FIRE

**We’re giving away two guitars signed by Melissa Etheridge. Link below to enter. Sweepstakes ends April 4, 2023.** “‘So…what are we going to do about the gay thing?’” In the ‘90s, two-time Grammy-winning artist Melissa Etheridge made waves when she publicly came out as gay after struggling with self-censorship during her first three records. In her interview with host Ryan J. Downey, Etheridge recalls this pivotal moment in her career, along with other free speech issues, including Eminem’s homophobic lyrics controversy in the early 2000s and Steve Bannon sharing a platform with her on Sirius XM radio. “Free speech is hard,” Etheridge says. “Free Speech + Other Dirty Words” is a partnership between the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and SPIN to showcase iconic artists sharing their stories about freedom of speech, self-expression, and the barriers they crossed to avoid censorship. Guitar sweepstakes entry info: https://go.thefire.org/free-speech-and-other-dirty-words-Etheridge Join the movement for free speech: https://www.thefire.org/ 0:00 Free Speech + Other Dirty Words 0:56 Growing Up In The 60s And 70s 1:55 Straight Heterosexual Music + Gender-less + Self-censorship 2:57 Island Records + The Gay Thing + Rainbow Flag Waving 4:13 I See It From Both Sides + Eminem + Because That’s Freedom 6:15 Sirius XM + Steve Bannon

https://www.thefire.org/news/blogs/ronald-kl-collins-first-amendment-news/hecklers-veto-raucous-play-stanford-law-school https://www.thefire.org/news/stanford-law-hecklers-demanding-free-speech-dont-know-what-theyre-asking FIRE Lawyer & Director of Campus Rights Advocacy Alex Morey reacts to students at Stanford Law School shouting down and heckling U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan

BREAKING: Federal appeals court says Florida’s universities can’t enforce the Stop WOKE Act pending appeal. Professors must be able to discuss subjects like race and gender without hesitation or fear of state reprisal.

Germany bans #hatespeech today. They also did that in the 1930s. How did that work out for them? #germany #freespeech

Even Stanford agreed actions by law students — and inaction by administrators — threatened free speech. So where do we go from here? FIRE's Director of Campus Rights Advocacy Alex Morey talks to Dan Abrams about the event. #stanfordlaw #freespeech

https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/academic-mind-2022-what-faculty-think-about-free-expression-and-academic-freedom Based on a recent survey of American college faculty, the threats to free speech on college campuses could mean more acceptance of violence, more speech restrictions, more investigations for wrongspeak, and more deplatforming. While this is only one study and more research is needed, these results should give us legitimate cause for concern that the attitudes among college faculty are hostile towards academic freedom and free speech. To learn more about the report and how you can stand up for free expression both on and off campus, visit us at thefire.org. #freespeech #academicfreedom

R.L. Stine, the author of the wildly popular children’s horror series Goosebumps, is the latest in a growing list of writers who have had their work edited after the fact. However, unlike Roald Dahl, whose estate was aware of and approved the revisions to his work, Stine was left in the dark. What’s worse, the changes actually happened in 2018, and we—including Stine himself—are only just finding out about them.

How do you see his ideas in your lives? Let us know in the comments! #OnLiberty #JohnStuartMill

Money and speech are tightly intertwined! Got more questions? Then #lawyerup #electionlaw #FirstAmendment #money #lawyerup

Florida House Bill 999 is a dangerous expansion of the unconstitutional ‘Stop WOKE Act,’ putting entire majors disfavored by legislators on the chopping block. #freespeech #academicfreedom

Are #videogames , even violent ones, protected by the #FirstAmendment? CA Gov. #arnoldschwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1179 into law on Oct. 7, 2005. But in 2010's Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n the Supreme Court held, “Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas -- and even social messages -- through many familiar literary devices … and through features distinctive to the medium.” #freespeech #gaming

