‘I’m a black conservative, and I appreciate people like Milo’

We asked UD students their reactions to Milo’s visit

Breitbart editor and writer Milo Yiannopoulos spoke at the University of Delaware Monday as part of “The Dangerous Faggot Tour.” A figure controversial enough to be permanently banned from Twitter, Milo lived up to his reputation with his speech, titled “Trannies are Gay.”

His show unofficially began Monday morning, when students found posters not-so-subtly advertising the event throughout campus. University police reportedly took the posters down as word began to spread.

The conservative-blogger-turned-performance-artist, who identifies as a gay man, acknowledged the flyers, expressing how troubled he was to hear about them.

“Most upsetting is someone is using my logo and they didn’t license it,” he said to a cheering crowd.

The tour has experienced several bumps along the way — Yiannopoulos’ appearances at New York University  and The University of Maryland, College Park (among others) have been canceled because of heightened security costs and the possibility of confrontations leading to violence.

In anticipation, the police set up barricades on The Green to keep protestors back. It went without saying that Milo’s event would draw campus activists and local social justice warriors in record numbers.

The barricades remained protestor-free. The “regressive left” must be slacking.

Instead, the many student organizations opposed to Milo’s appearance on campus organized a counter-event dubbed Unity Fair, complete with puzzles, swing-dancing, and food.

Senior Sage Carson, one of the organizers of Unity Fair, criticized the College Republicans’ argument that “if you don’t go to Mitchell Hall, you can avoid [Milo’s speech],” citing the posters scattered through campus.

“We want to provide a space for students to go who may be feeling ostracized,” she said, “[students] who may be feeling unwelcome on campus, especially after the distribution of posters this morning. To provide a space they can come and engage with other students that want them to feel safe and want to promote a campus of inclusion.”

Those choosing not to attend Yiannopoulos’ show missed such thought-provoking comedy as:

His portrayal of “a typical transgender individual,”

The three genders, according to Milo,

And him comparing transitional therapy to the historic use of shock therapy.

Carson called Milo’s invitation to campus “a gross neglect by the College Republicans” and said it shows a lack of understanding of some students’ day-to-day lives.

“I think inviting someone here that promotes such hate and bigotry,” she said, “it’s just disgusting. I think it really shows a lack of understanding, and maybe also on their part a lack of understanding of what he really stands for.”

Many members of the audience, such as sophomore Shan Siddiqui, came out of sheer curiosity, drawn by Yiannopoulos’ internet infamy and contentious views. He didn’t know much about Milo’s background, preferring to experience the event without spoilers.

“His ideas are kind of radical,” Siddiqui said, “and anytime I personally hear anything radical it kind of broadens my perspective. So that’s what I’m going for.”

Over 20 different student organizations and university departments criticized university president Dennis Assanis for not using his own free speech to condemn Yiannopoulos’ comments. Such a statement would have sent a powerful message to students who felt unwelcome on campus without stomping on Milo’s freedom of expression.

At the core of Yiannopoulos’ views, whether he believes them himself or not, is the sanctity of free speech. While others condemn him for hate speech and making students feel unsafe on their own campus, he relishes the controversy, inviting students to speak out.

“You can speak up,” he announced. “This is a traveling free speech zone. There is a mile-wide safe space for dissidents, mischief-makers and lovers of free speech.”

Although many audience members didn’t share Yiannapoulos’ intense views on other issues, free speech united them. Conservatives such as UD alumni and second-year law student Ariana Woodson who feel underrepresented on campus appreciated someone just bringing up controversial views for the sake of argument, even if they did not necessarily see eye to eye.

“Do I agree 100% with what Milo says? No. But he does raise valid arguments when it comes to different things such as Black Lives Matter, social justice warriors, and in this case, it was about transexuals and transgenders.

“I did appreciate the points that he raised, even if some of them were kind of radical for my own political beliefs. But I do appreciate him speaking out and giving a voice to some of the people who feel like they’ll be shouted down if they don’t have the right opinion.”

I asked if she had been shouted down for her opinion before:

“Uh, yes I have! I’m actually a black conservative, so I’m basically like a unicorn.

“I know if I come out with an opinion that people feel I shouldn’t have…I’ve been called an ‘Uncle Tom’ before; I’ve been called someone who mustn’t have gone through the ‘black struggle.’ So I have experienced that before and I don’t think it’s fair at all, which is why I appreciate people like Milo.”

(Photo courtesy of Ariana Woodson)

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