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Here's a prophetic piece from 2005. Gilles Marchildon of the gay lobby group Egale makes a lot more sense than Professor Darren Lund did yesterday in The Globe And Mail (see previous post). Perhaps that's because Mr Marchildon is an actual gay rather than, like Professor Lund, a straight who gets offended on gays' behalf. Writing on the suit Lund brought against Stephen Boissoin, Mr Marchildon observes:
While it is difficult to support Boissoin’s right to spew his misguided and vitriolic thoughts, support his right, we must.
If Boissoin was no longer able to share his views, then who might be next in also having their freedom of expression limited. Traditionally, the LGBT community’s freedom has been repressed by society and its laws.
Plus, it is far better that Boissoin expose his views than have them pushed underground. Under the glaring light of public scrutiny, his ideas will most likely wither and die.
Mr Marchildon's position is right: You defeat bad ideas in honest vigorous debate conducted in the open, not "pushed underground". What is it about received progressive wisdom that makes it such a wee delicate bloom that it cannot withstand any criticism without resorting to the thought police?
Just to recap, if you don't believe in freedom of speech for speech you loathe, you don't believe in freedom of speech at all. Mr Marchildon does. If, on the other hand, like far too many Canadians, you only believe in freedom of speech for fluffy approved pieties, you better be pretty sure that your nice approved speech will remain approved.
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