M
y
childhood
in
Romania was pretty
basic. I was raised in
a conservative society and was
fed American entertainment 24
hours a day. Everything, from the
movies I watched to the books
I read, came mostly from the
U.S. When I was 10, I was in a
bookstore with my father when I
spotted a notebook that I wanted
to buy. I asked my father for it, but
his answer was a clear “no.” My
response came just as clearly: I sat
down on the floor, arms crossed.
“Free speech,” I said, as I
looked him in the eyes.
“Child, you are not in America,
you are under my dictatorship,”
my father said, clearly amused by
my misdemeanor. He pulled me
up and walked me out of the store.
As a European, hearing an
American say “free speech” was
fascinating. I couldn’t put my
finger on the difference between
Europe’s and America’s differing
concepts of free speech, but I knew
that Europeans never talked about
it while Americans seemed to
instinctively mention it whenever
they could. Ten years later, as I
hear tech companies defend their
inability to regulate hate speech,
the term “free speech” makes me
shiver.
In recent years, we have seen
countries in the European Union
clash with American social media
giants, as with the General Data
Protection
Regulation
laws,
which gave users more control
over their data; the “right to be
forgotten” enforced in the EU,
which bans Google from sharing
people’s
personal
information
online if they have asked to
erase it; and the German Media
Authority’s regulation requiring
accurate contact information to
better regulate the ads posted on
social media. At the same time,
we have seen Facebook allow
its
advertisers
to
specifically
reach “Jew haters,” or create a
censorship guideline to delete
posts targeted against a “protected
category,” but not against a subset
of that protected category. In
one of the documents offering
guidelines for Facebook’s censors,
the question, “Which group is
protected from hate speech?”
was followed by three possible
answers: “female drivers,” “black
children” and “white men.” The
correct answer? “White men.”
Had they been created in
Europe, social media platforms
would look different. Their fight
to avoid any kind of governmental
regulation
probably
wouldn’t
have flourished. Strictly enforced
regulations from the European
Union would have taken the
place of their own censorship
guidelines. Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg’s motto, “Move fast
and
break
things,”
would’ve
probably raised more eyebrows —
especially when “breaking things”
creates a space where hate speech
can flourish.
Europeans
reject
and
criminalize any kind of hate
speech. Following World War II,
the Council of Europe established
the European Court of Human
Rights,
which
protects
free
speech up to a certain limit: That
limit is where it starts interfering
with human dignity.
Dignity is a word which seems
missing from most of the debates
we are having on the limits of free
speech on social media platforms.
We talk about the need to have our
ideas heard, to be able to freely
debate, to go against the status-
quo. But as much as Americans
value their “free speech,” this
free speech does not happen in
a vacuum. It happens within a
historical background from which
we are supposed to learn and
strengthen our belief in giving
each human being the right to
“dignity.”
While
many
have
already
discussed the merits of regulating
“hate speech” online in a similar
fashion to European guidelines,
others have complained that hate
speech laws in Europe “suppress
and punish left-wing viewpoints.”
That is the point, though hate
speech regulations were never
meant to punish one side of the
debate, but to punish those who
bring the debate into the realms of
violence and hatred. An example
of Europe’s harsh laws was Azhar
Ahmed’s case, when he as a
British teenager wrote a post on
his Facebook talking about the
innocent Afghans killed by British
soldiers after some British soldiers
were killed in the war. In his post,
he included the comment, “All
soldiers should DIE & go to HELL!
THE LOWLIFE F*****N SCUM!”
which led to him being arrested
for a “racially aggravated public
order offense.” For many, this case
might raise some question marks.
For me, it only emphasizes the fact
that both right-wing speech and
left-wing arguments can be made
without attacking the humanity
and dignity of the “other,” whether
the “other” is a group of innocent
Afghans or British soldiers.
Europe’s hate speech laws are
not perfect, but compared to the
“free speech” argument, it strives
to allow for discussions to happen
in a safe space, helping maintain
human empathy when arguing for
one’s side of an argument. Whether
a tweet or a Facebook post comes
from someone from the political
left or right, once violence is
inserted, humane understanding
is forgotten. In a political climate
of increasing hatred, we should
look for creating empathy on our
social media platforms.
I
think I look too hard for love.
Maybe I’m just a hopeless
romantic. Maybe I just long
to have something — or someone
— who could pick up the trail of
pieces I have left and rearrange
them in a way I am unable to do
so myself.
Upon moving to New York
City, my hopes of finding this
fix began to feel more palpable.
