Militant feminism could be the subject of a talk if a controversial journalist is allowed on campus later this term.
Milo Yiannopoulos accepted an invitation from the UKIP Association to speak following the outrage surrounding the University’s decision to cancel its commemoration of International Men’s Day (IMD).
YUSU President Ben Leatham has said he will lobby the University to ban Yiannopoulos from campus if students wish him to do so, after a Facebook event protesting his appearance attracted nearly 200 attendees.
He said: “YUSU does not have a no platform policy and as a result, whether or not to welcome Milo Yiannopoulos to campus is not our decision to make.
“In the absence of a firm decision from the university myself and the YUSU officer team are preparing to conduct a short poll which will be open for a 24 hour period starting at 10am on Thursday.
“This will be a snapshot of student opinion, it is not a referendum and will not form policy but will be used as evidence to lobby the university based on student views.
“We are committed to free speech. We are also committed to respect.
“This poll won’t be about Milo’s views or the presentation of his agenda.
“It’s about whether York students wish to bring onto their campus a man who has made unpleasant and personal remarks direct to our students on social media and written journalistic accounts of events at York that have caused outrage within the student community.
“As always we want to accurately represent the views of students so urge readers and the wider student body to participate.”
Milo, the technology editor for divisive online news outlet Breitbart.com, wants to give a talk titled ‘Militant Feminism is Driving the Sexes Apart’.
Nearly 200 students have clicked attending on a Facebook event for a protest against the talk.
The event said: “A few days ago Mr Yiannopoulos used his right-wing media platform to blame the death of a student on a fellow student.”
The event, organised by the York Student Socialist Society, accuses Milo of hate speech and criticises him for, in their view, blaming feminism for a student’s death.
The protesters say “this is not a no-platforming event.”
On the event page one student wrote: “I’m furious. This man cannot be allowed to speak at our university after targeting York students.”
Another student on the same page defended Milo’s appearance in the name of free speech saying: “I don’t agree with protesting a person who is coming simply to speak, no matter what his previous crimes are.”
The contrarian wrote an article on November 18 linking the suicide of a male student to the University’s cancelling of IMD.
Although the piece criticised the University for not taking mental health seriously, an article written by Milo earlier this year called ‘I’m Worried Not Enough Teenagers are Self-Harming’ described self-harmers as “the most narcissistic people on the planet.”
The right-wing firebrand has also written articles on topics such as why women should get paid less than men because they don’t work as hard, why only the wealthy should be allowed to vote and the natural predisposition to violence of lesbians.
It is not only feminists that have been on the receiving end of Milo’s ire.
After the Paris attacks, Yiannopoulos wrote a controversial article titled “I’m a Gay Man and Mass Muslim Immigration Terrifies Me.”
Milo rose to prominence after his reporting on the GamerGate scandal, where he described video game critics as “sociopathic feminists”.
Hurrah for free speech! Unless people vote they don’t want it.
Can I vote for lefty liberals to not be allowed to vote?
Many people have been saying this already but if your way of thinking is so fragile & weak that just hearing the other side is enough to destroy it, maybe you’re wrong. And of course, get professional help. Getting “triggered” is not a problem for normal people.
I feel like this concession to a vote is actually worse than doing nothing.
Accepting that “It’s about whether York students wish to bring onto their campus a man who has made unpleasant and personal remarks direct to our students”, it does not make sense that the decision should rest on a poll.
The issue as portrayed by the YUSU President here is one of a threat to the welfare of certain members of the student body, and as such it is the responsibility of the Union and the University to take the appropriate measures in the interest of student welfare.
Given that Mr Yiannopolous attempted to smear the University, they would be very much within their rights to deny him the opportunity to speak on its campus.
Milo is life, Milo is love
Stage you own event and put an alternative viewpoint or turn up at his event and put questions to him, he’s happy to engage. If you just try to stop Milo’s freedom of speech then you are hyprocrites.
Aww, the widdle crybaby college kids can’t handle the fact that there are dissenting opinions on this planet. Worse yet, they practically sh!t themselves in a tantrum when they learn there are FACTS that prove they’re worthless human beings.
So they whine and b!tch and cry until their de facto daddies come in and stop people from talking to them. Good God how did these people graduate middle school?
Freedom of speech exists (and must exists). Freedom of speech does not mean one has a duty to listen. If you don’t like the fact this guy is coming to speak, get over it and don’t go. You will not be harmed or made to feel vulnerable because you won’t be listening.
1 Milo is as valuable as 100 #SJW. Fact.
““We are committed to free speech. We are also committed to respect.”
Disagreement =/= disrespect.
Even if it does, respect isn’t a right…
Let’s do some math! York has 53,000 students, according to Google. 200 students are very upset and want to protest Milo talking at their university. 200 makes up .37% of the student population. Why is the campus being dictated to by under .4% of it’s student population?
Edit: The University of York actually has 16,000 students. It’s York University in Canada that has 53,000 students.
So first the feminists demanded the IMD event was cancelled, now they’re demanding the uni ask their approval before inviting speakers…. all in the name of ‘equality’. They’re starting to sounds like the taliban with vaginas,
And people wonder why feminism has become a dirty word?
So a Trotskist organisation (the Socialist Party who are behind the student group) who seek a violent revolution and civil war get to decide who speaks and who doesn’t.
What could go wrong?
A quick google search later and I discover NOT that Milio thinks women should get paid less but some jobs are more dangerous, dirty, unsanitary, difficult, have longer hours and are often outside and these get paid more.
Women are welcome to do them. But the generally don’t want to.
“Journalist”
…right.