This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
‘Public officials cannot shut down speech they don’t like’
Staff members at the Yolo County Public Library in California attacked the free speech of the local Moms for Liberty organization, and now are facing a First Amendment lawsuit over their censorship scheming and actions.
It is the Institute for Free Speech that said it, along with the ADF, filed action in a federal court on behalf of the parents’ organization “challenging the unconstitutional actions of Yolo County Public Library officials.”
They are charged with having policies and practices that violate the First Amendment because they have acted in ways that revealed their absolute intolerance for viewpoints with which they disagree.
“The government censoring Americans for voicing their opinions is a clear violation of First Amendment rights. Yet, that’s what the staff of the Yolo County Public Library did at an event organized by the local chapter of Moms for Liberty,” the institute reported.
“The case stems from a ‘Forum on Fair and Safe Sports for Girls’ event organized by M4L in August to discuss the issue of biological males competing in female sports. M4L paid to reserve public space in the library for the event. However, Library Regional Manager Scott Love invited disruptive protesters to the event and then shut down the forum almost immediately after it began,” the institute reported.
The legal action seeks injunctions against the library’s “unconstitutional policies and practices.”
The legal teams explained Love shut down the forum claiming that participants were “misgendering” people.
He demanded that all others adopt his belief that referring to “transgender females” as “males,” which they are, or stating that “men” are participating in women’s sports would cause him to shut down the event, the institute reported.
“After participants continued using his disfavored terms and persisted in discussing their view that men are, in fact, competing in women’s sports, Love made good on his threat to shut down the forum,” the report said.
The library and its staff also are accused of actively organizing opposition to plaintiffs’ events, directing protesters to attend and disrupt, and calling police to “urge action against speakers.”
“Americans have the right to speak on matters of public concern without fear that government employees will censor them for doing so,” said Institute for Free Speech Vice President for Litigation Alan Gura.
“Yolo County officials encouraged their ideological allies to disrupt speakers whose opinions they reject, and they actively censor speech that doesn’t match their own views. We expect this case will reaffirm every American’s First Amendment right to freely share ideas in public spaces.”
“Public officials cannot shut down speech they don’t like,” noted Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The organizers of this event have every right to express their concern regarding men in women’s sports, and library staff wrongly shut down the event. We urge the court to uphold the constitutionally protected freedoms of our clients.”
The ADF reported that the library shut down the event over the speech of Sophia Lorey, the outreach director for California Family Council and a former collegiate athlete.
Copyright 2023 WND News Center
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