Surely, I surmised, these pieces
would effortlessly find a place
to fall into. And after weeks of
looking, they did. Yet it was not
where I expected.
The warm days of July began
to fade, and a growing desire to
mend this enduring discontent
came along with it. An occupation
of the mind with something
different, I concluded, would be
the best remedy.
Hoping to get involved with
the thriving gay community of
New York, I decided to visit the
local Callen-Lorde Community
Health Center in an effort to find
ways to volunteer within the
community. Never before had I
been to a major city health center
specifically for LGBTQ people.
And never before had I truly
understood the significance these
centers have.
After being greeted by the
building’s security guard, his
weathered face marked with an
enduring smile, I was pointed
toward the entrance of the
center’s youth program. I took a
seat on one of the inviting green
sofas that filled the room, waiting
for the hall’s two receptionists
to call me to speak. Both of them
must have been near the same
age as me, yet their poise and
steadiness with each coming
patient before them affirmed
their experience.
Despite the uncertainty that
painted the faces of those in the
room, a sense of belonging and
safety filled the air. People from
different corners of the country,
some escaping tattered homes —
some, the brutal grip of poverty
— came to one, unified refuge.
The woman next to me, gently
unwrinkling a thin stack of
dollar bills in her rugged hands,
explained that she had to wait
three extra days to return for
her next round of injections for
hormone therapy. The boy who
walked in before me joked with
the young woman behind the
desk, with a soft gaze affirming
each word that left his mouth.
The tightness in my chest
loosened as I began to understand
that no internal guard was needed
here. I did not have to regulate
my words or the way in which
those words left my mouth. I had
found a place that required no
additional explanation of myself,
or my experiences, because we
all were sewn from the very same
thread.
I took a deep breath and
peered around the room full of
people who bore no physical or
familial appearance, but shared
something so palpable that it
filled the air.
This is what love looked like
in its purest form. It wasn’t love
by any traditional means — or at
least the love I had imagined. But
it was a love that I was missing
in my life. Now, the pieces I had
left behind were not picked back
up but replaced with something
stronger.
Recently, there have been many
days filled with hopelessness
from what I see in the news, on
my campus or even in my own
home. While there is a crucial
duty to maintain dialogue among
all of us to bridge these seemingly
irreconcilable differences, there
remains a need for spaces where
people from all walks of life can
come together to heal and grow.
Centers like Callen-Lorde remain
crucial for such a reality. These
centers do not just provide a
space for people who have been
kicked out of their homes or cast
aside by society. They provide
vital medical care to individuals
who would otherwise often not
have access to such resources.
Some people are without such
proper care due to discrimination
— others due to homelessness,
a lack of financial means or
limited English proficiency. In
fact, in the case of community
health centers in general, over
70 percent of patients seen
have incomes below the federal
poverty level. These centers have
medical professionals trained to
specifically handle LGBT-related
health issues. There are many
types of treatments and services,
such as hormone therapy and pre-
exposure
prophylaxis
(PrEP),
that many physicians may not be
familiar with.
Almost one in 10 LGBTQ
people have said that a health
care provider has refused to see
them because of their actual or
perceived
sexual
orientation,
and three in 10 transgender
individuals experienced the same
treatment due to their actual or
perceived gender identity. Such
instances have taken place in our
own state of Michigan, and are
often even protected under the
law. For example, in Roseville, a
pediatrician refused care to an
infant because she had same-
sex parents. Beyond our own
state, a transgender 14-year-old,
admitted to a San Diego hospital
for attempting to commit suicide,
was continuously misgendered
and discharged early from the
hospital staff. Upon release, he
killed himself. These community
centers are not just helpful, they
are crucial to closing some of the
many disparities afflicting our
health care system.
My time in New York allowed
me to see these integral spaces
in our country firsthand. Callen-
Lorde is an oasis for people who
have been set aside because of
who they love or the way they
were born to exist in a place — no
matter how temporary — without
judgment.
Through expansion and greater
awareness of these centers, it is
that very love and support that I
hope to further on campus, and
beyond, in the future.
Consider donating to these
LGBTQ+ health centers:
http://callen-lorde.org/
donation/
https://www.jimtoycenter.
org/donate
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Emma Chang
Ben Charlson
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Lucas Maiman
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ali Safawi
Ashley Zhang
Sam Weinberger
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND
ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
ANAMARIA CUZA | COLUMN
What if Facebook was created in Europe?
A breathing place
ALEX KUBIE | COLUMN
Anamaria Cuza can be reached at
anacuza@umich.edu.
