First off, I read the comments aand I am so sorry that this happened to you. When did people stop being civil to one another? It seems like such a small thing to be polite--you can do that and still speak your mind.

Not all speech is protected speech. Hate speech is not protected and should always be taken down although it is rarely done by the forum itself--it should be taken down by the author--who never should have posted it in the first place--