Colorado Politics

CU campuses to host PC-bashing Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos

Breitbart and the Dangerous Faggot Tour is coming to Colorado Springs and Boulder.

Next month Milo Yiannopoulos, a senior editor for Breitbart News, will speak at the University of Colorado Boulder on Jan. 25.  The controversy-baiting tour of college campuses moves to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs the next night.

Breitbart is the far-right conservative website founded by the late Andrew Breitbart, where President-elect Donald Trump’s chief adviser, Steve Bannon, was chief executive until joining the presidential campaign.

The topic? Social justice.

“He’s talking about really important issues, and he’s contentious,” Chris Kohl, president of the CU Boulder College Republicans, said in a statement. “I hope people who attend will listen to his message of challenging social justice ideologies without fear. That’s refreshing and not always popular.”

The Boulder event will be at 7 p.m. in room 100 of the Mathematics Building. In Colorado Springs Yiannopoulos will speak at 5 p.m. at The Upper Lodge on campus. Ticket information is available www.yiannopoulos.net.

The tour is courtesy of CU’s College Republican and Turning Point USA chapters.

A gay Jewish millennial, Yiannopoulos is a “cultural libertarian” and rising star in the alt-right movement. He rails against political correctness.

At previous stops, he has drawn protests. The speeches in Colorado are setting a stage for such theatrics on both campuses.

CU Boulder pointed out on its website that it has been home to events for  prominent liberals and conservatives, citing  Antonin Scalia, Karl Rove, Howard Dean, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Ashcroft, Ann Coulter and Rudy Giuliani, as well as a video conference with Edward Snowden

“Personally, I feel strongly that discrimination and harassment have no place on our campus,” CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano stated. “With that said, we must support the free exchange of ideas. I would hope that any speaker who comes here can present his or her opinions in a respectful manner.

“We understand that some topics will be supported by some students and denounced by others. Hosting a speaker on campus does not mean the university endorses or has other viewpoints on that speaker’s message.”

The College Republicans at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs posted a lengthy statement on its Facebook page, citing their constitutional rights and university policy. According to the statement, a group called Colorado Springs Antifascists is trying to get the appearance canceled.

“While we support Colorado Springs Antifascists’ right to express their opinions and demonstrate publicly, we do not find it acceptable for people who are associated with the group to use threats and intimidation as a means to coerce others to give into certain demands,” the College Republicans stated, adding:

We must make this very clear: UCCS CRs will never allow bullying to dictate our actions. It is well within Milo’s First Amendment right to speak at UCCS, and legally, the school cannot deny anyone the right to speak based off of their political views and ideology.


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