The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) may not seem like the typical organization we tend to support here at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation. But in fact, in a global climate where ominous levels of hate speech, discrimination, and violence have fueled an understandable impulse to censor hateful ideas and to “cancel” hateful speakers, our Foundation’s mission to uplift and empower the people whom words often seek to disparage hopefully demonstrates that even a small expression of love and support can go a long way toward countering even the most insidious hate.
That is the sentiment expressed by none other than Nadine Strossen, recipient of the Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award for Free Speech at the 2023 NCAC Benefit: Let Me Speak. The John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School, first female President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008), and a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education, Nadine is a leading expert and frequent speaker/media commentator on constitutional law and civil liberties, who has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. She serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin.
Nadine has said that the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation “epitomizes the most constructive path forward to advance the embattled values of equality, dignity, diversity, inclusivity, and peace,” and so it was a humbling honor to attend the ceremony in her honor this month.
Congratulations, Nadine! Thank you for your relentless advocacy on behalf of free expression.