Gay Christian Outreach

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This page is for archive purposes only. The GCO Guidelines have been updated on our new website.

Every Group needs a set of guidelines to help keep everyone on track and to define what is and what is not acceptable in that group. It is the intent of Gay Christian Outreach to maintain a safe and secure environment of support, fellowship and Christian love that is free from the sexually suggestive content found prevalent throughout much of the Internet. To that end, we have put together these guidelines to serve as direction for all content on the Gay Christian Outreach MSN Group. By continuing membership in Gay Christian Outreach, you signify agreement to act in accordance with the Gay Christian Outreach Group Guidelines.

Below the Gay Christian Outreach Guidelines, you'll also find a link to the MSN Groups Code of Conduct that each member had to agree to before MSN Groups would allow you to apply to join Gay Christian Outreach. You may wish to review that document as well since your continued membership in Gay Christian Outreach indicates your agreement to uphold the Code of Conduct. You will also find a small quote from the MSN Code of Conduct which indicates that Gay Christian Outreach is allowed to establish our own guidelines.

Gay Christian Outreach Guidelines

Gay Christian Outreach (GCO) is first and foremost a Christian environment. All content contributions should be appropriate for a Christian environment. Your MSN Groups profile, email address and chosen member nickname must adhere to this policy as well.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23. Members are strongly encouraged to display all of these characteristics when interacting with one another at GCO.
In recognition of the diversity of people, discussions of varying or differing opinions are encouraged but non-constructive arguments, heated debates and/or personal attacks are prohibited. Discussions that bring about disorder are prohibited. Agreeably disagree and always discuss thoughts and opinions; never attack the person.
Any personal dispute between members should be dealt with in private, not in public. If members are unable to resolve a dispute together, they should privately contact GCO's Group Manager who will help mediate the situation. Public personal disputes will not be tolerated.
Slanderous or libelous remarks and personal attacks, even if vague, are not permitted. This includes contacts made with GCO members via e-mail and instant messages. Such remarks or attacks, whether made in public or private, will result in an immediate ban and the offending party will be reported to MSN.
GCO is not an ex-gay organization. Rhetoric in support of an ex-gay or anti-gay thought is prohibited and will be removed. Homophobic attitudes and comments will not be tolerated. Members contributing such content will be banned immediately and reported to MSN for violation of the MSN Groups Code of Conduct.
GCO does not endorse, support or oppose legislation, political candidates, campaigns or parties. Messages of such nature are not permitted. The only exception is information about specific legislation or other political activity that directly impacts Christian GLBT persons. Such messages posted under this exception must be free from commentary regarding individuals who support or oppose the legislation or political activity being discussed.
Use of anyone's personal street addresses or any personal telephone numbers is prohibited.
Members may not use GCO to seek sexual encounters, even if the reference to a sexual encounter is vague.
Profanity, sexually suggestive and/or explicit content is forbidden. Links to external online resources containing sexually suggestive/explicit or pornographic materials are forbidden. External resources must be completely free of additional links to sexually suggestive and/or explicit content as well.
GCO Personals are for use of single members only. "Single" implies persons not involved in a steady romantic relationship of any sort. Personals are permitted ONLY in Personals areas. Please do not post "Personals" type messages on the Message Boards.
All contributed photos of people must feature individuals who are fully clothed, no exceptions. This includes photos contained in MSN profiles if the profile is visible to other GCO members.
Do not add new photo albums. Please upload your photos into the existing photo albums. Please read the album descriptions to determine which is appropriate for your photos.
Use of copyrighted material is forbidden unless proper permission has been gained to use the material. Permission must accompany usage of any copyrighted material.
Do not reply to a message to simply "bump" it up higher on the What's New page or message board discussion thread lists.
Member "Nicknames" are encouraged to begin with a standard letter of the English alphabet. Numbers may be used, but not as the first character. Letters with special adornment, non-standard alphabet letters, and/or "alt-code" characters should not be used in your nickname. Use of punctuation, aside from an underscore, is discouraged. Nicknames not conforming to these suggestions can cause problems accessing chat and other MSN Groups features. Further, your member Nickname must be free from sexual or "body-type" references.
A valid, working email address that belongs to you must be provided on your membership application. Failure to provide a valid, working e-mail address that belongs to you will result in termination of membership in GCO or denial of your membership application. Please note: You are NOT required to display your email address in your member profile.
All member submissions may be used for promotional purposes without compensation, even if you terminate your membership. The only exceptions are personal photos and full names, which will never be used without express written permission.
Collecting any other person's personal information, including but not limited to e-mail addresses, for the purpose of sending unsolicited commercial messages ("SPAM") is strictly forbidden. Members sending SPAM will be banned and reported to both their ISP and MSN.
Do not use any portion of Gay Christian Outreach to collect contact information or to advertise any other MSN Group, Yahoo Group or other similar website. If you wish to notify GCO members of such a group or website, please request that a link be placed in our Online Resources.
While GCO does encourage other site managers to promote their sites, joining GCO for the sole purpose of harvesting members without any contribution to GCO other than promoting an outside resource will not be tolerated.
Impersonating a member of the GCO Leadership Team is strictly prohibited.
The GCO Leadership Team reserves the right to edit or remove any content, at any time and without notice, deemed to be in violation of GCO Guidelines or MSN Groups Code of Conduct.
Resubmitting or reposting any content previously removed by the GCO Leadership Team is prohibited.
The GCO Leadership Team reserves the right to update the GCO Guidelines as necessary.
Failure to follow the GCO Group Guidelines or the MSN Groups Code of Conduct may result in termination of your membership in GCO.

Updated: 2/28/04

MSN Groups Code of Conduct

MSN Groups Code of Conduct (click to read)

Specific groups, chats, and other services may have additional guidelines which govern your use, so be sure to review them in addition to this code of conduct.