Two weeks ago, PZ Myers pointed out that Dr. Eliza Sutton of the University of Washington in Seattle was the source of a rumor that PZ had contracted gonnorhea at SkepchickCon last year. Sutton posts on blogs and social media as “Skeptickle” or “Skeptixx,” where she has been open about her profession as a doctor, and has also previously declared her own name.

Obviously, a medical doctor diagnosing hated enemies with an STD is a gross breach of medical ethics, which is why a link to PZ’s post was Tweeted from the Skepchick Twitter feed, which we use occasionally for quick links that aren’t worth full posts.

I found her behavior so abhorrent that I retweeted the @Skepchicks Tweet. Obviously, this inspired someone to start a petition begging the Bay Area Science Festival to ban me from hosting my comedy science panel quiz show Quiz-o-Tron, which happens this Saturday, October 25, at the Castro Theatre. Advance tickets are only $10!

The petitioner Tweeted a link to the cause using the #GamerGate hashtag, which is meant to have something to do with the ethics of games journalism but, as made clear in this instance which has nothing to do with video games or journalism, is really just a flimsy cover for harassing women.

The #GamerGate crowd rushed to sign the petition, because it had something to do with punishing a feminist.

This resulted in some pretty amazing petition responses. With no further ado, I give you the ten best reasons to ban me from the Bay Area Science Festival after I retweeted a tweet that linked to a blog post revealing a horrible thing someone else did:

10.

I’ll be honest, this one might be a joke. However, I left a joke comment and it was immediately deleted, so this is apparently good enough for the petitioner to leave in, and therefore worth noting.

9.

Devin isn’t really sure what’s going on, but he knows he doesn’t like it! And that’s why he will not be attending my comedy science quiz show with “Survivor” contestant Yau-Man Chan this Saturday.

8.

This marks the very first time I have ever mentioned the concept of Health at Every Size on this blog, or anywhere else actually. For the record: I think HAES activists get a lot of stuff right and a lot of stuff wrong. Now that I have weighed in (ha ha!) on this issue, I agree that I should definitely not be able to do my comedy science quiz show this Saturday at the Castro Theatre.

7.

This never happened, but if it had I think we can all agree that it is the best reason to bar someone from performing a comedy science quiz show starring returning champion Phil Plait, “The Bad Astronomer.”

6.

I’m not sure if Robyn is referring to me, someone who uses her real name and retweets a fact about someone, or Eliza Sutton, someone who uses a pseudonym and starts rumors that her enemies have STDs. Whichever she meant, she is absolutely furious that Bay Area Science Festival would sell tickets for only $10 to Quiz-o-Tron, which will feature comedians Bonnie Burton, Matt Gubser, and Caitlin Gill.

5.

To the best of my knowledge, I have never had PTSD. But, maybe Morten Elving is also a doctor like Eliza Sutton, and is actually very good at diagnosing people he hates with disorders. In that case, getting PTSD from someone retweeting a tweet that has my name in it is definitely a good reason to boycott my comedy science quiz show, featuring new contestant Annalee Newitz, editor of io9!

4.

Just as a heads up, “libel” does not generally refer to repeating verbatim what someone else has revealed about themselves, nor does it include retweeting such. But if I did libel a doctor, that would absolutely be a great reason to stop this comedy science quiz show from selling tickets at the low, low price of $10.

3.

I assume Bruno is referring to SJW’s, a new social-justice themed chain restaurant currently opening in Target shopping centers across the country. Though I do not own this chain, I am excited about their menu items, like delicious cheese-stuffed FriendZonis. This is absolutely a great reason to have me barred from hosting Quiz-o-Tron, the world’s best comedy science quiz show on October 25 in San Francisco.

2.

Though I have never actually boxed, I was considering taking lessons. I probably wouldn’t have time to do it before hosting Quiz-o-Tron at Bay Area Science Festival, but clearly the threat of violence is still there.

1.

Obo is absolutely correct. In retrospect, I should have taken the time to fully examine Dr. Sutton’s important work on e-diagnosing people she hates with gonorrhea. What were her methods? Did she get a blood sample from PZ or any of the Skepchick bloggers? Did she access our medical records? These are the questions I should have asked, instead of retweeting that tweet linking to that blog post that pointed out that she said those things. In order to make up for this oversight on my part, I hereby offer to engage Dr. Sutton in a debate over whether PZ Myers has gonorrhea. She may choose the time, the date, the format, and the moderator.

I’m available any time except for October 25, when I’ll be hosting Quiz-o-Tron at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco as part of Bay Area Science Festival.