...MsTeacher was also: Radiant, Italian978, Italian1, AndyA, andy112311. Once you have been banned permanently, you may not come back. He originally was banned for being a troll.
You, and others, seem very sure of that. I'm not so sure, but I have to confess that I haven't investigated too deeply.
AndyA was before my time here, but I remember Italian978/Italian1 quite well. I agree that he was a homophobe as well as HIV/AIDS phobic, and took irrational positions on things like anal sex and strategies for HIV prevention.
In spite of many calm, respectful efforts to reason with him, he would just repeat the same old arguments over and over. While his homophobia was obvious to many of us, he'd insist that he wasn't homophobic, but that he just had a different opinion on these issues. As others have noted, when people disagreed with him, he'd play the victim and act as if there was an attempt to stifle different opinions on the board. (Similarly, various anti-gay groups often make similar claims about the gay rights and marriage equality movements.)
When he was posting on other topics, he seemed reasonble enough, even likeable. It seemed to be that he was genuinely unable to recognize his own homophobia, and for that I pitied him a bit. Nevertheless, having recognized him for the homophobe he was, and knowing how futile it was to try to open his eyes, I wasn't sorry to see him go.
I noticed that several people accused him of being AndyA. Having not known AndyA, I had no opinion on the matter.
Since then, I've noticed something curious. Every now and then a newbie will say something that seems a bit homophobic. It's not uncommon to then see someone accuse that person of being AndyA (or one of his other various incarnations), often on the basis of a single, short post. I think a couple of newbies who posted in this thread have already been accused of being AndyA/Italian/MsTeacher.
Well, I recognize that there are homophobes in the world--most of them are just ignorant and change their tune once they get to know a gay person. I have friends and relatives who were homophobic before they got to know me, and I was (gradually, over time) able to enlighten them on various issues. So I usually give homophobes the benefit of the doubt. I assume they are immature and/or ignorant, and that there is room for them to grow. I don't instantly assume that they are all AndyA.
MsTeacher I was (apparently) fortunate enough not to have encountered, probably because I'm not as active on the forum as I once was. However, after reading this thread, I skimmed through the last few pages of her posts to see if she was, indeed, Italian978/Italian1. Maybe I didn't go back far enough, but I don't see the resemblance. Even if she was a homophobe, are we sure she was the same homophobe back again and not a new one?
) he DID break the ToS (in a way that the vast majority of members recognise as breaking the ToS) and was perma-banned for it, so of course MsTeacher had to go. What I am defending is the right to argue vehemently and have individual opinions :smile:
