Texas senators author bill to protect student free speech on college campuses

[TexasTowelie]

Two high-ranking state senators have filed a bill to establish broad parameters for the free speech rights of students at public universities.

State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, partnered with state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to author Senate Bill 18, which closely follows the principles of The Chicago Statement, a report by the University of Chicago that lays out guidelines to protect students’ constitutional right to free speech.

Huffman and Nelson’s bill establishes a set of rules that all public universities in Texas would need to abide by. The first of these is all common outdoor areas must become public forums allowing free expression. This would eliminate the concept of “free speech zones,” which some universities have used to relegate free speech to certain areas.

Tyler Coward, legislative counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an organization dedicated to protecting campus free speech, said getting rid of the concept of free speech zones would be a “huge win” for students in the state of Texas.

Read more: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2019/02/28/texas-senators-author-bill-to-protect-student-free-speech-on-college-campuses

[bitterross]

1. There's a poison pill in it.

This all sounds too good to be true. So I looked for the part that is the GOP part.

In a statement announcing the filing of the bill, Huffman highlighted another key portion of her legislation: a provision that would prohibit universities from taking action against student organizations because of their political, religious, philosophical, ideological or academic viewpoints.

This is the part of the bill that allows discrimination toward LGBTQ people and others. That whole statement is just one world of bad. They University would not be able to stop a KKK chapter from organizing. Or to punish any organization for activity supporting groups like the Proud Boys and the KKK.