Subject: [Tweeters] RE: CBC etiquette -- or -- Human relations in the birding community
Date: Thu Jan 4 15:12:33 PST 2018
From: Helen Gilbert - helen.gilbert at juno.com

It's really good to see the Tweeters community come forward to oppose homophobia in the case of the Newport CBC birders who were targeted. I initially wrote a note of support to our brother birders rather than Tweeters, expecting this thread might get discouraged as off-topic. But I'm glad it's been allowed to continue. The thread started under the subject of CBC etiquette -; but it's a bigger question than that.

Although I've generally found birders to be a very enlightened bunch, I'm not surprised to hear that some people have felt class bias and we can be sure others have experienced racism in the birding community. And sexism?-;of course, it's there too. Though we all love the beautiful and fascinating world of birds, our feet are in this mucky world of wars, privilege and bigotry. Having these conversations is an important way of educating each other. Being active in other forms of changing and preserving the world is a good supplement to our birding adventures. And they remind us that the world is worth fighting for.

Helen Gilbert
Maple Leaf
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