SigmaTheZeta
Esteemed Citizen of ZV
@Tailo Thank you, and I also want to point out cultural inbreeding as being a problem.
If you look at HIV statistics, the cities in the USA (I don't know about Europe) that are surrounded by the most hostile anti-gay cultures tend to have the highest HIV statistics, and I think that what is going on is that gay people's separation from the rest of society has led to them developing a sort of cultural founders' effect, where they internalize toxic norms due to a lack of adequate feedback between themselves and the rest of society, with some exceptions like Las Vegas and Miami, which both have decadent cultures among all walks of life and not just gay people.
A cycle is created, in Southern US cities, where gay people do not want to open up to straight people (including family members), yet as a consequence, they internalize in-group norms that make it all the harder for them to fit in with straight people, which just entrenches the sense of separation.
In the case of zoos, I would point out the fence-hopping culture. While fence-hoppers and "owner-hoppers" might not be completely without any justification at all in saying, "it's not like it is right to keep them as slaves, they have their own minds," the problem with that reasoning is that, in almost every part of the world, we are living in a culture where people feel very strongly about what they perceive as their property, and whether any zoo likes it or not, that includes their animals. If the fence-hopper were to at least talk to a non-zoo furry that is not prone to hysterics (the ones that are, well, that is what a sawed-off shotgun is for), then eventually, the zoo in question would realize that, while it is often somewhat reasonable to get at least some furries to accept "My dog is my husband/wife," it is a little bit harder to get them to accept "I sucked my neighbor's dog" on top of that, upon which a furry will eventually tell them, "pull that on my dog, and I will literally, not even slightly exaggerating, blast your head off, get your own dog." It is a lot easier for the zoo in question to let go of behavioral norms than a deeply ingrained sexuality, so eventually, what is going to give way is behavioral norms.
This effect is not just restricted to gay people and zoos, either. In fact, studies have been done in the USA on segregation in cities, and the more segregated cities, in the USA, tend to have some of the worst problems with crime. What happens is a cultural contagion effect. Because African-Americans tend to be poorer--which any of us that should not be hauled onto a barge, chained together, and dumped into the Atlantic Basin are trying to fix--more of them are likely to resort to desperate behaviors. Without any more privileged comrades to refer to, their peers can develop a notion that it is normal behavior when really there is no reason why it ought to be regarded as such. The bad behaviors ultimately spread like the Bubonic Plague in the more segregated cities. In cities where there is less segregation, African-Americans (including poor ones) internalize behavioral norms that are more compatible with the rest of their culture, and rates of all possible types of crimes tend to be a lot lower.
Right there, we have the examples of LGBT and African-Americans as two different examples of how cultural inbreeding can be harmful to a minority group's chances of ever being accepted by the rest of society.
Now, what the Apostles of Cowardice want us to believe is that us zoos are so deeply unique and special that the same principles could never ever apply to us, even though the LGBT and the African-Americans are as different from each other, in terms of the nature of their differences, as humanly possible and yet still are affected by the same principles. The level of denial is on the level of outright delirium, and the rest of us ought to start harshly mocking the Apostles of Cowardice.
If you are a zoo, you ought to at least find an open-minded non-zooey furry that you can talk to. Even if you are highly intelligent and unlikely to do anything super stupid, it will help because the more ideas you can import from the rest of society and transmit to other zoos, the more you can hedge against cultural inbreeding. That includes people like you, @Tailo. The cultural inbreeding is a huge part of our problems.
If you look at HIV statistics, the cities in the USA (I don't know about Europe) that are surrounded by the most hostile anti-gay cultures tend to have the highest HIV statistics, and I think that what is going on is that gay people's separation from the rest of society has led to them developing a sort of cultural founders' effect, where they internalize toxic norms due to a lack of adequate feedback between themselves and the rest of society, with some exceptions like Las Vegas and Miami, which both have decadent cultures among all walks of life and not just gay people.
A cycle is created, in Southern US cities, where gay people do not want to open up to straight people (including family members), yet as a consequence, they internalize in-group norms that make it all the harder for them to fit in with straight people, which just entrenches the sense of separation.
In the case of zoos, I would point out the fence-hopping culture. While fence-hoppers and "owner-hoppers" might not be completely without any justification at all in saying, "it's not like it is right to keep them as slaves, they have their own minds," the problem with that reasoning is that, in almost every part of the world, we are living in a culture where people feel very strongly about what they perceive as their property, and whether any zoo likes it or not, that includes their animals. If the fence-hopper were to at least talk to a non-zoo furry that is not prone to hysterics (the ones that are, well, that is what a sawed-off shotgun is for), then eventually, the zoo in question would realize that, while it is often somewhat reasonable to get at least some furries to accept "My dog is my husband/wife," it is a little bit harder to get them to accept "I sucked my neighbor's dog" on top of that, upon which a furry will eventually tell them, "pull that on my dog, and I will literally, not even slightly exaggerating, blast your head off, get your own dog." It is a lot easier for the zoo in question to let go of behavioral norms than a deeply ingrained sexuality, so eventually, what is going to give way is behavioral norms.
This effect is not just restricted to gay people and zoos, either. In fact, studies have been done in the USA on segregation in cities, and the more segregated cities, in the USA, tend to have some of the worst problems with crime. What happens is a cultural contagion effect. Because African-Americans tend to be poorer--which any of us that should not be hauled onto a barge, chained together, and dumped into the Atlantic Basin are trying to fix--more of them are likely to resort to desperate behaviors. Without any more privileged comrades to refer to, their peers can develop a notion that it is normal behavior when really there is no reason why it ought to be regarded as such. The bad behaviors ultimately spread like the Bubonic Plague in the more segregated cities. In cities where there is less segregation, African-Americans (including poor ones) internalize behavioral norms that are more compatible with the rest of their culture, and rates of all possible types of crimes tend to be a lot lower.
Right there, we have the examples of LGBT and African-Americans as two different examples of how cultural inbreeding can be harmful to a minority group's chances of ever being accepted by the rest of society.
Now, what the Apostles of Cowardice want us to believe is that us zoos are so deeply unique and special that the same principles could never ever apply to us, even though the LGBT and the African-Americans are as different from each other, in terms of the nature of their differences, as humanly possible and yet still are affected by the same principles. The level of denial is on the level of outright delirium, and the rest of us ought to start harshly mocking the Apostles of Cowardice.
If you are a zoo, you ought to at least find an open-minded non-zooey furry that you can talk to. Even if you are highly intelligent and unlikely to do anything super stupid, it will help because the more ideas you can import from the rest of society and transmit to other zoos, the more you can hedge against cultural inbreeding. That includes people like you, @Tailo. The cultural inbreeding is a huge part of our problems.
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