It's his prerogative as to whether he wants to speak at LambdaConf just as it is my prerogative as to whether I want to attend LambdaConf. To each their own.
What I find disturbing is the reason. When I attend conferences I don't care about the speakers' political beliefs. No, I'm not going to seek them out in the bar but I wouldn't avoid their session either. I'm more concerned what I can learn from them in a technical sense then I am about their political views. Maybe I'm old-school but I don't think it's healthy to allow politics to color everything in your life.
I find it disturbing that they applied, taking a slot from another speaker, then made another fuss about withdrawing. And this is after they already spoke out with an open letter last year.
What I find disturbing is the reason. When I attend conferences I don't care about the speakers' political beliefs. No, I'm not going to seek them out in the bar but I wouldn't avoid their session either. I'm more concerned what I can learn from them in a technical sense then I am about their political views. Maybe I'm old-school but I don't think it's healthy to allow politics to color everything in your life.
That's my $0.02 anyway.