The Calgary Herald won’t back down after controversial editorial
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” The Calgary Herald echoing the vaunted words closely associated with Voltaire as they respond to criticisms of a controversial editorial written earlier this week.
In the piece, Naomi Lakritz defended U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh by saying “Kavanaugh doesn’t deserve this. What happened in high school stays in high school.”
“We will not apologize. We are a platform for free speech,” the Herald proclaimed in another editorial. “Freedom of speech pertains not only to speech we agree with but speech of all kinds. We stand by our columnists’ right to express their opinions. And no amount of pressure from social media will change that.”
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Rebecca Sullivan is a Women’s Studies professor at the University of Calgary. She says the idea behind ‘what happens in high school stays in high school’ is a larger issue.
“That this is just something that men get to do at least once in their lives, that is not a free speech issue. That is a human rights issue. That is a criminal issue.”
Sullivan says she wasn’t surprised to see the original piece but was appalled.
“And abusing people who have already been victimized and abused by telling them that they are to expect to raped in high school.”
She calls the response from the Herald Editorial Board cowardly.
