[graemep]

I agree with you in principle.

A note on anti-homosexuality laws. Almost all criminalised particular acts, and as a result most criminalised male, but not female homosexuality. Most did not carry a death penalty. An aspect of many that has a lesson for our own times is that they were sincerely meant to be for people's own good - e.g. Turing was being "treated", not punished. In some cases the same laws criminalised things that are still crimes as well.

[devmor]

> they were sincerely meant to be for people's own good

That is an incredibly offensive bastardization of history.

[graemep]

Its very rare for people do deliberately do bad things. Almost everyone thinks they are doing the right thing. My point (which I think should be apparent in my original comment) is that we should look at doing things "for their own good" has a very bad history. Now do you get it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKcmnrE5oY

[devmor]

Your phrasing in the post I replied to is not the phrasing you are using now.

People frequently do bad things to people that they think are the right thing and that they still know are not “for [the victim’s] own good”. For example, removing an entire group of people from society is often presented as “for the good of everyone else”.

This is an incredibly important distinction when talking about the horrific ways gay people have been treated in the past couple centuries.

[graemep]

My meaning was clear. You are reading something I did not say into my comment. I have added to what I said, but my last comment does not contradict anything in my previous comment.

[devmor]

Your meaning was not clear, which was why I made certain to explain why your two comments do not mean the same thing.

If that was not enough to explain why what you said was incredibly inaccurate and toes the line of fascist propaganda, I would be happy to have an amicable discussion with you one on one - as comment threads on HN only go so deep.