BOYCOTT CODE DECODED

hey everyone, in case you didn’t know, a while ago my tinder profile got posted by a “cringeworthy” pictures Facebook page because I described myself as queer and nonbinary.

clearly this picture of me has gotten around to a variety of cringe pages, and wound up as the thumbnail for this video. people have told me things like how I belong in Auschwitz and how they wanted to disembowel me with their toe because of my profile. and this page, which is “an LGBT+ startup” posted this on their page. I’m terrified of getting more threats.

No, you have to convince them that what you’re doing is not oppression and that you have a perfect right to be doing it.

And that, Code Decoded, is what you are doing.  You are attempting to forcibly define queer identities according to your blockheadedly limited standards, and then telling your proposed customer base that you’re doing a public service.

You take the rainbow, which from its inception as a queer symbol was supposed to represent diversity, individuality, and room to be a unique person not forced into the rigid conformity of a bigoted society, and you turn that rainbow into coded inhumanity: A bar code, a finite set of RGB values corresponding to artificial stripes, 10 rigid ways to be “acceptably” queer—and 4 of those 10 aren’t even codes pertaining only to queerness!

You designed your codes to be incapable of expressing diversity.  A 3x3 matrix.  Even if you expanded your artificially limited color palette, or stopped trying to insist that each sexuality correspond to a “stripe” in the rainbow flag, that size matrix is too small to produce diverse codes.  Even a 4x4 grid does significantly better; 5x5 would not be much bigger and would also allow a center square.

See?  Here’s one (of about 6 I did before I got bored):

This is what I think might be the start of a decent trans* code.  It’s 4x4, is based on the actual flag for that specific GSM minority, has design features that represent the particular minority as more than just a monolith, and is big enough to allow for actual shading and design.  The watermark is not an actual part of the design; it’s more like those special plastic boxes that stores use to protect particularly large flash drives and so on.

This took me about 5 minutes on MS Paint.  Half of that was getting the lines for the grid right; after that, I just picked the colors and used a paint bucket tool.  So much for “labored to create the source code.”  The only “labor” you guys had was “Uh, what do we come up with for the 6th stripe?  Does the T mean “transgender”? How do we spell that?” and figuring out how to see colors on a computer monitor while simultaneously having all your heads stuck up each others’ asses.

Then, after creating an absurdly limited number of codes which by their nature were highly problematic, for reasons I have extensively discussed elsewhere, you went and advertised them in just about the most racist, sexist, culturally appropriative, slut-shaming, and cishet-pandering manner possible.  The only worse things I’ve seen are FUCKH8’s videos (so far, you guys don’t have the money to pay little kids to gratuitously yell “fuck” for you yet).  Apparently, making these atrocious and/or impossibly inane ads took up all your company time, since you then proceeded to dick around for 2 years, making lots of ads but never actually producing a product until a few weeks ago, and still none of the promised “make your own code” app in sight.

So, you’ve made a useless product, you’re bigoted scum, you’re a bunch of lazy, incompetent dicks, and your company could easily be surpassed by a college sophomore if ze wanted to put the time in to make an indiegogo campaign.

Your codes, with any kind of competent handling, could have reached customers a year before they did, and could have actually had an option for vegans who are allergic to nickel.  (It’s there on your site; wearing options are a black leather cord and a nickel-plated chain.)

Any half-competent java programmer could have written a “make-your-own-code” app in about 3 days.  I have not yet learned the GUI interfaces yet, but what’s a computer science department for?  Or, I could allocate a couple thousand dollars (that I would have fundraised) to hiring a programmer.

I could actually create codes for pansexual, asexual, and demisexual people (and others) that aren’t arbitrarily assigned colors and are more than a vague nod of “yes, I have heard rumors that you exist,” which is what your putting a question mark over a blank code box says.

I could certainly create ads that don’t shit on everyone except white cisgender straight and straight-acting gay people.

So, mycodedecoded, either shut down, or hire me as CEO.  I could use the help paying my tuition.

Until then,

No, you have to convince them that what you’re doing is not oppression and that you have a perfect right to be doing it.

And that, Code Decoded, is what you are doing.  You are attempting to forcibly define queer identities according to your blockheadedly limited standards, and then telling your proposed customer base that you’re doing a public service.

