Steven LaChance Blog

If you believe in free speech and the First Amendment, then you also have to believe in the right of others to speak their minds, even when what they say clashes with your own beliefs. That is the hard truth at the center of democracy. Free speech was never meant to protect only the voices we like. It was meant to protect the ones that make us uncomfortable, the ones that challenge us, even the ones that offend us.

The real test of liberty is not how we react when someone agrees with us, but how we respond when they don’t. Censorship might feel convenient in the moment, but history shows us over and over that once you start silencing people, it spreads. No one stays safe from it. Once that door is opened, it does not close.

Defending free expression takes patience, resilience, and a belief that ideas can stand up to scrutiny. It doesn’t mean we have to accept cruelty or hate without a fight. It means we face it head-on, out in the open, with reason and compassion. Shoving it into the shadows only makes it stronger.

The First Amendment is not just for one group or one side. It belongs to all of us. Our strength as a people comes from the clash of voices, the debate, the argument, the hard conversations. That’s how truth takes shape.

This idea that we should silence others needs to stop. Our country was built on civil debate. It is not un-American to have a different opinion. It is, in fact, the most American thing you can do. And if we allow them to silence even one voice, make no mistake, they will come for the rest of us too.