**We’re giving away two Fender Player Stratocaster® guitars, signed by Tom Morello. Link below to enter. Sweepstakes ends March 7th, 2023.** “I think there’s only two positions on freedom of speech: You’re for it or you’re against it.” As the lead guitarist for legendary bands like Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage, Tom Morello pushes the boundaries of what is possible with a guitar, blending rock, metal, punk, and hip-hop into a unique and captivating sound. But it's not just Morello's musical talent that earns him a place in the pantheon of musical greats — he's also a passionate advocate for free speech. “Free Speech + Other Dirty Words” is a partnership between the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and SPIN to showcase iconic artists sharing their stories about freedom of speech, self-expression, and the barriers they crossed to avoid censorship. Guitar sweepstakes entry info: https://go.thefire.org/free-speech-and-other-dirty-words Join the movement for free speech: https://www.thefire.org/ 0:00 Free Speech + Other Dirty Words 0:26 Young Tom + Childhood 1:46 The Clash + Johnny Cash + Dean of Students 5:11 RATM + Viacom + The "Shiteen" 8:34 Rage + Lolla 93 + The PMRC

http://go.thefire.org/uncensor-dahl We should teach children that you can learn something new about people who lived in the past each time you read an older book. Sanitizing books like Roald Dahl’s classics to meet “modern sensibilities” is not the answer. Join us in calling on Puffin Books to live up to its mission “to create a world where independent thinking, free expression, and creativity flourish.” #UncensorDahl

Black curtains and a content warning to prevent “non-consensual” exposure to art? According to Macalester College, these measures were necessary to protect students from accidentally seeing a feminist art exhibition by Iranian-American artist Taravat Talepasand. #artwork #artist #freespeech #firstamendment #macalester #TaravatTalepasand

On February 7, 2023, Brian Leiter, professor at University of Chicago and Brian Soucek, professor at UC Davis debated this question. #dei #academicfreedom #freespeech

FIRE's Research Manager Ryne Weiss discusses the implications of Chat GPT and Artificial Intelligence on free speech with FIRE's Research Manager Ryne Weiss. #chatgpt #freespeech #ai #firstamendment #dalle #stablediffusion

Obscenity is unprotected speech. It's a 3-part test after years, defined after years of jurisprudential back-and-forth. Got more questions? Then #lawyerup #studentrights #FirstAmendment #obscenity #law

Follow and comment on which country you'd like us to talk about! #freespeech #iran

Law enforcement in Blackshear and Alpharetta Georgia told Jeff Gray, "Look out kid, it's somethin' you did. God knows when, but you're doin' it again," but Gray never heard that song. Instead he's singing "God Bless the Homeless Vets." @HONORYOUROATH #FreeSpeech #BobDylan

FIRE Fellow Rikki Schlott describes how Gen Z has been taught to avoid risk and has been negatively affected by social media on Fox News' Jesse Waters Primetime. Rikki is coauthor, alongside FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff, of the forthcoming book 'The Canceling of the American Mind.' #freespeech #genz #foxnews

Bill Maher and Sean Penn discuss cancel culture on college campuses. #BillMaher #DEI #SeanPenn #Shorts

https://www.thefire.org/news/black-hills-state-university-director-public-safety-censored-cursed-student-group-recruiting On Jan. 24, students from Black Hills State University’s chapter of Young Americans for Liberty took to the campus sidewalks to recruit students and survey their classmates about the Second Amendment. As they stood outside in an open area of the South Dakota campus, one YAL member donned a foam sandwich board display that caught the eye of at least one passing faculty member, who approached the students and snapped a photo. As captured on video reviewed by FIRE, Director of Public Safety Phil Pesheck appears to approach the group members and orders them to stop speaking to other students because they hadn’t filled out a form three days in advance — a form he first described as absolutely mandatory but later admitted was “just an administrative formality.” Pesheck insisted this missing form was required to use the campus grounds for any expressive activity, even by a registered student group. When the students asked for more information about the form and request procedure, Pesheck grew irate and claimed that university policy gave him the authority to ask anyone whose messages the university doesn’t “like,” and who didn’t fill out the form, to leave campus immediately.

In Blackshear and in Alpharetta, Georgia, Jeff was met with antagonism from law enforcement for peacefully exercising his right to free expression. FIRE stepped in to help. Footage of Jeff in Alpharetta is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KRaqJi6sZI. Don't have 24 minutes? A condensed version is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ6o4tzzFSY Jeff's footage from Blackshear is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Fya-ORK3w #freespeech #firstamendment #firstamendmentauditor @HONORYOUROATH