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Comment by dydx | Hacker News Reader

This guy also wrote an essay titled "In Defense of Homophobia":

http://wuphys.wustl.edu/~katz/defense.html

Let's please evaluate the current article on its own merits. I'm really tired of the new witch-hunt-as-acceptable mentality on here and the news.

It's frustrating reading the comments and seeing it filled with complaints about unrelated articles by the same author.

I don't think it's entirely inappropriate in this case because this kind of article is only of value if the author is basically trustworthy and sane. He's not really reporting facts or making an argument so much as just reporting his own experiences and opinions. That's fine but it does make his personal credibility relevant.

Of note is that this 1999 essay came back around in 2010 when Katz was tapped by the DoE for a scientific task force evaluating options for the Deepwater Horizon cleanup.

He was removed from the group in fairly short order, after people found this essay and put the heat on him for it.

Shortly afterwards, Katz' son came out to his father.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/son-of-homophobic-f...

"After coming out, Katz persuaded his father to remove from his website the "In Defense of Homophobia" essay, written in 1999, when Isaac was 11."

The essay appears to be back up, I guess Katz pere doubled down.

From this article from the Washington University student newspaper, it looks like Katz reposted the essay within days after that Post-Dispatch article ran.

http://www.studlife.com/news/2010/10/13/students-come-out-as...

Well that was enough crazy for today. I'm always impressed by the logical flaws someone can have when they are emotionally passionate about something. I'm pretty sure that his final analogy between homosexuality and belonging to the klu klux klan was definitely worth putting in post-scriptum to absolutely confirm he hasn't thought any of this out.

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