Three stories in the news today show how aggressively opposed leftists are to any speech that runs counter to their orthodoxy. They used the First Amendment to gain ascendency and now are busy shutting it down. Or as Turkey’s Recep Erdoğan is reputed to have said of democracy itself, “Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.”

The first report to catch my eye is that Biden’s Health and Human Services Department, probably in homage to the Assistant Secretary of Health, the delusional Richard Levine, who claims to be a woman, is requiring all employees to address others with “the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves…”

Here’s the HHS Pronoun Mandate more clearly. This admin really is requiring pure ideological conformity. Let’s see how tolerant this admin will be of those who will seek an opt-out out of faith or compelled speech concerns. pic.twitter.com/yhlTZIkBxc

— Roger Severino (@RogerSeverino_) October 11, 2023

Keep in mind that we are talking about a group of people who can’t even keep track of their own so-called “gender identities” and pronouns.

It’s true that Justice Neil Gorsuch, in the Bostock case, made so-called “gender identity” a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which will go down with Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson as one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history. However, Bostock only mandates that the employer may not discriminate against people based upon their delusional or self-indulgent sense of self.

However, if the Constitution is to mean anything, even the Bostock decision cannot override people’s First Amendment rights, meaning that employees should not be forced to lie. Nevertheless, that is precisely what HHS is trying to do, as it requires people to deny reality (and, often, grammar) by pretending that men and women aren’t men and women. Nor should one need a religious waiver to speak the truth. I’m not religious, but I know a man when I see one.

That same government-compelled speech is playing out in the People’s Republic of Colorado (once a stalwart Republican state before Californians descended), which is in year ten of its effort to force cake baker Jack Phillips to support gay marriage and transgenderism. Despite the United States Supreme Court holding that the state showed impermissible hostility to his religious beliefs, the state, with help from a so-called “transgender” activist, went after him again.

Currently, the latest case against Phillips is pending before the Colorado Supreme Court. Phillips writes about his travails in a straightforward, moving essay in the Denver Gazette. I highly recommend it.

The last free speech attack comes from Harvard, but it’s much more subtle. Harvard President, Claudine Gay (black, female), was forced to state that the college is deeply, truly, deeply, really sincerely, completely, and honestly dedicated to free speech. The reason she issued this true, sincere, and honest statement is that Harvard was shamed when more than 30 student organizations, viewing footage of Israeli men, women, and children being tortured and slaughtered, announced that it was all Israel’s fault.

The problem with Gay’s announcement isn’t the content, which is appropriate. The problem is that it’s the academic equivalent of Taqiyya. You may remember that word from the years after 9/11 and the Iraq War. Taqiyya is the Muslim doctrine that allows Muslims to lie to “gain the upper hand over an enemy.” For example, that means it’s okay to enter into a peace agreement intending to use the time to rearm and refresh yourself before breaking the agreement.

The reason I say Gay is engaged in the academic equivalent of Taqiyya is, first, Harvard’s history of censorship. Indeed, Harvard’s censorship is so extreme that FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, gave Harvard a zero on free speech.  

Second, there’s Gay’s own history of destroying those who oppose her beliefs. Matt Walsh has a great analysis of how Gay, before she was Harvard’s president, enthusiastically sought to destroy Prof. Roland G. Fryer for daring to challenge the BLM narrative about policing and blacks:

Harvard Pretends To Support Free Speech pic.twitter.com/2mIoSmv7e9

— The Matt Walsh Show (@MattWalshShow) October 16, 2023

Given Harvard’s and Gay’s history, do you really believe that Harvard’s current commitment to free speech is real? Or do you think, as I do, that Harvard is in favor of free speech while its preferred speech is being challenged and that it will revert to its old censorious ways the moment someone speaks out against leftist shibboleths?

And as you think about this, remember that the ACLU was founded by socialists. It argued for free speech when socialism wasn’t ascendant in America. Since socialism has taken over America’s institutions, the ACLU is nowhere to be found.

UPDATE: I've corrected misidentifying Richard Levine, both by name and title. Also, it appears that employees will be charged with unlawful harassment for violating this directive.

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