4 ms·
I'm curious about the ethics of this. Why is it OK to 'out' someone as the author of a book, but it's not OK to 'out' someone as gay?
by MarkMc 13y ago
I'm curious about the ethics of this. Why is it OK to 'out' someone as the author of a book, but it's not OK to 'out' someone as gay?
- alan_cx 13y agoAuthors are not generally persecuted for being authors.
- robinson-wall 13y agoTell that to Salman Rushdie.
- alan_cx 13y agoHe is not being persecuted for being an author. He is being persecuted for what he specifically wrote.
- MarkMc 13y agoSo it's OK to expose a person's secrets as long as that person isn't harmed?
- danso 13y agoNot sure where you're going with this so I'll avoid the obvious snarky counter-examples...but are you arguing that if someone designates something as a secret, it is absolutely wrong to uncover it?
- MarkMc 13y agoNot sure where i'm going either! I'm just trying figure out whether I would publish the story if I was editor of The Sunday Times. Clearly there are cases where exposing someone's secret is the wrong course of action (eg. someone being gay). Clearly there are cases where exposing someone's secret is the right course of action (eg. a corrupt politician) What I'm interested in is the middle ground - where exposing a secret does not harm the 'owner' of the secret, but also does not really benefit the general public. In such cases shouldn't we respect the wishes of the person who is keeping the secret?
- alan_cx 13y agoNo.
- dobbsbob 13y agoRead the book Voltaire's bastards by John Ralston Saul where he writes about persecution of authors and cartoonists throughout history. PEN Intl also keeps a current list of authors targeted by the state, lawyers, or media. Rowling probably wants to be able to write adult content without it affecting her children's books so used a pen name, because phony conservative media can easily freak out and pressure stores to rip it off shelves. Happened before with other authors.
- alan_cx 13y ago"Generally", I said. Authors have never been persecuted on mass for simply being authors. No one refuses jobs, housing, etc because one is an author. Gay people have. Hardly any one keeps being an author secret. Of course individual authors have been persecuted for specific reasons.
- k-mcgrady 13y agoAre you serious? It's not ok to out someone as gay as that could have huge impacts on their life and relationships. Secondly I haven't seen anyone praise the outing of Rowling as the author of this book. I'd be surprised if the lawyer who leaked it didn't get fired.
- scribu 13y agoI don't think either is punishable by law, but if you were a direct friend of that person, it would be a violation of their trust in you in both cases.
- MarkMc 13y agoThe difference is that The Sunday Times probably wouldn't publish a front-page story outing someone as gay.
- kristofferR 13y agoThe Daily Mail on the other hand...