The people saying it don't feel like it's being dumbed-down, they feel it's finally something they can speak about honestly without obfuscating the issue.
"Finally, I can speak honestly on the fact that Gertrude Stein is gay!"
"I'm glad you feel this way. What about that fact helps reinforce the content of this short work?"
"She's gay!"
"Yeah. And...?"
"That's great!"
"It is. It's great that she is gay. Now about this essay. What content of this essay do you speak to you in terms of the actual topic of the essay."
"Well, it's just so great that we're reading works by gay authors!"
This is one side. The response is worse but I'd rather not post that portion since, as someone who has always thought of themselves as moderate-leaning-liberal, this is the argument that scares me the most.
Okay I've literally never seen this or anything like this so uhhh I dunno what to say. ---
Congrats to BKSheikah, who knows more about years than anyone else.