Court comes close to adopting the “words are violence” campus mantra, finding the words on the t-shirt put other students at risk. And you can’t even mock the ban by putting “Censored” over the censored words. That is banned too. Hopefully this absurd ruling will be overturned on appeal.
"I’m asked from time to time whether the radical race and gender ideologies penetrating deeply into all levels of education eventually will corrupt the legal system, harming our freedom of speech and other individual rights. Usually the question regards Critical Race Theory and its progeny, such as “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” and Ibram Kendi’s “anti-racism.”
"The short answer is yes, but not in the way you expect.
The legal system will be corrupted for the same reason free speech has suffered on campuses – various forms of the “words are violence” argument. You see, the argument goes, we are not stifling speech, we are stifling the harm you cause the listener or reader of the words. The non-legal term “hate speech” usually is the banner under which this censorship flies. Your words allegedly are the equivalent of a violent assault causing physical and emotional manifestations that themselves are not speech, and in the educational context, damage the educational opportunities of others by making them feel unsafe.
"This turns freedom of speech into a power play — who gets to decide what is “hate speech” turns into who has political and cultural power.
"The fiercest cultural battle is being fought by gender identity activists, and as a Massachusetts federal court decision that was just handed down shows, the courts—or at least that judge—are ready to sacrifice free speech in school for the comfort of the gender-identity cultural and political power." . . .