Alex Kubie can be reached at
akubie@umich.edu.
W
e
are
writing
as
concerned
members
of
the
UM community in response to
Dean Elizabeth Cole’s letter
to
Professor
John
Cheney-
Lippold outlining disciplinary
measures. We are also disturbed
by the covert politicization of
teaching and service evidenced
in President Mark Schlissel’s
and Provost Martin Philbert’s
letter to the campus. Under the
guise of separating political
commitments from our role
as educators, the university
administration
has
taken
a
clear political stance against
the
Boycott,
Divestment,
and
Sanctions
movement.
Irrespective of faculty positions
regarding BDS, the President,
Provost and Dean’s disciplinary
actions
threaten
academic
freedom and have had a chilling
effect on workplace morale.
Rather than debating the merits
of an important political issue
of our time, the university has
taken a side, and disparaged
pro-BDS students, staff and
faculty.
We
stand
in
solidarity
with others who have already
expressed their disagreement
with the administration. We
agree
with
UM
Professor
Juan Cole who wrote that it is
not “the place of a university
administration
to
coerce
faculty or other instructors’
conscience on these issues,
which are much more complex
than they seem to realize.” We
agree with Stanford University
Professor
David
Palumbo-
Liu who wrote, “disciplining
faculty who refuse to write
letters opens up the possibility
that universities will be turned
into pawns of ideologically-
driven organizations who target
professors
critical
of
their
views.”
We
stand
with
graduate
students who have stated that
such
disciplinary
measures
set “an alarming, worrying,
and dangerous precedent for
impinging on the protected
political speech and action of
employees of the university.”
We stand with signers of the
Change.org petition who assert
that such disciplinary actions
promote the corporatization of
education and thus trivialize
our
work
as
educators
by
“bypassing
the
educational
mission of the university (...)
and turning professors into
simply service providers.”
The University of Michigan
has always stood firm on the
issues of academic freedom
enshrined
in
the
faculty
handbook.
We
remain
committed to this tradition and
to educating thoughtful critical
thinkers and citizens. We call
on the administration to refrain
from any disciplinary actions
against
graduate
student
Lucy Peterson and to drop
the actions against Professor
John Cheney-Lippold. We call
on the university to include
diverse
voices
in
the
new
panel the provost has created
to examine the intersection
between
political
thought/
ideology and faculty members’
responsibilities
to
students.
We call on the university to
affirm our shared institutional
commitment
to
academic
freedom.
Samer Ali, Center for Middle
Eastern & North African Studies,
UM-Ann Arbor Evelyn Alsultany,
American Culture, Ann Arbor
Sascha Crasnow, Residential
College, Ann Arbor
Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, American
Culture
Deirdre de la Cruz, Department
of History, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor
Victor
Mendoza,
Women’s
Studies and English, UM Ann
Arbor
Kate
Jenckes,
Romance
Languages and Literatures, Ann
Arbor
Anton Shammas, MES, UM
Ann Arbor
Dr. Savithry Namboodiripad
Linguistics/LS&A
UMich
Ann
Arbor
Manan
Desai,
American
Culture
and
Asian/Pacific
Islander American Studies, UM
Ann Arbor
Alan M. Wald, English and
American Culture, U-M Collegiate
Professor Emeritus (Ann Arbor
Campus)
Karla Mallette, Global Islamic
Studies Center, U-M Ann Arbor
Zoya Zalatimo, Middle Eastern
Studies, Ann Arbor Campus
J Carlos de Los Santos/RLL,
Ann Arbor
Evyn Kropf, University Library,
Ann Arbor
Farah
Kader,
International
Studies, UM Ann Arbor
Melissa Phruksachart, Dept. of
Film, Television, and Media, Ann
Arbor
Sergio Villalobos, RLL
Ian
Watts,
Mechanical
Engineering Department, College
of Engineering
Silan Fadlallah, Student LS&A,
Ann Arbor
Bushra Habbas-Nimer
Mar Freire Hermida, Romance
Languages and Literatures, Ann
Arbor
Howard Brick, Department of
History, UM, Ann Arbor
Sally Howell, Center for Arab
American Studies, UM-Dearborn
Joshua Akers, Social Science,
UM-Dearborn
Angie Achkar, Undergraduate
Student
Hani
Bawardi,
SSCI/
HIST&AAST, UM-D
Kevin Kobelsky, College of
Business, Dearborn
Dennis D. Pollard, Romance
Languages, Ann Arbor
Antoine Traisnel, Departments
of
English
and
Comparative
Literature, UM Ann Arbor
Michael Lempert, Department
of Anthropology, University of
Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes,
American
Culture/Romance
Languages, LSA, Ann Arbor
Pam
Pennock,
College
of
Arts,
Sciences,
and
Letters,
UM-Dearborn
Clare Croft, Dance, School of
Music, Theatre & Dance
Kristin Poling, Social Science
Department, UM-Dearborn
Jalal, LSA, Ann Arbor
Andrew
Shryock,
Anthropology/LSA, Ann Arbor
Daniel
Andrew
Birchok,
Department
of
Sociology,
Anthropology,
and
Criminal
Justice, University of Michigan-
Flint
Elizabeth
F.S.
