Free Speech, Blacklisting and Cancel Culture
A piece on free speech
— suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) August 8, 2023
I left my job at The Guardian because I was no longer allowed to say what I wanted https://t.co/rqV63HPyM0
Suzanne Moore speaks passionately and powerfully about 'cancel culture' and the consequences people can face for exercising their right to free speech.
"My views, put simply, are that biology is real, that single-sex spaces for women should be maintained, that children should not be medicalised via hormones and surgery, and that trans people should be treated with respect and dignity. These everyday views are considered “transphobic” by my own tribe, the nebulous blob that we might call the Left, hence the whispering, the private messages, endless DMs and emails from those too afraid to say these things in public.
"They have reason to be fearful. Women who have challenged this orthodoxy have lost their jobs, their income, their reputations and have in some cases, including mine, been subject to death and rape threats for several years. My experience has pushed me to see that something I took for granted — free speech — is something that has to be fought for by each generation.
"Incredibly, the “offence” that I caused at The Guardian is now the policy of the party that paper supports. Labour now agrees that sex and gender are not the same. Maybe they learnt something? I certainly have. Without free speech, we may kid ourselves we are safe. Far from it. We have simply given away our power. In cherishing freedom of speech we are cherishing truth. Don’t whisper that, shout it."
