DePaul University: Administrator Bars Use of “Gay Lives Matter”

In May of 2017, the DePaul chapter of Turning Point USA hosted a speech by Jamie Kirchick, a conservative author, reporter, and activist known for his criticism of the lack of gay rights in Russia and Islamic countries. The students sought an administrator’s permission to use posters promoting the event reading “Gay Lives Matter,” but were prohibited from doing so on the basis that using the slogan would “simply be co-opting another movements approach.” FIRE wrote to DePaul, observing that this prior restraint — a form of censorship at odds with DePaul’s promise that its students enjoy freedom of expression — would bar students from “co-opting” Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” or Barack Obama’s “Change We Need” slogans as a means of criticism. DePaul did not respond.