It sounds like your first impression is fairly accurate.

This forum has existed a long time, and to make that possible, the rules have to be strict. What would be fine anywhere else has to be censored here.

People here have one thing in common - sexual orientation. Other than that, we are not alike at all. Some are married/single, old/young, rich/poor, liberal/conservative, religious/atheist, educated/uneducated, etc. If you randomly selected a group from the world's English speaking population, you'd probably get a group like you have here.

And if you take such a diverse group of people who have nothing in common, other than their love for girls, and place heavy restrictions on talking about the one thing they have in common, you get the "dysfunction and bickering" you find here.

If you can accept this, there are some good people and things that can be learned here, especially about yourself.