eva young
Eva Young is President of Log Cabin Republicans of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis with her cat, Kiddleleewink. You can also read her other blog here.
	latest posts   Dobson Responds to the Sponge Bob Controversy   Leviticus Crowd goes after Pro-Choice Republican Deputy Chair   Fornication is Legal in Virginia   Alabama Sheriff claims support of President Bush   Michele Bachmann: Bigoted Demogog or Champion of the Family?

September 29, 2004

Excellent column by Paul Varnell posted at the Independent Gay Forum.

Money quote:

Perhaps the most specious defense of the lyrics is that we should tolerate them because we must preserve everyone's right to free speech. But the defense is without merit. Constitutional protections for “free speech” only guarantee that speech is safe from interference by government authorities.

Anyone can freely espouse any cause, write letters to a newspaper, post notices, distribute flyers and handbills, rent a room or lecture space and make a speech saying just about anything short of sedition and incitement to riot — and governments may not interfere.

But the Constitution does not say that people must be paid for their speech. "Free speech" does not mean that a private club, organization or lecture hall is obligated to pay someone to speak their piece or sing their songs. No agent is obligated to promote them, no lecture series or concert manager is obligated to book them. The Constitution guarantees "free speech" not "paid speech."