You take the rainbow, which from its inception as a queer symbol was supposed to represent diversity, individuality, and room to be a unique person not forced into the rigid conformity of a bigoted society, and you turn that rainbow into coded inhumanity: A bar code, a finite set of RGB values corresponding to artificial stripes, 10 rigid ways to be “acceptably” queer—and 4 of those 10 aren’t even codes pertaining only to queerness!

You designed your codes to be incapable of expressing diversity.  A 3x3 matrix.  Even if you expanded your artificially limited color palette, or stopped trying to insist that each sexuality correspond to a “stripe” in the rainbow flag, that size matrix is too small to produce diverse codes.  Even a 4x4 grid does significantly better; 5x5 would not be much bigger and would also allow a center square.

See?  Here’s one (of about 6 I did before I got bored):

This is what I think might be the start of a decent trans* code.  It’s 4x4, is based on the actual flag for that specific GSM minority, has design features that represent the particular minority as more than just a monolith, and is big enough to allow for actual shading and design.  The watermark is not an actual part of the design; it’s more like those special plastic boxes that stores use to protect particularly large flash drives and so on.

This took me about 5 minutes on MS Paint.  Half of that was getting the lines for the grid right; after that, I just picked the colors and used a paint bucket tool.  So much for “labored to create the source code.”  The only “labor” you guys had was “Uh, what do we come up with for the 6th stripe?  Does the T mean “transgender”? How do we spell that?” and figuring out how to see colors on a computer monitor while simultaneously having all your heads stuck up each others’ asses.

Then, after creating an absurdly limited number of codes which by their nature were highly problematic, for reasons I have extensively discussed elsewhere, you went and advertised them in just about the most racist, sexist, culturally appropriative, slut-shaming, and cishet-pandering manner possible.  The only worse things I’ve seen are FUCKH8’s videos (so far, you guys don’t have the money to pay little kids to gratuitously yell “fuck” for you yet).  Apparently, making these atrocious and/or impossibly inane ads took up all your company time, since you then proceeded to dick around for 2 years, making lots of ads but never actually producing a product until a few weeks ago, and still none of the promised “make your own code” app in sight.

So, you’ve made a useless product, you’re bigoted scum, you’re a bunch of lazy, incompetent dicks, and your company could easily be surpassed by a college sophomore if ze wanted to put the time in to make an indiegogo campaign.

Your codes, with any kind of competent handling, could have reached customers a year before they did, and could have actually had an option for vegans who are allergic to nickel.  (It’s there on your site; wearing options are a black leather cord and a nickel-plated chain.)

Any half-competent java programmer could have written a “make-your-own-code” app in about 3 days.  I have not yet learned the GUI interfaces yet, but what’s a computer science department for?  Or, I could allocate a couple thousand dollars (that I would have fundraised) to hiring a programmer.

I could actually create codes for pansexual, asexual, and demisexual people (and others) that aren’t arbitrarily assigned colors and are more than a vague nod of “yes, I have heard rumors that you exist,” which is what your putting a question mark over a blank code box says.

I could certainly create ads that don’t shit on everyone except white cisgender straight and straight-acting gay people.

So, mycodedecoded, either shut down, or hire me as CEO.  I could use the help paying my tuition.

Until then,

Also "Transsexual" is really derogatory; mentioning the word is bad enough but then you guys put it first on the list

Seriously you guys are worse than straight allies

I’M SORRY BUT CAN WE PLEASE STOP THIS POST FROM SPREADING FURTHER?

THIS IDEA IS SO SO SO BAD YOU HAVE NO IDEA

Basically, they’re meaning to send 10,000 pro-gay coloring books to Russian children if their post gets 100,000 notes.

First of all, those books might not make it in at all. Despite saying that they packages will be disguised, if they send 10,000 books, some of them are bound to be discovered by authorities, and THAT WILL MEAN TROUBLE. If nothing more, they will at least be a reason for the government to tighten mailing laws or take further action against pro-gay activists.

Secondly, even if the books DO get through to families, if they are discovered in children’s or their parents’ hands, those people will definitely be in a lot of trouble. Being pro-gay and pro-trans is illegal in Russia, and owning this book would be pretty solid proof of being that. Not good. 

before this he made a bunch of noise about boycotting stoli vodka

Why are we so often betrayed by the groups who represent us?  And, unlike with our government, we never really elected these groups to represent us.

code…decoded introduces the PRIDE collection: A starting point and only the beginning - our LEGACY - our cultural inheritance. We’re in the final stages of pre-production and should have the collection ready by ‘Thanksgiving’. We’ll keep you posted and share more details as we near the product launch date.

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