train trauma

Amtrak Selectively Blocking And Unblocking The Entire Gay Internet

If you’ve ever ridden one of Amtrak’s government subsidized cattle cars, you know your main goal is arriving on time, followed in close second by leaving on time, or maybe it’s not have obnoxious bratty kids running up and down the aisle while you’re nursing a hangover. But to be fair, it’s also nice to be able to use Amtrak’s wifi service to read about The Gays without being told you’re trying to access porn.

When the editor of a gay blog called The New Gay was blocked on Amtrak’s wifi service because it was supposedly an “adult” site, he complained on the interwebs! (He had to wait until after the New York-D.C. train ride ended, however.) Amtrak’s resident brand monitor (sorry, that’s “Marketing Communications Specialist”) noticed Mark Mastro and immediately unblocked the site.

Was that because Mastro was also responsible for setting up and maintaining Amtrak’s wifi network? Or because he’s a big ‘mo too? Both likely! But also, Amtrak has shown — with money! — that it loves its gay passengers, so keeping them happy is a priority.

So The New Gay is now accessible to train passengers traveling at 45mph, but true adult sites are not. The terrorists didn’t win! For the rest of you traveling at 450mph at 35,000 feet, Virgin America still lets you get on a certain handful of adult streaming video sites. Just don’t let that brisk flight attendant see.

Oh, wait. This problem actually isn’t new? Nope. As Faublis pointed out earlier this year, its website — along with Queerty and Gay.com — are also blocked. I haven’t been on an Amtrak train since they installed wifi (or rather, since my eighth grade field trip), so let me know if things have changed.

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