I've been called out for saying "Dude", I've seen others called out for using turns of phrase like "guys" especially on IRC. I find it abhorrent that turns of phrase are immediately responded with "Remember not everybody here is a guy". I'd like to suggest genitalia is inconsequential on the internet, sexual preferences are inconsequential, we come together to work on Rust not celebrate the individual. If somebody is being derogatory then they ought to be corrected but I feel like I've been looked down upon for simple turns of phrase with no implied negative connotation. If somebody is offended by the term "Dude" that is not my problem, that is the problem of somebody who is overly sensitive and self centered. I've been saying "Dude" longer than I've known the difference between a boy and a girl, long before I knew about homosexuals and long before I knew about transgendered individuals. I have done my best to change my perception of what I believe is right to be inclusive of people of all walks of life, it would seem prudent that the protected group members do not get so bent out of shape when somebody is simply existing the best way they know how. I'm not trying to offend anybody but you can't demand that I'm not allowed to be myself within the confines of professional and respectable speech, because something might have a "gendered" connotation does not make it malicious and designed to bring down others. Far be it from people immediately excluded in a statement of all things to make me feel like I'm somehow bringing them down with words.

I now say "individual" when discussing another person, and now I do not say much of anything because I am intimidated by having to be completely PC unless I want to deal with being "corrected". I still hang out on IRC but only because I have to not because I want to be apart of the "greater community" anymore. To be clear I have never ever felt that a moderator or member of the leadership has used this as leverage against me, the devs are wonderful people and this kind of thing doesn't even crop up into the day to day conversation, the interactions in the "work channels" are 100% professional and this is never an issue anywhere but the comments section for the CoC and the channels like #rust and #rust-offtopic where conversation happens from people in all walks of life and some of us have to walk on eggshells to communicate naturally.

In reality on IRC I should have no idea if you are male, female, transgendered, gay, straight, bisexual or whatever. If I do it is because that individual has divulged that information needlessly as we cannot pleasure eachother or procreate via tcp/ip (yet). I guess I'm bent out of shape because for all the social revolutions that have happened in the last 25 years I've not been included into any of them. I am poor, white, and male and because of my gender and the color of my skin I'm supposed to have nothing to complain about. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist, I'm not saying there's not hateful people in the world, I'm not discrimination doesn't exist. Quite the opposite in fact, and I guess my final point is the CoC is not as "all inclusive" as it's made out to be. But I don't want to be included, I don't think it needs to exist in the first place I think it could simply say "This is a professional workspace free of judgement and harassment of any form" and everybody could get behind it.

Shame on us that we need a CoC in the first place, I am truly sorry for individuals that are harassed and persecuted maliciously through ignorance and fear. Shame on us.