All Speech Deserves Protection

To the Editor:

“I may not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to my death your right to say it” was the way in which one of our Founding Fathers articulated the freedom of speech and how sacred and dear it must be held in the hearts of Americans. Do we hold it as dear?

Recently, on “National Coming-Out Day,” a group of students, ostensibly UBGLAD, chalked the up-campus area, with statements such as “Pick 10 friends, which one is gay?” “Go Both Ways” “I love my two moms/dads” and the giant word “GAY” in front of the Schaeffer Library. No student at Union could avoid stopping to read.

Most of the statements were washed away with the rain after a few days, and in its wake, another group of students, with no official sanctioning by Student Activities or holiday to give them an excuse, decided to write words such as “I love my mommy and daddy” “Walk the Straight and Narrow” and “Mother Nature says ‘no’” and the giant word “STRAIGHT” emblazoned in front of the Schaeffer Library. There were also unconfirmed reports of arrows being drawn from some of the messages to chalked body outlines left over from the “Murder Mystery Dinner” advertisements.

Admittedly, the last of the above messages points to something that can be legitimately characterized as a threat and should be investigated. The rest were statements that anyone could and should be able to be utter or express if they choose, but many students and apparently the administration chose to label “hate speech.” Accordingly, that which is called “hate speech” has been recognized by the Supreme Court as no different in law than other forms of speech, and thus is protected by the First Amendment. This is why the Ku Klux Klan is given the right to hold rallies just as quickly as is the Nation of Islam.

Consequently, the word “STRAIGHT” should not have been erased with a pressure washer by campus operations the morning after its inscription on the front steps of the library any more than UBGLAD’s chalkings in front of the president’s house should have been erased. The decision by the administration to erase some chalkings and not others is the essence of censorship, and should be recognized as such. Are only groups that receive Student Activities funding permitted to express themselves? Or are we to hear the old excuse of how this is private property and no speech is free here? Remember, this is the same campus that does not allow anyone on Seward or anywhere else to “clutter” their lawns with political signs or banners because it’s an “aesthetic” issue, so legitimate political opinions are dismissed as in the same category as so much graffiti.

The answer to hate speech is not to restrict it, but to permit more speech, as happened the next day with UBGLAD and their second round of chalkings that contained more positive and inclusive messages. Repressing such opinions leads to animosity and further hatred, and even gives them more credibility.

As the American Civil Liberties Union says, “The First Amendment exists precisely to protect the most offensive and controversial speech from government suppression. The best way to counter obnoxious speech is with more speech. Persuasion, not coercion, is the solution.”

Dan Kirsch ‘02

Jason Lederer ‘01

Dmitry Abramov ‘03

Glenn Opell ’01

Stephen Nemeth ’02

Chris Dingman ’04

Andy Weyl ‘03