Well I hope you are not equating the discussion happening in this thread with the 'political correctness police jumping on someone'. The only discussion happening here seems to be about whether it is appropriate or not. No one is suggesting that the author be punished or admonished for it.
It seems like a very valid thing to discuss, and suggesting that people might be 'triggered' for even bringing it up only serves to undermine a legitimate discussion on it.
No one here seems emotionally distraught by the author's words. Rather, all of the discussions about the inappropriateness of the remarks seem to be pitched in a constructive and explanatory way, without regard to whether they were offended by them or not.
This isn't about "showing off morality." It's about making the tech community welcoming to people of all genders. Your attitude is part of the reason that doing so is so difficult.
I was hoping that the first part would have an explainer to justify the mention of the GF. Something like, "My girlfriend is not a programmer and has never taken computer science classes. The following drawing are what I used to explain ML to her."
When my girlfriend and I pursue things intellectually, we feel sentimental about it to some extent.
I can sympathize with OP for choosing the risk of uncharitable readings
It's also largely possible OP did not anticipate the risk of uncharitable readings, and it was not an informed decision
I can understand both an uninformed and informed decision on the part of OP
Edit: clarify, shorten, extend, extend, done ~