

[struggle4progress]

4. ya'll is need having better focus grope cuz dem.ug just sound sorta like

a conversation twixt teabaggers

[UnrepentantLiberal]

8. Great idea.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. Nice, but "ug"?

Sounds kinda "cave man".

I'm sure that occurred to you guys.

[DCKit]

16. You guys are amazing. nt

[CreekDog]

20. that's easier, but I'd prefer Dem.und

"ug" is what you say after you read Meta.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Exactly how important or needed is this feature?

You know, David, I have said to you before, you can't please everyone. I have even posted the "The Man, The Son, and The Donkey" fable a few times. However, I stand with my family on this. Associating this site with a country, which is STILL contemplating a law to EXECUTE gays, is offensive! Have you ever read the "Kill the Gays" bill? Skinner, it calls for Ugandan citizens to be deported back to Uganda for punishment, possible execution, for homosexual behavior in other countries!!

Is this "feature" really worth associating the Democratic Underground with a country where elected/appointed officials publicly call for MURDERING gays, publicly out them (leading to disappearances and murder), and they (the politicians) face no condemnation except from the international community?!

I loathe, LOATHE, making Holocaust comparisons, especially clumsy ones, but...would you also consider linking our site to Nazi Germany? Clearly, Uganda is not Nazi Germany, but the political, anti-gay propaganda is eerily reminiscent of the anti-Semitic rhetoric of Hitler's Germany.

Homophobia is much more than calling us "fags and dykes." It is more than repeating, like the Ugandan government, that we are child molesters. Homophobia is also ignoring homophobia.

Please, reconsider this feature.

[LaurenG]

22. Is there a way to change this or add a different one?

This one is very troubling.

[steve2470]

23. Skinner, with all due respect, a few suggestions:

I would conduct a discussion on which TLD's are acceptable. I know there are .ly, .fm, and others.

I understand the rationale behind the .ug TLD but it appears offensive to many. Please change it to something unremarkable. Thanks for listening.

Steve

[Jamastiene]

24. What about tinyurl.com?

It is easy to remember and will not send money to Uganda.

[Ian David]

29. Tinyurl.com raises money for Ron Paul. Who is admittedly slightly less offensive than Uganda. n/t

[boston bean]

25. Skinner, I can understand that some work went into it

and that you were probably caught off guard with the criticisms of this url.

Now that you are aware of DUers valid concerns, I hope you will reconsider.

[closeupready]

26. ? from non-techie: does ".ug" indicate DU is paying Uganda

or somehow sending money to state tax authorities there?

If so, then I agree with others, please reconsider and select a different two-letter suffix; Steven suggested Dem.de, and I agree with that.

It's okay to make mistakes. I'm going to follow this thread to see what you decide, Skinner. Thanks in advance.

[obamanut2012]

27. Certain siffixes are granted to certain countries

ie AU for Australia. Many companies pay certain countries to make use of their URL suffixes. I know some South Pacific nation used to do that with porn companies, because it was sex or sx, I can't remember.

So, yes, Uganda is being paid by DU and the DU membership for being allowed to do this.

[watrwefitinfor]

30. So, was dem.du already taken? n/t

[sgsmith]

31. Bad move. Really bad move.

Recognizing that I'll probably get tombstoned for my comments, here goes.

It's pretty obvious to me that the administration of this site doesn't give a care about it's GLBT population. From allowing rampant homophobia to run amok in threads, from an attempt to mend fences that didn't produce any results, to coming up with this poorly conceived TLA and ignoring the user community concerns, I think that the admins are deaf to our concerns.

I have never gotten involved in any of the name calling, finger pointing, ja-accuse threads. Never. I've served on juries and have voted to both allow and disallow thread responses. I'm not a very active poster, and certainly don't get caught up in the "me too", "whine whine whine" threads, but this revision really truly upsets me.

To even accidentally tie this site to Uganda, and not recognize the legitimate concerns of your user community is shameful.