California library violates First Amendment, boots speakers for referring to transgender women as ‘biological men’

August 24, 2023 1 min read

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Carrie Robinson, Aaron Terr
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: When the government hosts its own programming, it can pick and choose which speakers it wants to feature. But when it opens space such as library meeting rooms for the public to hold their own speaking events, the First Amendment applies. And the First Amendment restrains authorities from discriminating against speakers based on their views or forcing them to use the government’s preferred vocabulary.

That’s why FIRE’s First Amendment alarm bells were ringing when a California public library manager abruptly shut down an event focused on women and girls in sports because the event’s speakers said “male,” “men,” and “biological men” when referring to transgender women.

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Marc W Turner
Marc W Turner

October 12, 2023

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