According to Brian Stack, president of the Gay Straight Alliance and a volunteer at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center at URI, the range of discrimination endured by students has been wide. “We have had students throwing used condoms into students’ rooms, drawing offensive images on people’s doors and an epidemic of people yelling ‘faggots’ as they drive by the GLBT center,” Stack told The Providence Journal. A recent report from advocacy group, Campus Pride found that many LGBT individuals feel uncomfortable on campus. Approximately 25 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual students and university employees have been harassed due to their sexual orientation, as well as a third of those who identify as transgender, according to the study and reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The study asked 5,150 people at about 100 colleges about their experiences last year.

Being offended is great. We take for granted how truly awesome free speech can be as a tool for change. If people weren’t allowed to utter bigoted, racist, or downright moronic ideas, where would we get our motivation to make the world we live in a better place?

Martin Luther King got tired of hearing how his skin color determined his place in society. The Stonewall riots happened in part because gays were tired of being stigmatized as anything other than a normal part of society. Every time the Phelps family protests, people unite against their messages of hate. So lets all be thankful the next time some one deeply offends you – great inspiration for change can sprout from that ability to exchange ideas freely.

Freedom of speech is such a beautiful, deadly double-edged sword. It affords both viewpoints on an issue, no matter how controversial, to express openly. No matter which side of the issue is in the majority, you can still scream at the top of your lungs “you’re wrong moron” and its thankfully all nice and legal. The same right that lets gays proudly identify self-worth in their homosexuality affords bigots the right to scream “faggot” in their face. Yeah it’s not polite, but the alternative of not being allowed to do either frightens me more than the hurt feelings gathered up over the years of being called names. Sticks and stones and all that jazz.

Dale McAlpine’s world view clashes with mine, but not enough to scare me into censorship. McAlpine firmly believes homosexuality is a sin. This notion is hardly original, nor is the phrasing “homosexuality is a sin”, a particularly offensive way to express that thinking. If you are offended and your panties have twirled into the proverbial bunch, go to Godhatesfags.com and realize McAlpine’s choice in uttering his declaration of his beliefs is a Care Bear in comparison to what free speech legally allows to be openly expressed. Sure his opinion is based on ridiculously dated antiquated notions, but if you’re entitled to your opinions, no matter how insane others think them, he should get the exact same freedom.

A gay police community support officer, Sam Adams, was told second hand about McAlpine’s point of view he expressed in public and arrested him under the Public Order Act of 1986 – a law in the UK that seems highly open to misuse as clearly seen in cases like this. McAlpine, believing he had equal rights with the rest of the whack jobs out there, never denied what he said nor wavered from his viewpoint when confronted by law enforcement. While detained, enough scientific information was collected on McAlpine that Winston Smith was overheard mumbling about longing for the good old days.

Now if this was the first time officer Adams had been told his life style was offensive to some people he must have been living under a rock someplace deep within the English country side. If he was a good cop, he’d have known similar cases have been dropped and in the grand scheme of things, he was hurting himself. You can’t be the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender liaison officer for the police in a society that doesn’t allow for free speech, nor can you be open about your sexual orientation, especially while serving the public.

U.S. Rep. Steve King brought an interesting opinion to the free speech dance floor recently. If you don’t want to be discriminated against for being gay, be more discreet about it. Sounds like solid logic in my book. If you don’t want your life to be dissected, don’t put it on display. Next time I start screaming at people that the crosses around their necks represent oppression, bigotry, sexism, racism, and all sorts of other such fun filled family activities Mr. King better back my actions or at least bother to attend my funeral.

Am I advocating for hate speech? For freedom to truly exist, yes, we have to tolerate those of the more limited thinking mindset and their right to hate. They can organize and throw rallies promoting the downfall of every minority group they like so the rest of us can have the freedom to throw parades celebrating those very same groups. Attendance numbers clearly indicate who the majority sides with more often, or possibly who cooks better hamburgers and hot dogs.

While witnessing two wrestlers planning their ring action, the power of free speech to create change became obvious. Speaking freely, concessions were made between them so ultimately the best match possible could be created. Hate speech is the concession to allowing society to find better answers than name calling as a resolution to our differences or problems. So don’t just be offended, be motivated to make a difference. Who knows what your words may accomplish.

John Sklba is a graphic designer who lives in Plantation. John has spent time in Detroit, Saginaw and Atlanta. He can be reached at TroyM@jumponmarkslist.com