Prof Draws Fire for Antigay Blog

A Purdue University professor sparked a campus-wide debate on free speech with a recent posting to his personal blog that makes an "economic case against homosexuality."

Bert Chapman, a library science professor, wrote a post on the Conservative Librarian blog on October 27 about what the acceptance of gay people "costs" society, in areas such as AIDS research and treatment, domestic-partnership benefits, and life insurance.

Student activists demanded that Chapman, the university's government information and political science librarian, be fired, or at least strongly reprimanded by the Purdue administration, according to the Indianapolis Star.

However, university officials said they have no plans to remove or discipline Chapman for exercising his right to free speech. They encourage students and anyone offended by the remarks to speak up.

"There are many things on the Internet that would be offensive to a lot of people but protected by the First Amendment," said Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg, according to the Indianapolis Star. "The best response is to speak up, which is exactly what our students and some faculty are doing."