Uproar after UKIP society invite Milo Yiannopoulos

Earlier this week York Uni UKIP invited Milo Yiannopoulos to present a talk at the University entitled ‘Militant Feminism is driving the sexes apart’.

As of yet, neither YUSU nor the University have made a final decision regarding the event.

Earlier this week, Yiannopoulos published an article on the site Breitbart entitled “Male University of York Student Commits Suicide on Day His University Ditches International Men’s Day After Pressure From Feminists“.

Last month, Manchester University’s Student Union banned him from speaking at an event on feminism and free speech. A spokesperson from Manchester SU said “We have been made aware of various comments lambasting rape survivors and transpeople, and as such we are concerned for the safety of our students on the topic of this event. He is a rape apologist and has repeatedly used derogatory and debasing ableist language when describing members of the trans community”.

“As such, this undermines the principles of liberation enshrined in the Students’ Union, as outlined in the Safe Space policy. We believe these views could incite hatred against both transpeople and women who have experienced sexual violence. As we believe it is probable these views would be aired in this discussion should he be allowed to speak on campus, we have no choice but to ban him.”

“As we made clear to the society, this means that this event with the proposed speakers will not be going ahead under the banner of the Students’ Union, with our support or using our resources.”

The Chairman of York Uni UKIP, Fred Bowron, has since apologised – however the Facebook event has not been cancelled.

YUSU are yet to comment on whether or not the event will be going ahead.