Beyond Labels: Aaron Swartz's other legacy is well worthy of discussion

Aaron Swartz, famed Internet activist, hacker, author, and programer who created RSS and co-founded the company that became Reddit as well as developed the Internet architecture for the Creative Commons licensing system, committed suicide in January.  You can read more about Aaron here. 

In addition to being an internet genius, Aaron had a different view of defining one's sexuality.  Here's how he explained it on his blog (the quote's from here.)

"Having sex with other people of your gender isn’t an identity, it’s an act. And, like sex in general among consenting adults, people should be able to do it if they want to. Having sex with someone shouldn’t require an identity crisis....People shouldn’t be forced to categorize themselves as 'gay,' 'straight,' or 'bi.' People are just people. Maybe you’re mostly attracted to men. Maybe you’re mostly attracted to women. Maybe you’re attracted to everyone. These are historical claims — not future predictions. If we truly want to expand the scope of human freedom, we should encourage people to date who they want; not just provide more categorical boxes for them to slot themselves into. A man who has mostly dated men should be just as welcome to date women as a woman who’s mostly dated men.So that’s why I’m not gay. I hook up with people. I enjoy it. Sometimes they’re men, sometimes they’re women. I don’t see why it needs to be any more complicated than that."

It's a fascinating take on pride, and worth talking about.

Namaste,
Lee