Joseph Zeballos-Roig

Senior Staff Writer

Milo Yiannopoulos is praised as a hero by the conservative right for his crusade against what they deem to be the political correctness of the left. A self-described “free speech extremist,” he is loathed by liberals who view his charged rhetoric as misogynistic, xenophobic and racist.

Most people, however, can agree that Yiannopoulos, the tech editor of Breitbart News, is adept at provoking passions on both sides of the aisle.

Come the evening of Sept. 23, the conservative firebrand will be making a stop at FSU. Hosted by FSU’s College Republicans, Yiannopoulos will be giving a speech as part of his “Dangerous F****t Tour” of college campuses across the nation.

According to James Dilmore, the chapter president of College Republicans, the decision to invite Yiannopoulos came after members voted in an internal poll over Facebook to select speakers they wanted to bring to campus. Popular choices included bestselling author Ben Shapiro and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Yiannopoulos came out on top.

“It was overwhelming, people really wanted to hear Milo,” Dilmore says. “Milo has a lot of popularity, not necessarily because people 100% agree with him, but over the last couple of years we’ve been trying to get behind the idea of free speech.”

Dilmore views political correctness as a problem at FSU, contending that the views of “one side” are held in a more favorable light. By hosting Yiannopoulos, he hopes to introduce another set of ideas and opinions to students.

“I don’t think we should be policing people’s thoughts and speech. Which unfortunately we do, just look at the free-speech zones – they really limit what people can do on campus,” Dilmore says. “We want to open up FSU to more diverse opinions since that’s not something we really have.”

Yiannopoulos, however, is a controversial figure who gained fame and notoriety through online trolling. Most notably, he was permanently banned from Twitter in July after sparking an online campaign of abuse against Leslie Jones, a co-star of the all-female reboot of “Ghostbusters.” Jones became the target of many racist and sexual remarks by Yiannopoulos’ followers, forcing her to stop using the social media site. Since Yiannopoulos’ ban, Jones has reactivated her Twitter account.

Another source of controversy is Yiannopoulos’ links to the alt-right, a loosely assembled group that exists mostly online encompassing those hostile to immigration, white supremacists and anonymous internet trolls. Having provided a high-profile voice for the fringe movement, Bloomberg Businessweek recently described him as “a new force in electoral politics.”

Despite Yiannopoulos’s far-right views, Dilmore says students must listen to opposing viewpoints and no speaker should be denied their right to free speech – regardless of how coarse their language or extreme their beliefs might be.

“I’m sorry, do words hurt your feelings? At the end of the day, I don’t agree with a lot of the things Milo says, nor do most of our members particularly,” Dilmore says. “We don’t as a club endorse Milo but at the end of the day, he makes a very valid point. We have to start pushing back against what seems to be an overwhelmingly liberal ideology coming from our schools. One way to do that is to be a little extreme.”

Given that Yiannopoulos’s visit to some campuses have been met with resistance – past appearances were interrupted by student protesters – Dilmore says adequate security will be on-hand at the event, though he respects the right of students to protest outside. He’s not concerned that the image of FSU’s College Republicans will be damaged by hosting Yiannopoulos, instead focusing on everyone’s right to free speech.

“The reason we bring him is more concerning our broad goal of free speech,” Dilmore says. “We’re not the Milo Yiannopoulos at Florida State University club, we’re College Republicans and we believe in bringing in a nice diverse set of speakers.”

Editor’s Note: The name of Yiannopoulos’ tour has been censored due to derogatory language.