alt Hacker NewsI am on that thread as well. The issue with these "codes of conduct" isn't that they exist, it's that their purveyors force the "code" upon every participant regardless of forum.
If you don't support their special interests in completely unrelated venues, you are persona non grata and will either fall in line or be excommunicated. It's a sophisticated form of control via identity politics.
I think you're seriously overreacting; you don't need to believe the same things that they do, all the CoC states is that if you want to engage with the community, you agree not to harass people. Every community has similar expectations; having it in a markdown just makes it more explicit.