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If you really considered “Creating a positive and welcoming environment for all players” of upmost importance, then you would not forgive this transgression.

If it was a first offence, I’d agree completely.
But the fact is this is one of multiple incidents, over a good amount of time starting a few weeks back when he hurled unwarranted abuse at me in a cabinet channel.

He laughed it off as a joke, said I shouldn’t take it so seriously, and he was forgiven. You told me it was simply “how he was at times”

It has no longer become acceptable to just wave it off. He has amped up the nature of the slurs used, and the level of toxicity. He has shown little to no regard for actually taking your “warnings” on board. Including last night where you assured me he’d told you he would stop, and then continued viciously for hours afterwards.

You can take this in whatever way you perceive, me as a citizen, a congressman, a colleague in government.

But quite frankly this is a disappointing stance.

The fact is there is a trail of abuse and plenty of evidence to back it up.

He used a homophobic slur on three separate occasions, called me a c*nt literally out of nowhere, and your big solution is to guide him and support him?
Personally that’s not the sort of language or behaviour I think should be supported.

Could have been worse. He could have called you a piece of biden.

I appreciate where you are coming from AMD however

It's been signalled clearly by the community they would like support Sir Humphrey, multiple members of TRS (and perhaps others) have reached out to him to ask if he is okay and offered support.

Mr Woldy as Speaker has taken no steps to remove him from the Congressional thread for his behaviour and has instead has only suggested Sir Humphrey "owes a lot of people apologies", called for his removal from the Vice President role and banned him from the TRS discord as his choice of action.

No member of Congress has called for his removal from the Congressional thread for his behaviour.

Sir Humphrey is still Vice President of the UK Reform Party.

It's been a clear signal in many other aspects of his Erepublik life, he is welcomed. As a member of Congress he has even still be allowed to table motions for discussion and actively debated with.

So the only question that has really be posed if he can continue to be Vice President and that has been discharged to me. From experience the answer is yes, he has many attributes we look for in a Vice President however needs to be at the standards of behaviour we expect from our community leaders.

The community has discharged responsibility for this multi-facetted aspect of Sir Humphrey's role to me which is acceptable as I am Country President to me and it's my solution to guide and support him when I'm able to especially as he has signalled a willingness to reform so he can continue to share his experienced to Government and continue to function in his other roles.

SHA is on a final warning in the Congress thread.

I would also add that I have confided in you as to the personal reasons I was not online on Friday so to suggest my inaction somehow justifies yours is a very low blow.

That was not my intention. So I will apologise if it made you feel that way and if I've come across as insensitive to your personal circumstances. I seek to show a similar thought process. We both don't condone his actions and we've issued warnings or guidance, however we both are looking for Sir Humphrey realign their behaviour and live up to the similar expectations set by our leadership roles, in my case the Vice President role and in your case conduct in Congress. I would also state that I've not been inactive as I have been handling this privately. We are all responding, reflecting and reacting to this past on our own life/game experiences while managing our own real-life commitments.

To summarise this comment then, you are saying because other people accept him still, it’s ok for him to stay in gov despite using homophobic slurs, let alone the rest of it? Good job Huey, very nuanced take on things.

Blink twice if you need rescuing Huey

I'm really disappointed by this. You told him to stop days ago and he continued. You have been sent multiple instances of homophobic slurs, bullying and horrid behaviour and your response is 'I'll keep a close eye on him'. This is so weak.

I know you value the strength of the eUK community. This is not how we strengthen it. Do better.

The majority of the tirade was between midnight and the morning, way after Huey had already asked him to stop too

A brief timeline of events for those who are confused.

A few weeks ago AMD reports that Appleby is being aggressive and abusive. He does this privately only telling the CP and some close friends. You said you would speak with him.

SHA does not stop.

SHA enters the TRS discord and is rude and again seems to target AMD in particular. He gets banned.

I message SHA in game, across several messages he insults me then makes a homophobic slur.

I confided in AMD who reported it to you and the Speaker. I then report it to you.

You speak with Apples to tell him to stop.

SHA then continues to harass in the congress thread, party feeds and private messages.

I initially reported one homophobic slur since you have spoken to him he has made a further two homophobic statements (that I’m aware of) and doubled down in harassing, abuse and intimidation.

Since you have spoken to him his behaviour has gotten worse and more public. Now we have this article - he knows he can get away with it.

