I read about a lot of defamation claims, both threatened and actually filed as lawsuits, and most of them seem pretty bad. As a broad overview, in order to successfully sue for defamation, you have to prove that someone (1) published information about you (2) that is untrue, (3) that the person knew or should have known that it was not true, and (4) that this harmed you in a tangible (i.e. expressible in a dollar amount) way. This is not the precise definition of defamation in all U.S. jurisdictions, but it’s a start. The idea is to balance people’s rights of free speech with people’s rights against conduct that directly causes them harm.

Peter LaBarbera, a gentleman who apparently gets offended about gay people for a living, had an unpleasant experience on a college campus not too long ago. He was giving a speech to a rather large crowd on a campus in Ohio, when most of the crowd abruptly stood up and walked out in protest. It turns out that the protest was planned in advance, and quite frankly, it strikes me as a reasonably effective method of protest—certainly better than yelling or heckling.

According to some observers, or at least some writers who wrote about the event, LaBarbera allegedly said something to the effect of “You’re leaving? Are you effing kidding?” as people filed out of the room.

That’s the part he thinks is defamatory. That someone accused him of using the word “effing.” Last time I checked, “effing” is what you say to avoid saying a swear word. Continue reading →