Recently at Cleveland State University (CSU), fliers targeting the LGBTQ community telling them to kill themselves have been posted. The president of the campus is defending these fliers as to say that they fall under “free speech.” Yes, you read that correctly. If you ask me, this is a form of hate speech, and hate speech should never be protected under the First Amendment. This is especially true when the flier literally stated at the top for the members of the LGBTQ community to follow in others footsteps and then proceeded to list the statistics of suicide.
Going back to my opinion about how hate speech shouldn’t be protected under the First Amendment, I do realize that your views about this might differ from mine, which okay; everyone can have their own opinion. I personally have a hard time believing, “Sure, telling someone to kill themselves is fine because free speech should always be protected.”
Be considerate; we all go through rough things in life and we’re all going through rough times in one way, shape, or form. Seeing that flier could’ve been the final straw. No, nobody had to say those words directly to them, but seeing it along with the statistics could’ve put the thought into their mind that they’re not wanted here or don’t belong, which isn’t the case.
The students were outraged that the flier had used a homophobic slang term at the top among the content, causing students to hold a protest at the university. President Berkman apologized for not being able to “express his personal outrage”; however, he followed it with saying, “they are not able to punish or avoided due to free speech laws.” I’m sorry, what?! If you ask me, as the president of a university it should be your job to make sure that your students feel safe and welcome on campus—no matter who they are.