"The silence demanded of critics. The threat of being branded "cruel" if you dare to tell the truth about him. The jobs lost by those who spoke honestly. This lionization of Kirk needs to stop. He was human, with faults, like the rest of us, but his were more pronounced and very public.. I'm afraid that there is no turning back from those faults. The last week has mortifyingly left many with the impression that he was to be revered."
"It's been gobsmacking to watch a man who never held public office, never served his country in the military, never lifted a hand for peace, be memorialized as though he were an American hero. I'm sickened not only by the hoopla but by the willful amnesia. Kirk's words caused pain that is impossible to ignore. He lied about women, people of color, and, with particular venom, the LGBTQ+ community. He fed the next generation a steady diet of hate disguised as truth."
Political violence stills free speech, silences dissent, and corrodes civic life. The assassination of Charlie Kirk produced an outsized reaction that suppressed criticism, threatened critics with labels of cruelty, and cost jobs. Public lionization elevated him despite pronounced and very public faults. He never held public office, never served in the military, and never lifted a hand for peace, yet he was memorialized as an American hero. He repeatedly lied about women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, feeding younger generations hate disguised as truth. Those lies and destructive comments will be his lasting legacy.
Read at Advocate.com
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