Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Free Speech. Denied.


Call me crazy, call me a bad gay, but this is wrong.

A student, one Jonathan Lopez at Los Angeles City College says his professor called him a "fascist bastard" and wouldn't let him finish giving his speech in a public speaking class. This all happened last November after the Yes on H8 vote.

When Lopez tried to find out what his grade was for his speech, his professor John Matteson, supposedly said, "Ask God what your grade is." Lopez also says the professor threatened to expel him if Lopez complained to the administration.

Coupla things wrong here, and I'll take the easy one first:
I don't think the professor could expel him. That's an administrative position.

But more troublesome is that in a public speaking class in America a student is not allowed to speak his mind. He's taking a class on speaking, you see, but he isn't allowed his opinion.So, why are people up in arms? We know that a lot of folks don't want/approve/accept gay marriage, but they do have a right to their opinion.'

Yes, even Jonathan Lopez has a right to his opinion. No matter how much I think he's a religious wingnut, he is allowed to speak.

'Cuz you know, if we lived in a world where people with different opinions weren't allowed to speak, it would get awful quiet, awful fast.

And more importantly, how can we as people, as gay people, demand what we believe, what we know, are our rights and then turn around and wish to deny Jonathan Lopez his rights to free speech?

Don't make no sense.

full story HERE

9 comments:

  1. Agreed. He should have been allowed to makes his hateful speech - and then the Lesbians in the class should have beat the shit out of him after school.

    Or at least that's what would have happened in MY perfect world.

    XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

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  2. Does the right of the individual to freely speak his mind over-ride the rights of the many who may have been forced to listen to a message of hate and intolerance?

    The article doesn't say what was actually said - is that not relevant under your 1st amendment?

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  3. David: Mine, too.
    Attack Of The Killer Lesbians, or, Plaid Death.

    Lou: Hi again!
    We have free speech in this country which means anyone can say anything they want, short of, and this is the analogy everyone uses, not yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater.

    The KKK can march in parades.

    Fred Pehlps can carry his God Hates Fags signs.

    And Jonathan Lopez can say that his religion believes gay marrige is wrong. It was HIS opinion being given in a calls on Public Speaking.

    I don't like his opinion, or agree with it, but he has the right to have it and talk about it.

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  4. This happened to my son also. Prof was very hostile to him as Prof thought Eldest was conservative wingnug - we laughed. Eldest is libetarian but prof never stopped to listen and jump back from his conclusion. I wanted to go in and slap the prof around but Eldest tied me to my chair and said no mother I'll handle it...

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  5. I suspsect there is more to this story than reported and more devious motives behind the student's behavior. No telling how much went down before or after that is NOT being reported.
    I have my doubts about the limits of freedom in a classroom with a captive audience. A good teacher would craft his assignments forseeing this possibility, focus on the skill to be learned, and assess on that basis. It seems almost like an opportunist being set up to be inflammatory.the lesson/teaching purpose seems lost on both of them.

    I certainly don't condone the professor's alleged responses but sometimes these abused, harassed Christians almost shop and stalk for an opportunity to cause trouble, get a money making lawsuit, plead great persecution after they cause great suffering.

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  6. I agree with you once again, Bob Voltaire! When I taught speech/drama and judged forensics tournaments, I did what we are supposed to do and evaluated the speech based on points made and how those were supported, logic, and all kinds of objective criteria. You have to look at that and not if you agree with them or not. That teacher is teaching something other than what the class description outlines.

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  7. Valid point, Charlie.

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  8. FP: You got a smart kid there.

    Charlie: I don't know all of what happened to provoke this whole scene, but I was most annoyed that the student was criticized for his subject matter. We ALL have a right to our opinions, and no one should be able to quiet us down.

    Joy: Exactly. It's a speech class. Judge him on the merits of how well (or not) he completed the assignment, not on your own opinion of his topic.

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  9. I agree with you and David Dust. What separates us from Communists is our right to free speech.

    Like I've always said "Everyone has the right to express their own opinion, regardless of how stupid and wrong it may be".

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