Yay for Queers is a supportive chat room primarily for new Trans folks. If you're looking for support, information, community, or people to just talk to in real time, this is the place to be. (Please note that none of us is any kind of therapist; we're here as helpful friends, not proper counselors.) We use the word Queers so as to be more inclusive of people who are questioning, and our friends/family/partners/allies.
Note: You do NOT need to identify as queer to chat in Yay for Queers! The only requirement is that you are respectful of everyone.
The main channel op is FTMichael (Michael). Dante, illiath, and JamieCayley/JamieC are also channel ops. If you have any issues with the channel, the Livejournal community, the Facebook page, or any of the other users, please message one of us about it.
If you don't like what someone is saying, use the /ignore feature. In the chat box, type /ignore whoever - so if someone called Steveqt123 is bothering you, you would type /ignore Steveqt123. You must include the / or it won't work! To stop ignoring someone, type /unignore whoever.
RULES:
1) Disagreements are fine, but being rude, mean, or offensive is not. No personal attacks, insults, prejudice, stereotypes, or generalizations.
2) Try not to ask for personal information unless it's really relevant to your conversation. Asking for general location is okay. Asking about pronouns is excellent.
3) Please speak from your own experiences and avoid speaking for others.
4) Bear in mind, not everyone is from the US and not everyone speaks English as a first language.
5) Any links, pictures, etc. that are sexually explicit need to come with warnings (i.e., saying, "[link] - NOT WORK SAFE!").
By joining this community and the channel, you are indicating your acceptance of these rules and agree to abide by them.
Already familiar with IRC? The server we use is irc.blitzed.org and our channel is #yayforqueers.
If for some reason you cannot download a client, or you can't get any downloaded client to connect to the channel, you can use the webclient. Just click the green "Start..." button below to get connected.
CHAT NOW!
(This is the webclient.)
The webclient does not work well on phones. Phone screens are too small. If you're on your phone, get a proper client (they're free) and come chat that way.
Be aware that the channel is not always a bustling hive of activity. If it's quiet when you enter, say hello and stick around! Your patience will be rewarded. Also, most of the channel's regulars are currently in North America or western Europe, so if you come in at a time when most of us are likely asleep, you are less likely to find people to chat with.
If the above doesn't work, you can connect here. You must change the channel listed in the box to #yayforqueers!
Yay for Queers may be accessed by using any of various IRC clients, including the webclient above. The webclient's okay, but it's better to have your own. If you don't have one installed on your computer or device, use the links below to get one, then use the step-by-step instructions I've provided to set it up. All of the clients listed here are completely free.
If at any point you need help setting up an IRC client, enter the chat with the webclient above and ask around in the channel. Someone there should be able to help out.
Little known fact: People don't connect to each other online the way most people think they do. If you and I are PMing on Facebook, our computers aren't directly connected to each other. There's more than just your computer and mine involved in sending our messages back and forth. There's also the Facebook server - a big computer that acts as a middleman. I send a PM, the server gets it and passes it on, and then you receive it. This all happens very very fast (depending on the speed of the server and the speed of your and my internet connections), but the point is that you have to connect to a service on another computer in order to message someone.
A client is anything you run on your computer or device that accesses a service. Messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger are clients, because the app on your computer or device accesses the messenger service through the internet and lets you talk to other people.
Mac users can download LimeChat in the App Store or here.
If you can't get LimeChat to work, you can use Colloquy or Adium.
Download the client of your choice. This means that when the little window pops up asking whether you want to open or save it, tell it to save.
MAKE SURE IT SAVES TO YOUR DESKTOP; you don't want to save it somewhere and then not know where it is!
Once it's done saving, double-click it on your desktop to run it. (If you are installing Colloquy, you will need to unzip the file first.) Then follow the instructions to install the client.
Once the client is installed, you can delete the install file that you originally downloaded.
The Yay for Queers Facebook page
The Yay for Queers Livejournal community