Georgetown Law School's Suppression of the Catholic Position on Homosexuality. Eugene Volokh has a good post on Georgetown University's suppress of mild anti-homosexual speech. The Georgetown Voice says

The [Lawrence v. Texas] decision "obscures our glorious past and stains our honor," said the brochures, published by the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, a Catholic organization based in Pennsylvania.

The authors of the brochure acknowledge that those who are simply attracted to members of the same sex, but resist intercourse, are not sinful, "just as no one who resists the inclination to steal or lie can be called a thief or a liar."

However, a call to "work untiringly to create a moral climate whereby homosexuality is rejected" runs across the top of the flyer in bold letters.

The student passing out the brochures was a member of TFP Student Action. After learning of the student's presence, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson instructed the Department of Public Safety to escort him off campus. ...

Red Square is a designated "free speech zone," according to the Student Handbook. The handbook, however, does deny protection to certain types of speech."Expression that is indecent or is grossly obscene or grossly offensive on matters such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation is inappropriate in a university community," it states.

Olson cited this exception in his decision to have the student removed. "The individuals removed from campus were spreading a message that was grossly offensive, and I view the removal as entirely appropriate," he said. . . .

...

Students on both ends of the political spectrum supported the action. "I don't think it's grossly offensive, I just think its inappropriate," said Nicole Anchondo (CAS '06), a member of the College Republicans . "I think the University had every right to remove him," she said.

Professor Volokh adds by way of commentary,

Georgetown is a private university, and thus is not bound by the First Amendment. It has the legal right to exclude speech of which it disapproves.

But look at it this way: The Georgetown Speech and Expression Policy does prohibit "expression that is indecent or is grossly obscene or grossly offensive on matters such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation," and the university stresses that "the University will act as it deems appropriate to educate students violating this principle." Somehow, given this incident, I don't think that "to educate" is limited to "to speak out in response to"; and this incident makes clear that "grossly offensive" isn't just limited to profanity or epithets -- or even to immaturity or aggressiveness -- but also to what the university sees as offensive ideas.

...

... Georgetown's statements consistently stress that the student was ejected for his "grossly offensive" statements, not because he was a non-Georgetowner. What's more, the Georgetown speech code involved here applies equally to its students; any Georgetown student would therefore reasonably expect that if he tried to do the same, he too would be ejected (or worse).

Remember that Georgetown is a Roman Catholic university. Yet it sounds as if the Pope had better stay away--if he comes and says what he thinks about homosexuality, someone will call "The Department of Public Safety" to "escort him off campus".

Note, the name, "Department of Public Safety". You'd think at a university someone would have pointed out the similarity to "Committee of Public Safety" (the usual translation of "Comit� de Salut Public"), the name of the body which conducted the Reign of Terror in France in 1794, executing anyone on left, right, or center who posed a threat to the ideals of the new regime. I searched the web for a while but couldn't find any good websites on the French Revolution (there's lots of crud out there). I'd like to see a comparison of today's Left with Robespierre and St. Just, who seemed to have an equal utopianism and intolerance, but greater eloquence, ruthlessness, and integrity.

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