It’s not strange. It has always been an enlightened minority who defend freedom of speech against popular sentiment, which actually opposes it. The ACLU, when it was a civil rights organization that defended freedom of speech, famously had to educate the country through the courts by defending the rights of Nazis to hold a march. Their defense was unpopular and they lost a lot of members. A minority understands that if free speech does not include protection for odious speech, it is meaningless.