"putting a lid on something that is interesting to you just because someone might be offended by it would be the first step in turning yourself into somebody else's toothbrush"

With all due respect, I think you've got this backwards. The subject was chosen precisely because someone might be offended by it, and not because this is a topic that particularly interests Sedgie, any more than Margaret Sanger is a topic that interests Sedgie. As Sedgie says, he wanted to push the envelope and he succeeded. It can be fun to rattle people a bit and watch them shriek, but it obviously has its downside.

Sedgie didn't really want to offend Susanne or Lillian to this great an extent and he clearly values their friendship and conversation on the board and he would like to put things right again. I hope that works out. Everyone here is well-meaning (well, most of the time). However Sedgie has said that there is more going on here than is obvious, so I don't know.