I am a fan of Popehat, a legal blog that focuses primarily on free speech issues. As they like to put it social actions, the many varieties of "speech" in the US, are protected by the 1st amendment. Unlike many parts of the Constitution these days we take the 1st amendment pretty seriously. The government is very limited in what it can do to you for your speech. "Protected" speech, in this sense, means protected from government initiated consequences (like jail or fines). It does not mean protected from social consequences, because any social consequence is itself a form of speech. You publicly state an opinion about something (like gay marriage), and I publicly state an opinion about something (like you). It's all speech. The only people that can't get involved are the g men. Popehat likes to say that speech should have social consequences, because those consequences are free speech. Supporting free speech means also supporting the criticisms of the speech that results.