IT was truly shocking to see the bigots in action at Reclaim Australia rallies around the country on Saturday.

They showed an ugly side to public protests which was confronting and disturbing.

But I’m not talking about the rally supporters, I’m describing those who turned up with the sole intention of ridiculing the rally participants, blocking the march and even burning the Australian flag.

The term “bigot” is one of the most misused.

It is most often mistakenly used to describe those with conservative or perceived outdated or “old-fashioned” views.

But it actually means anyone who is intolerable of others’ opinions and, judging by the scenes at the Reclaim Australia rallies, the Leftists are the true bigots.

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Society today is being held to ransom by rabid, militant, self-styled “progressives” who use verbal abuse, public shaming, violence and viral social media campaigns to vilify anyone who espouses a dissenting view to their own and to push their politically-correct agenda.

This is in direct contrast to conservatives who merely sit back and passively shake their heads as protesters burn cars and bash police during G20 meetings, burn the Australian flag, jostle our Prime Ministers, and disrupt or cause the cancellation of meetings they don’t agree with.

You don’t see groups of climate-change sceptics disrupting climate rallies or screaming profanities in the faces of the participants.

Compare that to those who linked arms and physically prevented the Reclaim Australia marchers from executing their legal right to peacefully rally.

According to them, it’s OK to protest but only if it’s for a Left cause.

Anyone who has seen the Reclaim Australia literature and videos online will know that the organisers are not racists and they went to great pains to warn that racist signs or behaviour at the rallies would not be tolerated and security would ask them to leave.

The group’s supporters felt it was time to send a message that the Federal Government should be doing more to encourage Muslims to embrace Australian values rather than demand Australia change its values for them.

It’s OK to not agree with them, but if you need to get physical, churlishly disrupt a peaceful protest or personally insult them, that’s a problem.

The Leftists have hijacked free speech so much that these days a patriot is a bogan, a defender of men’s rights is a misogynist and daring to question the billions of taxpayer dollars spent – rather unsuccessfully – each year on improving the lives of indigenous people makes you a racist.

Not supporting gay marriage makes you a homophobe, being concerned about migrants not embracing Australian culture makes you a xenophobe, an Islamophobe or a racist, and expressing anything less than vein-popping, placard-waving support for climate change makes you a “denier”.

Worse, many of today’s journalists and newspapers will queue up to throw diesel on your funeral pyre in a fit of self-righteous “your opinion is stupid” pique.

And it’s a fair bet that the people stifling others’ right to be heard on Saturday were the same ones standing at candlelight vigils in support of free speech after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France. Breathtaking hypocrisy.

When famed climate-change sceptic Lord Monckton went to speak in Brisbane in 2011, the pressure and threats to boycott the venue from the climate change supporters caused the venue to cancel the speech.

Just last month, anti-Israel, pro-Palestine protesters stormed a lecture theatre at Sydney University to try and shut down a talk by a counter-terrorism expert.

In Canada in 2012, a lecture by men’s rights campaigner Warren Farrell was blockaded by feminists – male and female – and police were required to escort attendees through the doors for their safety.

Saturday’s violent scenes in Melbourne and elsewhere show that it must be made clear to all that freedom of speech and expression means freedom for everyone, even if you don’t agree with them.