by Diane Robertson
By redefining consensus as fact, conformity as diversity, and violence as tolerance a new progressive movement has succeeded in stifling speech in America and other Western Nations. When an individual or group attempts to publicly speak truth in opposition to the progressive consensus, they react with anger, name calling, and sometimes violence. In an ironic twist, some violent protestors have justified their violence by saying opposing views incite violence.
The controversial topics can be numerous but the ones that seem to incite the most contempt have to do with human sexuality and gender identity. Apparently, it’s inciting violence to say that girls are girls and boys are boys.
The “Free Speech Bus”, a campaign organized by a joint project of the International Organization for the Family, CitizenGO, and the National Organization for Marriage, recently toured cities in the North Eastern United States. They experienced shouting during their rallies, vandalism, and assault.
The “Free Speech Bus” began in Spain. A Catholic group, part of Citizen Go, called Hazte Oir, originally formulated a campaign in response to a pamphlet distributed by the pro-transgender organization CHRYSALLIS. The pamphlet pictures four naked children holding hands. Two of the children have genitalia of the opposite gender that they were drawn. The caption under the drawing states: “There are girls with penises and boys with vaginas. It’s that simple.” The Free Speech buses are a way to warn against this sort of gender indoctrination.
The Bus in Spain
While in Spain in February, a Madrid A spokeswoman for socialists on Madrid City Council, Purificacion Causapie, called the bus “contrary to the dignity and rights of transsexual children,” and urged the Mayor’s office to remove it from the road. They titled it “The bus of shame”.
In the end, the police contained the bus citing advertising laws restricting private vehicles from too much advertisement.
A spokesperson for Citizen Go reported to BBC that, “the Madrid City Council kidnapped the bus… with no legal order from any court,” and that their, “lawyers are preparing a complaint so that [their] right to freedom of expression is restored.”
“We are going to appeal this unjust decision and file a criminal case against the extreme-left Madrid mayor.” He said.
The Bus in New York
They bought a new bus and brought the campaign to America just in time for the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women held yearly in New York City. Their message written on the bus was simple: “It’s biology: boys are boys…and always will be. Girls are girls…and always will be.”
But that simple message brings a lot of controversy.
While outside the United Nations in Manhattan on March 23rd , three individuals attacked the bus. They smashed six windows with a hammer, spray-painted the outside, and keyed the exterior. When the bus driver intervened, the vandals assaulted and injured him.
Outside the bus, protestors shouted angrily to drown out any opportunity for conversations and civil debate.
“This is what those who pretend to preach tolerance actually feel about…other viewpoints,” said Joe Graboswki from the National Organization of Marriage (NOM). “We’re the ones who try to have an open conversation and a dialogue with people and this is the kind of intimidation that is used to try to cow people who believe in traditional values not to speak out.”
According to Lifesitenews.com, Citizen Go and NOM considered the attack on the bus, a “hate crime”.
The irony was not lost on Grabowski who noticed that opponents of the bus claimed it would incite violence against people who identify as transgender. “Here’s the first act of violence that we’ve seen,” Grabowski said. “And it’s not somebody out there attacking a trans person. It’s us getting attacked.”
Twitter users cheered the destruction of the bus. News outlets from across the nation reported that a “Transphobic” or “Anti-Transgender” bus was attacked. The first line of an article published by the Huffington Post said: “This vehicle is part of the reason trans youth are driven to suicide.”
The Bus in Massachusetts
Once repaired, the Free Speech Bus continued the tour. They went to Boston. Citizen Go described what happened in Massachusetts:
“Intolerant protesters again used violent and illegal methods to silence the message of the bus. At Harvard, a group broke a tail light, vandalized the bus with a sharpie message, and keyed the exterior. In Boston, protesters stood in front of the bus, not allowing it to move through traffic. Another protester threw hot coffee inside the bus on the bus driver.”
The Washington Post reported that, “About two dozen protesters were there waiting for it, holding signs and chanting, ‘No hate, no fear, trans people are welcome here!’” The Boston Mayor Marty Walsh declared, “We will not be intimidated by discrimination or harassment… And we will not tolerate these types of actions. When you deny the experience of transgender individuals, you are denying the experience of basic human civil rights.”
NewMax reported that the executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition Mason Dunn, and organizer of the Boston protests declared that “Words, in this setting, are violence.”
Joe Grabowski of NOM reasserted that the bus’s message is not violent—it’s truth.
