Roxane Gay had an excellent response to this whole issue on All Things Considered the other day. She refused to accept the free speech/thought police idea as the premise from which she needed to argue her position. Basically, she disregarded it as the red herring it is. People are so concerned with making sure we…

I’m an academic and so is the person who wrote the email.. I know welding > philosophy.

Her tone and delivery and everything like that was perfect fine. The mere fact that her response to an email that basically boiled down to, “Hey, we would appreciate it if you tried not to be racist,” was, “Hey, we shouldn’t even suggest they don’t be racist,” is asinine.

I did read it. And I actually read it when someone (whose opinion I tend to trust) posted it on Facebook, along with a comment to the effect of “this is really great, and this person makes an important point about intellectual freedom.” So I went in giving it more than the benefit of the doubt. And it was sickening.…

Addyi’s safety trials were mainly performed on men.

Many European countries have had legal restrictions on speech for quite some time. If it is a slope, it’s not a very steep or slippery one.

That’s not what fascism means. Words have meanings.

In the US what she’s done (assuming you could show that she really did refuse service to Muslims) is actually illegal, too, thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We don’t jump straight into arresting people usually, though that certainly could happen.

It is not fascism. If it were, most of Europe would be ruled by fascist laws. It’s not unfettered free speech, but that’s a decision most democratically elected western governments have taken, with the consent of their electorate.

When it moves into hate speech, yeah - I do want the police and courts involved.

Pretty sure if someone is denying services to people based on their race or religion that they should be arrested. There are laws against that for a reason.

The “speech” in question was an announcement of her intention to break the law. If she’d posted “Hey, just so you know, I’m gonna rob a bank this afternoon,” you can bet she’d have been arrested for “speaking” too.

Incitement to racial hatred is a crime in the UK. Also denying someone a service because of their race, religion or sexuality, spectacularly illegal. This stupid asshole broke the law and advertised it. I do not feel sorry for her. We have these laws to prevent situations like, if I’m correct, you have in some states…

I’m not aware of the specific details of Major’s arrest, but it’s fairly unlikely that she was handcuffed and bundled off by burly jack-booted goons. She was probably asked to go to her local police station so she could be informed of the charges against her, have her paperwork processed, and then released on her own…

but, she is denying service to a group of people based on race and religion. she isn’t just an idiot that put a stupid, racist post on her facebook. she is a business owner discriminating. i think that is illegal. . it would be like advertising for an apartment (as an example)and saying “no muslims allowed”. that is…

If it’s illegal for a business to discriminate or refuse service on the basis of race or religion, and she was ADVERTISING her intent to do just that...wouldn’t that be the reason behind arresting her?

Enforcing reasonable limits on free speech is what civilised societies do, both in the US and the UK. You can absolutely dispute where nations choose to draw those legal lines, but arguing that any and all restraints on expression are fascist is not practical, helpful or accurate.

Arresting her is part of the lawful judicial process that the government goes through in order to enact those fines or community service orders. Arresting and charging her with unlawful discrimination triggers a series of procedures (and important legal protections for her) that make those mild punishments possible in…

According to the Equality Act of 2010, businesses in the UK are forbidden from refusing service on the basis of religion, belief, race or sexual orientation. Period. Citizens have a right to equal treatment, whether they’re gay, transgender, black, Jewish or Muslim. It’s not ok for businesses to treat folks like…

Thrown in jail? For racial discrimination? Hell yes.