[ChrisGaudreau]

It's been curious to me from the beginning that this has been treated as a free speech issue. Free speech is a legal question. If a group of people boycott you, they aren't impeding on your right to free speech. In fact, they are merely exercising their own right to free speech.

As a CEO, you have the right to support slavery. As a worker, you have the right to quit in response to those views.

[esrauch]

Free speech is a larger concept in America than the legal protection, specifically that people with alternate viewpoints should be respected even if you disagree, and that a marketplace of ideas is a good thing for society.

[cluthe]

This isn't exactly true. Free speech just means you need to respect someones RIGHT TO VOICE their viewpoint. There is a difference between respecting someones right to free speech and respecting the actual person and/or their viewpoint. If the viewpoint someone expresses is repulsive you are under no obligation to respect that person or their viewpoint. Criticizing bad ideas and calling people out on them and applying social pressure to those people for their bad ideas is what makes the market place of idea's work, it stops bad harmful ideas like racism and LGBT discrimination from propagating. Criticizing someone and saying you don't respect that person anymore because of their ideas is not the same as disrespecting or taking away their right to free speech.