Are safe spaces a good thing?

AmericanFurryBoy

They’re like spaces for little kids to hide under their blankets from nonexistent monsters.

Applesauce

people have the right to assemble, with that said these spaces should NOT be created with public funds or tax money etc.

MayCaesar

People have been forming interest groups since the dawn of civilization. Safe spaces, from my understanding (limited as it may be, since I have never been enrolled in one), are just groups of people talking about a particular issue or set of issues in their lives - similar to "anonymous alcoholics" groups.

I do not think they in themselves are either good or bad. What matters is the direction of the discussion. Safe spaces where people just complain about their lives and share their misery with everyone else - do nothing but promote victimization, and set in stone the negative and pessimistic thinking in these people. But safe spaces leading to positive constructive action - why not? Dissidents in dictatorships all over the world have always been organizing safe spaces, where they would form plans to fight off the tyranny, and that is definitely a good thing.

It is worth noting, however, that safe spaces based on race, gender, gender identity, sexuality, religion, etc. have the property of isolating people of a certain group from everyone else. For example, a safe space for Muslims encloses Muslims within a shell harboring other Muslims. This is a voluntary self-segregation, and it is likely to only perpetuate the issues that it is supposed to address.
It does not mean that safe spaces for particular groups should not exist, but it does mean that they have a destructive potential. Just like Soviet immigrants on Brighton Beach have essentially rebuilt a glorified version of Soviet community there, property-based safe spaces can build something that has nothing to do with integration and public acceptance. 

If I were to create a space to talk about issues concerning a particular group, one of the first things I would do is open that space up for people not belonging to the group. Safe space for talking about issues faced by transsexual people? Invite a lot of non-transsexual people there! Both those accepting transsexual people, and those not accepting them. Let them discuss things civilly. Let them see each other's points of view. All happening in a peaceful and welcoming, but honest environment.
Only this way can the society stop discriminating against transsexuals, and can the transsexuals feel a part of the society. Only when such interaction becomes regular and is not seen as a big deal any more, only then will the problem be solved.

In 40-s, seeing a white and a black person casually talk to each other in a bus was unheard of. Nowadays, no one bats an eye. Why? Because one of the central points of the civil rights campaign of 60-s was to stop dividing people into races, and to promote interracial interaction. Ending ghettos was one of the central goals of that campaign.

Safe spaces, however, have a potential to become ghettos, which is the exact opposite of what they are supposed to achieve. This is something to be aware of and to address.

Applesauce

@MayCaesar
you should read up on the 'safe spaces' liberal colleges have created, talk about giving people special rights lol  When the facts hurt their feelings it's their place to have a good cry and play with stuffed animals.  Safe spaces that are created like that and for those or similar purposes is harmful to society.  Imo that's part of how and why antifa rose out of nothing and why they act like they do.