Press for Change: UKPFC-Forum mailing list

PLEASE NOTE that the UKPFC-FORUM mailing list is no longer running.

This page is retained for archival purposes only.

This list is for discussion of issues relating to the Press For Change campaign for the rights of all trans people, particularly in the United Kingdom. It is not for general discussion of trans issues; there are other on-line forums for that purpose.

In particular, the UKPFC-Forum is a campaigners’ Forum for discussion of:

campaign organisation — everything from legal action to advice/assistance on distributing leaflets
campaigning directions — any new methods we should try? changes to old ones?
campaign tactics — how are our demands being received? are we airing the issues in an effective way?
campaign policy — are we asking for the right things? In the right order?
the status quo — what are the current problems we need to address?

But the Forum is not a place for discussion of gender theory, or for personal support. While theory is very valuable, and we all need support, the Forum is a unique place to discuss campaigning.

Of course, that doesn’t preclude us being supportive of each other in our discussions, and sometimes a bit of theory is important when addressing a campaign issue, but long theoretical threads are best taken to private email or to another forum.

(If you are interested in other transgender mailing lists, we keep a list)

This webpage gives you important information about using the Forum. Please bookmark it for future reference.

Forum rules

Your membership of the campaigners’ Forum is subject to your compliance with the following rules:

All posts must be kept on-topic, i.e. they must be related to Press For Change’s campaign for legal rights for trans people in the UK.
The Forum must not be used to debate PFC’s aims and objectives. Whilst there will always be some people who legitimately see grounds for change, regular discussion of these issues is a time-consuming diversion for most campaigners. Members of the Forum agree to work to achieve PFC’s statement of Aims and Objectives. Suggestions for changes and improvements may be emailed to letters@pfc.org.uk, though replies can’t be guaranteed — PFC’s main priority is always to do more campaigning!
From time to time, the Forum’s administrators may ask that discussion of a particular topic be discontinued. This will normally occur only if it is losing relevance to campaigning activities or is causing acrimony, but members of the Forum are required to abide by such requests.
Posts should be in plain ASCII text, without attachments. This means, for example, that you must not send graphics or wordprocessor documents to the Forum, and that you must ensure that your mailer does not send "richtext" or HTML. Basically, only send plain unformatted text — that way, everone can read it!
Unnecessary quoting from previous posts should be kept to a minimum; a good rule of thumb is that quoted material should not amount to more than 50% of your message. In particular, never quote the footer which automatically appended by the servet to the end of each post to the Forum.
Flaming is unacceptable: differences should be aired with mutual respect.
Harrassment of another Forum member, whether on the Forum or off it, is unacceptable.
Messages posted to the Forum may not contain obscene or defamatory comments, or seek to promote illegal activity. By joining the Forum you agree to indemnify Press For Change from any liability resulting from messages posted to the Forum from your email address.
Members of the Forum are also required to join PFC’s News mailing list, which is used to distribute information about the campaign and other material of relevance to campaigners. (This is to avoid having to post such material to the Forum as well.)

We hope that Forum members will observe these rules without any need for intervention by the Forum’s administrators, and that common sense and good manners will prevail! However, the list administrators reserve the right to remove from the Forum any persons who breach these rules or otherwise disrupt the functioning of the Forum, and/or to prevent such persons from posting messages to the Forum.

Please also note that the Forum is publicly archived on the world-wide web.

The list administrators are here to help: if you have problems joing or participating in the Forum, please email us at listadmin@pfc.org.uk

Joining the Forum

To participate in the Forum, you first have to join it, but you can also read the discussions in our on-line archives, even if you haven’t joined the list.

To join the UKPFC-Forum list, send email to UKPFC-Forum-SUBSCRIBE-REQUEST@home.ease.lsoft.com
The list server will then send you a questionnaire, which you are required to complete and return before you can be signed up.

Before you post to the list, please take time to read the List rules and the netiquette guide.

