Milo Yiannopoulos should not have been allowed in Australia, writes Susie O’Brien

PEOPLE are right to protest outside Milo Yiannopoulos’s Melbourne show. It’s not about stopping free speech, it’s about stopping the kind of speech that stirs up hatred, violence and intolerance, writes Susie O’Brien.

MILO Yiannopoulos should never have been allowed in this country and should not have been given the chance to spread his filth to the people of Australia.

MILO LATEST: WILD RIOT THE POLICE’S FAULT SAYS PROTESTER

People are right to protest outside his shows. It’s not about protecting free speech, it’s about stopping the kind of speech that stirs up hatred, violence and intolerance. While I am all for the free exchange of views on all sides, there comes a point when the views are so hateful, personally harmful and designed to provoke violent reactions that they should not be allowed to be heard.

It’s embarrassing Milo has been given the largest audiences outside the US in this country.

Milo Yiannopoulos should not have been allowed in Australia, writes Susie O’Brien. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Police use pepper spray to disperse protesters outside Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech last night. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Here’s five reasons why Milo should go — and not be allowed back:

1. He’s racist. A video released of him in October shows him smiling at a karaoke bar while a white supremacist gives Nazi salutes. He’s also talked about wanting Muslims sent back to the Middle East and says Muslims “are allowed to get away with almost anything”. He’s also criticised Aboriginal art, calling it “really sh*t”. He also attacked Waleed Aly, calling him a “coward” and attacking his wife Susan Carland for wearing the hijab, saying her uncles would throw acid on her otherwise. Carland is a Muslim convert who chooses to wear the hijab.

2. He’s a paedophile apologist who was videoed in February saying sex between adults and children was “not that big of a deal”. He said older men could help young boys “discover who they are”. He said such relationships can be “life affirming” and “hugely positive” for young boys and older men. He said there are some 13-year- olds who are capable of consenting to having sex with an older man.

Milo Yiannopoulos doesn’t like the Sydney Opera House. Photo Nathan Richter

3. He’s sexist. He was involved in the recent Gamergate controversy in which he attacked feminists video game players, which led to them being subjected to online abuse including rape and death threats. He says he’s for free speech, but he attacks anyone who disagrees with him, calling feminism a “cancer”. He’s also called rape culture a “fantasy” and has spoken out against fat acceptance. He’s even worn a T-shirt reading: “Stop being poor”. One speech he gave at a US university was called “Why ugly people hate me”. In Australia, recently he held up a photo of feminist Clementine Ford, with the word “unf***able” written on it. He also called her a “fatc***”.

4. He’s a hateful online bully who stirred up racist misogyny against actor Leslie Jones, who starred in the Ghostbusters remake. He called her a man and an ape. His 2016 tour was called “Dangerous Faggot” and included rants against feminism, political correctness, transgender rights, and Black Lives Matters. On that same tour, he outed a transgender woman and named her, saying: “The way you know he’s failed is I can still bang him”.

5. He’s suggesting middle-class white men are now doing it tough, creating a “Privilege Grant” for white men only which is exclusively available to white men who wish to pursue their post-secondary education on equal footing with their female, queer and ethnic minority classmates”. His tours are dangerous and divisive, leading to one man being shot at a US university in January. He says award shows and cultural events favour black people.

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