Gawker shutting down

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The controversy surrounding the "outing" of Peter Thiel is rather sickening. He's a plutocrat who exercises a great deal of power and influence by virtue of his wealth alone. This rent-seeking behavior is corrosive to American democracy. None of this even begins to mention the fact that his viewpoints are odious, repulsive and damaging. Dredging up personal information and using it against him is a virtue, not a vice.

I didn't expect this from you. The only reason people are "outed" by tabloids is because homophobes find it relevant if someone happens to be gay. If this homophobia had not existed, people wouldn't be outed because the public wouldn't care. Therefore, the victims of engaging in such "journalism" are not just the ones who are outed but all gay people, because doing so perpetuates a climate in which a "witch hunt" against gay people is seen as legitimate by some. If you truly support gay people's right to be gay no matter who they are or what they do, you should not condone Gawker's behavior, regardless of your opinion of Thiel.

Well said. "Outing" people is absolutely to say that you believe being gay is wrong and worthy of public scorn. Anyone who supports "outing" as a method of attack is absolutely and universally anti-gay. It's a despicable kind of act that mars the integrity of journalism and can even put lives at risk, but at any rate certainly pushes society backward. I feel no pity for anyone at Gawker who had anything to do with it or did anything less than vehemently and both privately and publicly oppose it.