Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There is the law. Plain and simple.
I am an absolutist on the First Amendment. An American has the right to say, print, write, sculpt, compose, or create any kind of speech, and the Congress cannot make such expressions illegal. No matter what that American says or does. Americans have the right to freedom of speech.
What Americans do not have a right to is a platform, an audience, a market, attention, renumeration, or approval by society. No one should be required to view your art, read your book, or listen to a performance of your music. Americans have the freedom to choose what speech they will or will not consume. That’s why televisions come with an off button. That’s why books can be returned for their purchase price. That’s why people wear noise-cancelling earphones.
Somewhere in the discussion of free speech, the metric for speech being free is no longer that I have a right to say whatever I want, but that others have to be required to approve of what I want to say and support it with their words, their vote, and their tax dollars or my right to free speech is being repressed.
No. The First Amendment makes no such promises. People can and will hate you for your speech. People can and will be made uncomfortable by speech they don’t like. People can and will make you pay consequences for words they find offensive or beyond the pale.
That’s how a free society works. That’s how adults interact with each other. Demanding favorable attention for your free speech antics stops being cute around five years of age. Learn better. Be better. Do better.
Julie Liddell Whitehead 