Aaron Swartz and Don Slater: Why They Weren’t Gay

February 13, 2013.

Thanks for this, Mr. Duchamp. The last link about sexuality sounds a lot like Don Slater—it is an act, it is society, and its attitudes and laws that make us a minority, and there was no minority before the Kinsey/Mattachine era starting in the 1950s.

Before there were drag balls, but no effort to change or educate society or even homosexuals.

Aaron Swartz committed suicide a few days ago; I’d never heard of him.  There’s plenty to learn, though, from a just-posted Wikipedia entry.

Swartz was only 26, but he had taken on many fights including one against JSTOR, an online database of scholarly material.

Federal prosecutors in Boston had brought an armload of charges against him for allegedly “hacking” JSTOR. JSTOR, however, did not want to press the case but U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz barreled right ahead. The trial was looming in just a few weeks.

All too often, the government quietly grinds people to dust in exercising its criminal justice prerogatives.

Alex Stamos, a defense forensics expert has some very interesting things to say here.

Swartz’s parents and partner have published a statement

There’s lots more online; FWIW here’s the New York Times obituary

And, finally, a 2009 piece from Swartz’s blog about sexuality, “Why I Am Not Gay.”