When someone says "it's not about free speech," it's about free speech

Apparently, there are people out there who actually believe a university is a place where complex, controversial moral issues should be debated. And we can't have that:

In response to a series of controversies over abortion debates on Canadian campuses, the student government of York University in Toronto has tabled an outright ban on student clubs that are opposed to abortion.

Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students, said student clubs will be free to discuss abortion in student space, as long as they do it "within a pro-choice realm," and that all clubs will be investigated to ensure compliance.

"You have to recognize that a woman has a choice over her own body," Ms. Massa said. "We think that these pro-life, these anti-choice groups, they're sexist in nature ... The way that they speak about women who decide to have abortions is demoralizing. They call them murderers, all of them do ... Is this an issue of free speech? No, this is an issue of women's rights." [emphasis added]

You have the absolute right to do whatever you want with your body. Except your mouth.

Damian P.

Update: earlier this year, the McMaster University administration banned "anti-Zionist" organizations from using the term "Israeli Apartheid" in posters and banners:

McMaster University’s decision to back a student council ban on posters and banners containing the term “Israeli apartheid” has drawn praise from Jewish students and cries of censorship from anti-Israel groups.

Last month, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), a student group, approached the McMaster Student Union (MSU), the school’s undergraduate student council, for permission to print and hang a banner in the university’s student centre to promote Israeli Apartheid Week, a series of lectures and events that’s held on more than 20 campuses.

The proposed banner used the slogan “Israeli apartheid” and depicted a “soldier-like figure pushing a small child,” the MSU said in a Feb. 20 statement.

The MSU, which vets and produces all posters by groups affiliated with it, said it denied the group’s request to produce the banner, because the sign was “testing the boundaries of freedom of speech for one party, verses use of offensive and inflammatory language as interpreted by another.”

The council added that the poster violated its printing policies concerning violence, and it raised questions about the propriety of using “Israeli apartheid” as a slogan on campus.

The MSU sought the arbitration skills of McMaster’s Human Rights and Equity Services (HRES) office, which also deemed the poster to be inflammatory.

I do not know Comrade Massa's position on the Israel-Palestine dispute, but something tells me she wouldn't be so enthusiastic about this kind of censorship.

Similarly, I suspect more than a few people who oppose banning "anti-choice" groups were perfectly cool with McMaster's move. In reality, they're two sides of the same coin.

Update II: Gilary Massa, free-speech activist:

Students from various universities in Ontario are claiming their freedom of speech has been infringed after the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and the school’s administration allegedly decided to ban the use of the words “Israeli apartheid.”

[...]

Shortly after hearing about the decision, the YFS vice-president equity, Gilary Massa, wrote a letter of protest to McMaster’s provost, president and student union executive.

“We think what has happened at McMaster is an attack on freedom of speech and the right for students to be able to organize,” said Massa.
“We find it appalling that a university administration would strip students away of those fundamental rights without any consultation whatsoever. We think it sets a very scary precedent that other universities might follow.”

I couldn't have said it better myself, you disgusting hypocrite. (Hat tip: Tory@York)

Posted by damian at May 29, 2008 10:29 AM