He was not a professor. He quit his job at MIT (as some sort of staff researcher/programmer) in 1984 to start the GNU project. He was an unpaid visiting scientist and had an office, although he was rarely in it (he spends a lot of time traveling). He did not have any institutional power beyond his participation as a rando on the mailing lists.

You're right, he was a "visiting scientist", whatever that means.

Being a leader of any sort makes it worse, but I don't think it's a necessary condition for justifying his removal.

Each person contributes to the flavor of the community in which they participate. It is within the right of those who lead the community to curate its flavor by adding or removing people when necessary.

In this his case, his removal was well-justified for the cause of keeping the community welcoming and safe-feeling for members of all genders.

i love this attempt to put gutter bumpers on the whole world. doomed, but adorable

MIT is allowed to use whatever behavior criteria MIT likes when determining who gets to participate in MIT.

Also don't be surprised if lots of disparate organizations agree that certain behaviors are inappropriate.

RMS and others are free to say or do whatever they please, but they aren't free from experiencing the consequences (social or otherwise) of their choices.

If Stallman's email made anyone feel 'unsafe', either that person has serious mental issues for such they should seek therapy, or they are pretending/self-generating these emotions as a way of gaining political leverage and power.

In fact, your message here makes me feel unsafe right now. Something needs to be done, call the mods.