Milo Yiannopoulos Takes Transphobia on Tour

Milo Yiannopoulos is preaching hatred of the transgender community at colleges across the country.

The gay alt-right figure delivered an obscenity-filled rant Monday at the University of Delaware, where he vilified trans people as "mentally ill" and outlined a strategy for taking down the "trans lobby" that supports them.

"They are deeply mentally damaged, and they are failed by a liberal establishment obsessed with making them feel good about themselves," said Yiannopoulos, according to a transcript of the speech published on the conservative outlet Breitbart, where he serves as technology editor.

Throughout the screed, Yiannopoulos uses vile language and slurs to refer to trans people, calling them "trannies," "mutilated," "gay men dressing up for attention," and persons "obsessed with being victims and being given special rights."

Comparing gender dysphoria to anorexia, Yiannopoulos condemned gender confirmation surgery as a "travesty of medicine" and even equated it to "electro-shock therapy to cure homosexuality."

"Trannies can never be women, or men for the small slice of women insane enough to desire to give up female privilege," he said.

In his remarks, Yiannopoulos also praised North Carolina for passing the controversial legislation House Bill 2, which denies trans people the right to use restrooms and other public facilities that correspond with their gender identity.

"The bathrooms of North Carolina are one of the last meritocracies left in America," he said. "Isn't that a bit sad? A tranny that can pass as a woman can walk into any women's bathroom in the state."

Yiannopoulos outlined a strategy that would seek to fight the progress of the transgender rights movement, which included supporting transphobic legislation like HB 2 and boycotting businesses that support trans rights. He also advised the LGBT community to "drop the T" and even encouraged verbal abuse toward trans people.

"Never feel bad for mocking a transgender person," he declared. "It is our job to point out their absurdity, to not make the problem worse by pretending they are normal. Much like fat-shaming, if our mockery drives them to get the help they need, we may save their life."

Ironically, Yiannopoulos justifies his hateful rhetoric by claiming he is speaking for the best interests of trans people, including their health and wellness. He cites statistics from the Williams Insitute that detail the high rates of suicide among transgender women. He attributes this epidemic to depression caused by "having their genitals mutilated," rather than vitriol such as his own that fosters a culture of intolerance, which in turn leads to the historically high homicide rate of trans women.

The speech at the University of Delaware is part of Yiannopoulos' Dangerous Faggot Tour, which includes stops at over 20 colleges and universities. The British firebrand called it a "travelling safe space for truth, justice, and the American way."

Prior to his stop at the University of Delaware, posters promoting his appearance appeared on campus with the words "trannies are gay" stamped over the faces of Caitlyn Jenner and Michelle Obama. Another read "trans = mentally ill."

Yiannopoulos has risen to notoriety through his attacks on marginalized communities and their members. A member of the alt-right, he supports Donald Trump, whom he calls "Daddy," and helmed a racist and misogynistic social-media campaign against Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, which resulted in his ban from Twitter.

Despite this ban, Yiannopoulos has still been given a voice through mainstream and LGBT outlets alike. Out magazine sparked a firestorm of controversy for printing a multi-page spread of Yiannopoulos, which included a clown-themed photo shoot. The piece was condemned by a coalition of high-profile LGBT journalists and media figures, including several Out writers, who described it as a "puff piece" that "empowers his vile rhetoric, hiding behind the veneer of false equivalency that has plagued 2016 election coverage."

Out magazine defended the piece, stating in an editor's note "that the views expressed by the subject of this piece in no way represent the opinions of this magazine" and "we can't shy away from covering queer people who are at the center of this highly polarized election year."

However, as Yiannopoulos himself stated in his remarks at the University of Delaware, "When you put someone on a magazine cover, you aren't just saying: look at this person. You're saying: be like this person."