Ravelry has allowed another pattern to be posted on its site that violates its community guidelines, namely the ones forbidding hate speech and the targeting of politically conservative users (not to mention the ones not allowing certain curse words).

First, let me reiterate that I am a non-political libertarian who believes that no limits on free speech should be imposed by the government. This includes so-called "hate speech."

Individuals and private institutions and businesses, however, can regulate speech within the confines of the spaces they own or control. Ravelry admins, for example, are perfectly free to decide what speech can and cannot be allowed on the website. That is their right, plain and simple.

That doesn't mean I agree with how they choose to exercise that right, especially since agreeing would place me in the same category with speech that I would personally never utter or allow in my presence.

Ravelry admins pride themselves on maintaining a "safe space" for yarn-loving folks regardless of their race, sexual orientation, or gender.

Simple logic would therefore dictate that if a pattern targeting homosexuals or non-binary folks is not allowed, then a pattern targeting cis-heteronormative folks would also not be allowed. Likewise, if pro-Trump and anti-Obama patterns are verboten due to a ban on political speech, then anti-Trump patterns would equally be taboo.

Sadly, that isn't the case.

In a blatant show of bigotry, a designer named Subversively Stitched published a pattern called "'Fuck' messenger tote bag." The pattern has two options for sayings to be embroidered on the sides: "Fuck Cis Hetero Normativity" and "Fuck Trump Fuck Fascism."

I don't have a problem with the political speech. That's a big whatever in my book, even though the pattern was clearly intended to target and/or bait political conservatives, which is (again) against Ravelry's rules.

My problem is with the utterly hateful bigotry that Ravelry is willfully condoning by allowing that pattern to remain on the site.

Bigotry is not ok. I don't care whether the individual or individuals targeted are members of a "majority" group or a "marginalized" one. It's still bigotry to demean those individuals because of a particular factor, like race, religion, gender, or sexuality. Saying "Fuck Cis Hetero Normativity" is equally as wrong as saying "Fuck Non Binary," even if everyone has the inherent right to state either one.

Personally, the very idea of telling one of my non-cis-heteronormative friends (or anyone else, for that matter) that they should, essentially, fuck off because of their non-cis-heteronormativity is appalling. It makes me sick just to think about it. Why would anyone say such a nasty thing to another human being, especially someone who claims to have been subjected to that sort of bullying before?

But I am a kind, tolerant adult. Truly tolerant, not the "woke" brand of intolerance passed off as "diversity" in an age where certain segments of society openly practice the politics of resentment and envy.

The open bigotry (and hypocrisy) displayed by Ravelry, Subersively Stitched, and supporters of the aforementioned pattern foments exactly the kind of hostile environment folks like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against. And it's the kind of hostile environment I refuse to participate in.

Which is, I think, the point. It's much easier to chase away objectors and form an echo chamber of self-righteous, virtue-signalling wokeness, than to maintain a neutral, open forum (if in name only) where dissenting opinions may be stated.

If you can't beat 'em, chase 'em out of town with pitchforks, right?

Regardless, if we want a truly open and tolerant society where everyone feels "safe," then we must choose not to support individuals and institutions that contribute to said hostile environment. This concept is enshrined within the Constitution right there alongside the Freedom of Speech. It's called the Freedom of Association and it's an oft-overlooked and -ignored freedom.

Small-minded bigots like the folks behind Ravelry and Subversively Stitched are welcome to their non-inclusive, hate-filled spaces. They have the freedom to speak as they wish and associate with whomever they like.

And so do I. Which is why I am leaving Ravelry, like this knitter and these and...