There are many valid reasons outside of a sitewide protest for a subreddit to go from public to private, so Reddit doing this is a scummy move on more than just one level. Just one more reason why free alternatives like lemmy are superior.

there is absolutely no excuse for this

Nice to see another openSUSE Tumbleweed user!

After having talked to some on the GTA V SCUD, so many think we are in support of the cheaters and are framing our frustration around us just wanting the cheaters back.

something that perplexes me to this day

Pixel 2 XL, also no issues or even any noticeable deltas between Chromium based browsers and Firefox.

PETA has done some horrible shit for sure, but the pet thing is usually taken out of context.

PETA has made it clear that they aren't against humans having pets, but they are against breeders using various animals as pet baby mills with no regard to the animal's health or well being. They are also against abducting animals in a manner that might be painful to them.

Whether you like PETA or not, I think they do hold a good position on this topic.

You can read more about their position on pets here: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/pets/