Madam Speaker, to respond, I would like to share a quote that I did not have time to include in my speech. It is from John Stuart Mill in On Liberty, who writes, “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”
We all, as free people, have the right to express who we are and express our values. We respond to that with other values, with debates, and we do not respond with censorship. Attitudes change over time. Indeed, slavery ended because of the religious convictions in the British Parliament of Wilberforce. It is a position that was unpopular but was morally correct, and history bears that out. Only when we allow free speech do we have the opportunity for truth to win.