I would like to say something that is not going to be popular, but I think it needs saying, even though I expect to be shouted down.
I have said before, and will say again that I feel uncomfortable about threads being chattered over by a group of people with an agenda. I may (or may not) agree with that agenda, but that’s not the point.
The board is for all of us, and people come to threads at different times of day and night, so because you (generic) think all that needs to be said has been said does not mean that everyone else has had her say. It’s harder to join in a thread about, say, a politician if people are all talking about kittens, so the thread has, effectively, been controlled.
I am in favour of Allira’s reinstatement, but am aware of the fact that one of the charges against her (so one of the things that could get any of us banned) is controlling threads, and IMO people repeatedly talking amongst themselves is doing just that. Not the ‘eggs’ chat on the relevant thread (although that thread is quite exclusionary too, it is easily avoided) but the casual references on all sorts of other threads, and the thinly veiled comments about how ‘some people’ won’t like it. That is vaguely threatening- it’s clear that if you don’t like it you are not ‘one of us’, and will probably find your posts being ignored at one extreme or criticised at the other. Not everyone is happy to stand up to that.
Many people are still unaware of the issues surrounding the current situation. I have now been told of the suspicions thanks to a PM, but not everyone has been. Being unable to join in makes people feel excluded- well, they are being excluded.
Much of this has happened because HQ were high-handed in the way they dealt with the case, and the fact that they haven’t been open about their decision since. To be fair though, what they have said has led to accusations of character assassination, so they are in something of a cleft stick.
Anyway, I’ve said my piece, and will leave it at that. I am not looking for enemies, but feel a bit uneasy about posting this as I know from experience how it can feel to have an opinion that is contrary to the zeitgeist.