However I do not support unrestricted harassment. I'm a guy. I have a dick between my legs. I think it's easy to forget that if you DON'T have a dick between your legs, you often times are verbally abused, followed, and otherwise harassed, even if you're pre-pubescent.
It's all fine and dandy to say "If I don't support someone's speech, I'll just ignore it!" until a person twice your size is following you down a dark street at night talking about the sexual things they want to do to your body.
Someone talking about a political opinion making me feel "unsafe" is a stretch, and I wish people wouldn't confuse exchange of ideas with safety. However, someone following me around harassing me and verbally sexually abusing me isn't free fucking speech. It's harassment.
Granted, I don't know what this law will do about it, because I'm assuming harassment is illegal already in France, but I just wanted to point out that the speech you are arguing in defense of is not an exchange of ideas, it's threatening and bordering on sexual violence. I also want to point out that unless it has happened to you personally, it's easy to say things like "just ignore it."
People don't follow people through streets decrying "oh baby do you know about the 1st amendment". This isn't a big problem.
Anyone making this about political speech is not arguing the actual issue of harrasment. Derailing the conversation to discuss some imagined "what if" scenario that isn't real.
If these laws were used to stop legitimate protest then that would be a problem but that isn't even close to happening in France where people protest as a national past time.
So a person twice your size following you down a dark street at night not saying anything is OK?!
It’s enjoyable to get other perspectives, but at the end of they day, I support candidates and judicial nominees who maintain rights as freedoms as unrestricted as possible (speech, firearms ownership, etc). Because you never know who is going to be in power next, and how they will weaponize the exceptions to fundamental rights.
There is a cost to a free and democratic society.
Disclaimer: Brit, supporter of reasonable speech
The following wouldn't be a strong argument for removing the laws against robbery:
What if I accidentally get accused of robbery because I pick up someone's belonging to return it to them when they had left it somewhere.
I would rather have robbery laws and deal with these cases as they arise than not have robbery laws at all. Same goes for harrasment.
Are you entitled to feeling safe? Yes, without infringing on the rights of others. Are you entitled to not being offended? No, that is not a right. You cannot legislate civility and decency in a free society. You cannot legislate emotional well being and fortitude.
Disclaimer: American, supporter of unrestricted free speech