Since its first issue in 1974, HUSTLER Magazine has opened with The Publisher’s Statement—a no-holds-barred commentary on politics and culture from Larry Flynt himself. Today, Liz Flynt continues that tradition, weighing in each month with sharp, timely reflections on the issues shaping our world. Now, for the first time, her monthly columns—and other behind-the-scenes stories from inside the company—are available in one place: The HUSTLER Files.

This month, Liz issues a stark warning about the growing threat to free speech in America, pointing to rising censorship in education, media, and public institutions under Donald Trump’s influence.

Freedom of speech is not free. It comes with a price. We best start paying that price by standing up to despots like Donald Trump and fighting for our rights, or we will lose them.

Free speech is under serious attack. Students are scared to protest. History teachers are afraid to teach history, lest they be reported by students or parents through the Department of Education’s new online portal. Government websites are being scrubbed of 250 newly banned words and phrases, among them female, community, race and activism. Even NPR and PBS are now labeled “anti-American airwaves” by idiots like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who can barely string a sentence together on her best day.

One of President Trump’s first executive orders was purported to be aimed at “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.” But the only speech he is interested in defending is speech that paints himself, his billionaire cronies and his administration in a rosy, favorable light.

Larry Flynt often said that “Freedom of speech is not for the idea you love but for the idea you hate most.” He insisted that “The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy. It gets its vitality and meaning from the unrestricted right of free choice.”

Our free choice—our free speech—is being crushed as I write. My husband spent his life fighting for First Amendment rights. In just these past few months, we have seen how easily they can be stripped away. University presidents and newspaper editorial boards are self-censoring, but their silence only serves as an endorsement for President Trump’s authoritarian policies.Fight, protest, be loud! Let your voice be heard, or you will lose the right to speak freely.

Liz Flynt
Publisher