“People have the right to live their lives the way they want,” he said, “But they don’t have the right to impose their values and beliefs on others, which is unfortunately what a lot of sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination laws do.”
Grabowski continued, “We’re calling for a healthier conversation. Let people be respected and heard. A lot of people are afraid to speak out. We want them to be able to stand up and know that we’ve got their backs.”
Again, the only violence was committed by protestors of the Free Speech Bus. Citizen Go published a video detailing some of violence and hate lashed out at them for speaking truth.
The Bus in Connecticut
From Massachusetts, the Bus moved on to Connecticut. Not surprisingly, they experienced anger and violence. “The next day, the bus visited New Haven, Connecticut,” Citizen Go reported, “Towards the end of the day, one of our representatives got out of the bus to take photos. When he wasn’t looking, he was attacked from behind and punched repeatedly by a protester.”
People took to twitter saying things like, “… Dare I ask what possessed you to call the vilification of an entire class of people ‘freedom of speech’,” and, “how is invalidating and trying to erase the existence of a massive group of people freedom of speech lol.”
Apparently stating, “It’s biology: boys are boys…and always will be. Girls are girls…and always will be” is “vilification of an entire class of people.” And somehow, and I am not sure how this works, but, saying boys are boys and girls are girls has the power to “erase the existence of a massive group of people.” Now that is power! But not reality.
A few Twitter users noted the hypocrisy and defended the bus. “People who had the audacity to vandalize that bus should not even open their mouths about hate speech,” said one user.
The Bus in Pennsylvania
Continuing South, the Free Speech Bus pulled into Philadelphia, Pa. on April 1st. Organized and waiting for the bus to arrive, more than 100 protesters quickly blocked traffic in the roundabout before the bus could reach City Hall.
The Mayor’s office organized protests in the form of a “pop-up love party”. That included a speech by the chair of the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs, Sharron Cooks, an African American transgender “woman”. There was music and dancing, and as the Bus crowd had come to expect more physical violence against them and their Bus. The Mayor’s office proudly claimed responsibility.
Citizen Go reported: “In Philadelphia, the mayor’s ‘Office of LGBT Affairs’ proudly referred to themselves as ‘an accomplice’ in organizing protests against the bus. These protests quickly turned violent, with gay activists and anarchists attacking the bus and the police officers who were trying to maintain order. At least one of the protestors was arrested, and bus organizers were prevented from speaking freely to the press. The Mayor’s office took pride in this act of intolerant bullying.”
The Final Stop
Despite serious vandalism and bodily harm, the Free Speech Bus team made it to its final stop in Washington D.C. on April 4th. Of the tour the Bus team said:
“As we reflect back on the tour, it is clear that the #FreeSpeechBus highlighted the vicious intolerance shown to anyone who expresses dissent regarding the transgender agenda. Gender ideology advocates made it clear that they will stop at nothing to silence those who support the message of the #FreeSpeechBus.”
Age of Tolerance
In the cities the Free Speech Bus stopped, there has been a legal push to deny reality. Laws have been made to force people to call men women and women men and not to get it wrong. It’s a call to deny reality and people are eager to acquiesce. Whole cities of people stand staring at a red barn. The crowd shouts that the barn is blue and continues shouting until everyone ignores their physical senses, and joins in the chant. Those who don’t agree and affirm that indeed the barn red face the ire of an angry mob. Speech is punished.
This is the situation, the people conducting the Free Speech Bus tour were in. They dared to go against the consensus and point out something that everyone can see and as result faced anger and violence that is being hailed as love, solidarity, and tolerance.
In George Orwell’s famous Novel, 1984, there is a curious little scene. It goes like this:
“’Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, ‘Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four’?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended. ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’
‘Four.’
‘And if the party says that it is not four but five–then how many?’
‘Four.’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop.”
Society is facing such a situation today. Governments, and often the majority of people, are forcing everyone to believe as they believe, and speak as they speak or face punishment and pain. More and more people are afraid to speak up or simply convinced it is rude and unkind so to do. But the silence is detrimental. The fewer people willing to speak truth, the more likely the ability to do so will be taken away.
Reality and truth are just as they are defined. They are not hate or violence. In a good government reality and truth are encouraged. When they are not, tyranny fills their places. How this stifling of speech and silencing of reality will play out in the future for religions and religious beliefs has yet to be determined. But the writing on the wall is clear. In this, the ‘Age of Tolerance’, those who dare to speak of truth and reality will face penalties.