Freedom of speech is a natural right, and it is a pre-political right. Either way, it means that we had those rights prior to the establishment of any form of government. That is, we were born with these rights, and we still have those rights even if a government or society attempts to restrict them.

In some places, natural rights are also known as inalienable (in-AY-lee-ehn-uh-buhl) or unlienable (un-LEEN-uh-buhl) rights.

Whatever we call these rights (including freedom of speech), the ability for you to exercise these rights does not infringe on my ability to exercise these rights.

Also, since we don't want anyone to diminish our freedom of speech, we should not diminish the freedom of speech of others. It's a classic application of the Golden Rule.

The exercise of natural rights allows us to acquire an owner's mentality (as opposed to a slave or employee mentality). We own our own minds and the abilities to act on our thoughts and ideas. If we want to be treated as "owners" in this sense, we need to treat others as "owners" as well. In this sense, we are equals. There will always exist differences in height, width, mass, looks, intelligences, wealth, etc.; however, we are the same as "owners" of our minds and the natural rights we exercise