I’m sorry Huey but if you overlook this you are actually the part of the problem. Will you continue to defend a repeatedly abusive and homophobic individual?

And what message will that send to many of us in the eUK community?

If you’ve told him previously to stop this horrendous behaviour and he’s not listened to you then why do you suddenly think you’ll be able to be this moral Sherpa that will guide him into the light? Clearly he’s not heeded you so far.

Think everyone appreciates the sentiment Huey and would also love for SHA to get back on track, but it just seems unreasonable to keep him in gov whilst he has not even apologised and, in fact, continues to abuse the community. This is particularly strange given that AMD is MoFA and seems to have been SHA's main target.

I am really not interested in party politics btw or SHA's opinions on the Spamicans, I just think it's a matter of how you treat other people (whether online or not)

So to summarise, people want TRS to apologise for “checks notes” being active, but want to let off Appleby for being a bigot?

Thank you Huey for you wise and measured response to this matter.

At the end of the day it is the community that makes this whole ecosystem interesting and keeps us engaged.

The maintenance of a positive and welcoming environment is something that we all need to strive towards; the tone of some of the traffic in Congressional and related channels over the past couple of months has fallen short of this worthy objective.

Let us all try to adopt a somewhat more friendly stance from here, with particular emphasis on toning down party political tensions - please!

Not sure what party political tensions your referring to. Unless you believe that homophobic slurs are now part of the ePolitics module?

Think of what you want of TRS, but we tend to call out what's happening in game, through in game medium to try and get people to engage with the game. If the response of someone that I used to respect is to then go on a massive tirade to target outside of game, through outside of game methods then that's crossed the line.

And to illustrate my point - your response: 'We (TRS) tend to call out....etc.'

Straight in with a political back comment

Please give it a rest

CC -- I totally agree with the sentiments of what you are saying but, putting aside politics for now, surely you can see that Appleby's behaviour towards others has been unacceptable? I would agree that we do need a measured response, but equally I do not think that it would be unreasonable to temporarily remove SHA from gov until he has at least apologised

Agreed on the importance of getting an apology - and acceptance of the apology sorted out .

Huey has made an executive decision for SHA to remain in post and I see no reason to challenge this

Sorry CC, are you comparing congressional debate to personal attacks and homophobic slurs?

Of course not

Look forward to you condemning that then

I didn’t realise being against homophobia was a party political stance, I would hope it be one that UKRP also adhere to

@Huey,

You can ask someone if they are OK without also condoning their behaviour.

On the other hand you cannot allow someone to continue to serve while blindly ignoring their behaviour. To me, it looks like you just don't want to lose your right hand man so will say whatever, and push whatever under the carpet in the hopes that nothing will need to change.

By continuing on this path your actions show that you value the advice/work of SHA above his behaviour. You have now created a new baseline of acceptable - but personally I don't think it's acceptable.

This is your choice. But it's one that tarnishes you with the same brush.

I have conveyed to Sir Humphrey my strong disapproval of his behaviour and emphasised the importance of maintaining a civil and constructive discussion. I have requested that he carefully consider his choice of words and approach, avoiding any repetition that may be perceived as harassment, toxic behaviour, or personal attacks—especially within the Congress thread

Have I made a mistake in showing leniency and placed too much trust in reform and improvement of behaviour? Time will tell…I hope not however If my trust is mis-placed I’ll hold my hands up and say sorry

Could I have handled the situation better, acted more swiftly and with great clarity? Provided AMD. and others deeply affected by this situation better support? Almost certainly, whilst it’s very clear in some minds what the best course of action is, it’s not in my mind. There is a line of what's acceptable and it's disheartening that Sir Humphrey has crossed it. I’m not ignoring his behaviour, I’m giving him another chance to redeem himself.

I’m reading all comments, reflecting on evidence and feelings of others. And whilst I’m not responding to everything I appreciate the thoughts being provided by all

Totally get that Huey, and of course understand that your doing what you think is best.

The above is also only my opinion, but the last sentence of my previous comment still stands. To me, currently, it appears that you are protecting rather than confronting. Enabling rather than reforming. Accepting rather than redressing.

And with that, my opinion of yourself has also then dropped - in a position of leadership you need to lead, not follow.

I am not everyone, I am only one person. But it wouldn't be right to not raise the fact that these are my observations.

If the political atmosphere is a bit rich then taking a holiday from it is a good option, as I have, for that very reason.

Be nice pls, EVERYBODY!

Pops back into burrow.

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