Even in America, free speech isn’t really that free. And if you love living in a democracy, you’d be grateful for that. Because free speech always comes with a side of consequences.

You might lose followers for what you say. You might get trolled. You might get banned from social media. But these are all expected consequences. And even if they all happen, you still have the right to shout your opinions.

In fact, the only time we should all get angry is when the law gets involved. For that is detrimental to democracy.

We require the freedom to say to what we want. And that includes rebuking someone else’s opinion. If someone says that I’m going to hell for being gay, I should have the right to tell them to go fuck themselves. Because, while I’m agnostic and don’t believe in hell, some younger gays do, and sentiments like that push them into dark places. So yes, they can go fuck themselves.

And while I say this, you have the right to lambast me in the comment section for saying “fuck”. This is your free speech, just as much as it is my free speech.

Feature image: Matheus Bertelli from Pexels