Free Speech? Only if We Approve of It!

I worry about the future of free speech. Liberals continue to fight for flag burning, for instance, to stay legal, but at the same time, they fight for so-called "hate crime" legislation. Take this case, for instance. A girl had been distributing anti-homosexual fliers at her high school aimed at one particular boy "with whom she had been feuding." Stupid? Sure. Immoral? I think so. Illegal?

Apparently.

She is facing a felony hate crime charge, and is being held without bail, as if she is a danger to society. Now, I am against making fun of people because they're gay or a certain color or anything else like that. But, at the same time, I don't think it should be illegal. Certainly, I think the school should punish her in whatever way they see fit (schools are more free to limit the rights of students than is the government), but this should not be a crime.

After all, if I say to an enemy "I hate you. You are a *insert insult here*," I will not be punished by the legal system. But, apparently, if I say "I hate you because you are gay. You are a *insert insulting term for homosexual here*," I can be punished. Doesn't something seem wrong here?

People are free (or should be free) to hate whomever they want for whatever reasons they want, and to express that hatred. I am by no means condoning bigotry in the moral sense. Bigotry is wrong. Homophobia is wrong. But, expressing wrong opinions should never be illegal.