Warning: your application will be rejected by the server unless your mail software is set to include both your first name and last name in the “From: ” header of your email. If your mailer identifies you only as, e.g. “John” or “Jane”, this will not work.

It is much easier for everyone if you set your mailer to give your full name, but if you really refuse to do this, you can apply by sending an email to the listserver listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com, with the following line in the body of the message:

SUBSCRIBE UKPFC-FORUM YourFirstname YourLastname

So if your name is John Smith, you would send:

SUBSCRIBE UKPFC-NEWS John Smith

Sending mail to the Forum

To send a message to all ukpfc-forum list members, send an email to ukpfc-forum@home.ease.lsoft.com

Leaving the list

To stop receiving messages from UKPFC-Forum, send a blank email to UKPFC-Forum-signoff-REQUEST@home.ease.lsoft.com

If you receive a message saying you are not a member but you are still getting messages, you could be subscribed as a different email address. Please contact the list administrators for help : listadmin@pfc.org.uk

Note: if you only want to stop getting mail while you’re away for a week or so, try the nomail setting.

Requesting digests

Instead of getting each message from the list separately, you may ask the list server to send you a compendium of all the messages that were sent that day. To do this, send a message to the list server at listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the command SET UKPFC-Forum DIGEST in the body of the message. The subject line will be ignored, and may be left blank.

The list server will send you a confirmation message back and every day you will receive a single email message containing all the day’s postings to UKPFC-FORUM.

Reverting to individual mail

If you have been receiving the list in digest form, and would prefer to receive list messages individually, send a message to the list server at listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the command SET UKPFC-Forum MAIL in the body of the message. The subject line will be ignored, and may be left blank.

The list server will send you a confirmation message, and every message posted to UKPFC-FORUM will be forwarded to you immediately.

Temporarily suspending mail

If you are leaving your mailbox unattended for a while, and and would like to temporarily switch off the feed from the list, send a message to the list server at listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the command SET UKPFC-Forum NOMAIL in the body of the message. The subject line will be ignored, and may be left blank.

The list server will send back a confirmation message, and you will not receive any more messages from the list until you ask again for either a mail or digest feed.

Some common questions

Why am I not receiving the list?
You may not be subscribed, or your subscription may have lapsed because too many messages were bounced. Try joining the list again; see Joining the list, above.
If you still have problems, please contact the Forum administrators: listadmin@pfc.org.uk
Why are my posts not getting through to the list?
First, check that your mail software is working correctly, and that you can successfuly send mail to other addresses.
Are you posting to the correct address? Posts should be sent to UKPFC-Forum@home.ease.lsoft.com. If you still have problems, contact the list administrators.
Why are my posts rejected?
Your subscription to the list may have lapsed for some reason (perhaps too many undelivered messages). Try joining the list again.
Can I post to the list from my other address?
No. You can only post from the address from which you are subscribed. If you want to be able to post from another address, you will have to join the list from that address.
I’ve changed my email address, and want to change my subscription to my new address.
Just send a message to the list admins at listadmin@pfc.org.uk, and remember to tell us what you old address was and what your new one is.
How can I get a list of other subscribers?
You can’t. We keep this information confidential.
Why can’t I have full civil rights now?
We’re working on it :) And we need your help.

Where to report problems

If you’ve read this page and still have any problems or questions, please email listadmin@pfc.org.uk.
This is the address for the list’s administrators, who will be happy to help.

Email addresses

A summary of email addresses for use with this list:

To send commands to the list manager software: listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com
To contact the administrators of the Forum: listadmin@pfc.org.uk
To post to the Forum: UKPFC-Forum@home.ease.lsoft.com
But please remember that you can’t contribute unless you’ve already joined the Forum.

On-line Archives

All messages sent to the UKPFC-FORUM mailing list are publicly archived on the Press For Change website. The archives are normally updated every few days, though there will occasionally be short delays.

The archives are organised monthly, and although limited on space on the webserver means that we cannot maintain all the archives on-line, there will normally be an on-line archive stretching back for at least 18 months. You can also search the archives.

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