Here's the thing: we can all get behind the intent of the change of the CoC. If it had been something along the lines of

Be nice
Treat other users' gender, nationality, religion, etc. with respect.

It would have been applauded.

Because we're good people who want to be nice and welcoming and polite to other people. If what we wanted were to be trolling schmucks, we'd already have been suspended.

If it appears that a group of otherwise nice people are struggling with being polite about gender issues, for whatever reason, we could have a page entitled

How to be more polite - issues of gender

Since we're good people who like being good people, we'd have gone to the effort of looking it over, and learning to be more polite.

But the CoC doesn't assume we're good people. It assumes we are all potential offenders who need to be held in check. It says "here's the rules, and here's the drastic punishment if you break them." Only, the issue is something quite a few of us have never really encountered before in more than the most superficial way, so we don't even understand very well what it's all about. The rules aren't very clear. The only thing that's clear is the threat. And punctuating that threat - Monica Cellio, a respected and valued moderator, punished without measure for allegedly violating the as of yet unpublished when she was punished CoC.

Faced with rules that we do not understand and are not allowed to dispute, and with the threat of very serious repercussions if we break those unclear rules, we are afraid, and angry at having been made to feel afraid, angry at being treated like potential criminals when we've done nothing to merit it.

Here's the thing: we can all get behind the intent of the change of the CoC. If it had been something along the lines of

Be nice
Treat other users' gender, nationality, religion, etc. with respect.

It would have been applauded.

Because we're good people who want to be nice and welcoming and polite to other people. If what we wanted were to be trolling schmucks, we'd already have been suspended.

If it appears that a group of otherwise nice people are struggling with being polite about gender issues, for whatever reason, we could have a page entitled

How to be more polite - issues of gender

Since we're good people who like being good people, we'd have gone to the effort of looking it over, and learning to be more polite.

But the CoC doesn't assume we're good people. It assumes we are all potential offenders who need to be held in check. It says "here's the rules, and here's the drastic punishment if you break them." Only, the issue is something quite a few of us have never really encountered before in more than the most superficial way, so we don't even understand very well what it's all about. The rules aren't very clear. The only thing that's clear is the threat. And punctuating that threat - Monica Cellio, a respected and valued moderator, punished without measure for allegedly violating the as of yet unpublished when she was punished CoC.

Faced with rules that we do not understand and are not allowed to dispute, and with the threat of very serious repercussions if we break those unclear rules, we are afraid, and angry at having been made to feel afraid, angry at being treated like potential criminals when we've done nothing to merit it.