Roberts,
Anthropology, LSA
Daniel
Nemser,
Romance
Languages
and
Literatures,
UM-Ann Arbor
Bruce
Pietrykowski,
Social
Sciences/CASL, UM-Dearborn
Sara
McClelland,
Women’s
Studies & Psychology, Central
Campus
Nayli Ma, Asian Studies and
Biology, Ann Arbor
Katherine L. French-History-
UM Ann Arbor
Elif Izberk-Bilgin, Management
Studies, UMD
Janice Molloy, Management
Studies, Dearborn
Reem Khatib, LSA, UM Campus
David Skrbina, LPA/Philosophy,
Dearborn
Maria Ulayyet, LSA, UM Ann
Arbor
Mary Kelley, Departments of
History and American Culture,
UM, Ann Arbor
Faith
Sparr/Communication
Studies
Lisa Martin, College Wide
Programs, UM-Dearborn
Fatma Müge Göçek, Sociology/
LS&A, UM Ann Arbor
Suzanne Bergeron, University
of Michigan Dearborn
Juan Cole, History, University
of Michigan Ann Arbor
Anna Watkins Fisher, American
Culture, UM Ann Arbor
H. Erdem Cipa, History &
Middle East Studies, Ann Arbor
Paolo Squatriti/History, Ann
Arbor
Osman Khan, Stamps School of
Art & Design, Ann Arbor
Roi Livne, Sociology, Ann Arbor
Nancy A. Khalil, American
Culture/AMAS, Ann Arbor
Saquib
Ali
Usman,
Anthropology, Ann Arbor
Will Glover, History, Ann Arbor
Rima Hassouneh/Center for
Middle Eastern and North African
Studies & the Center for Southeast
Asian Studies/UM-Ann Arbor
Muniba
Saleem/
Communication Studies
Holly
Hughes,
Professor,
Stamps School of Art and Design,
Theater and Drama and Women’s
Studies
Rebekah
Modrak,
Stamps
School of Art & Design, Ann Arbor
Andrew
Herscher,
Taubman
College of Architecture and Urban
Planning, UM Ann Arbor
Javier
Sanjines,
Romance
Languages and Literatures, UM
Ann Arbor
Rifaat
Dika,
Department
of
Language,
Culture,
and
Communication-Dearborn
Margaret
K
Willard-Traub,
LCC, UM-Dearborn
Rashmi
Luthra,
Department
of
Language,
Culture
and
Communication, College of Arts,
Sciences and Letter, University of
Michigan-Dearborn campus
Lara Rusch, Dept. of Social
Sciences, UM-Dearborn
Rose Wellman, Department of
Behavioral Sciences, University
of
Michigan-Dearborn
Patrick
Beauchesne, Behavioral Sciences/
Anthropology, Dearborn
Brian
McKenna,
Behavioral
Sciences, Anthropology
Dr. Maya Barak, Criminology
and
Criminal
Justice,
UM-Dearborn
Peggy McCracken, Romance
Languages,
Women’s
Studies,
and Comparative Literature, Ann
Arbor
Stavroula Kyriazis, Ford School
of Public Policy
Giorgio
Bertellini,
Film,
Television, and Media
Holly Hughes, Professor, School
of Art and Design
Ian Shin, History & American
Culture, Ann Arbor
Maria
Cotera,
American
Culture and Women’s Studies
Khaled Mattawa, English, Ann
Arbor
Peggy Lee, American Culture,
Ann Arbor
Charlotte
Karem
Albrecht,
American
Culture,
Women’s
Studies, Ann Arbor
Statement from UM faculty to administration
UNDERSIGNED UM FACULTY AND COMMUNITY | OP-ED
These community
centers are
crucial to closing
some of the
many disparities
affecting our
health system.
Once violence is
inserted, humane
understanding is
forgotten.