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Around the Region: Openly gay white nationalist’s Midwest tour hits a few snags

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Around the Region: Openly gay white nationalist’s Midwest tour hits a few snags

aroundtheregion

North Dakota
Anti-immigrant white nationalist, professional misogynist, and openly gay anti-transgender activist Milo Yiannopoulos was planned to “perform” his “alt-right” provocateur act at North Dakota State University next week, but the event was cancelled after organizers couldn’t pay the security fee, the Fargo Forum reports:

A planned appearance by a speaker from the alt-right publication Breitbart on the campus of North Dakota State University has been cancelled due to concerns that protesters and counter-protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline may appear and cause disruption or violence.

Milo Yiannopoulos, a public speaker and technology editor for Breitbart News, was scheduled to appear Dec. 16 at NDSU, an event first announced in August.

But the appearance was cancelled, Breitbart reported, because NDSU was going to impose a “large security fee increase.”

However, a spokeswoman for NDSU said the security fee was not increased in response to any security concerns.

“The security fee that was presented to the organizers is standard for these types of events,” said Sadie Rudolph, a spokeswoman for NDSU, in an email Sunday, Dec. 4.

Jamal Omar, an NDSU student and an organizer for the event, said it became clear that added security would be required to deal with protests and counter-protests that could escalate into violence.

Iowa
At Iowa State University, Yiannopoulos’ event is likely to be cancelled for lack of funds for security, KCCI reports:

Milo Yiannopoulos, a British journalist and editor of the right-wing news site Breitbart, is scheduled to speak at Iowa State University as part of his national college tour, but the college said it needs to charge more for security at the event after Yiannopoulos’ visits sparked protests on campuses.

But some students say university officials are trying to prohibit his speech because of the speaker’s ultraconservative views, which include being an outspoken critic of immigrants and feminists. His comments have led to him being banned from Twitter.
ISU sophomore Austen Giles started the group, ISU 4 Trump, and planned to bring Yiannopoulos to campus, paying more than $1,000 to book the Great Hall in the Memorial Union.
“Milo’s not fascist,” Giles said. “He’s a gay Jew. Milo makes fun of gay people, but he is gay. He makes fun of campus culture.”
But Giles said the university is trying to suppress Yiannopoulos’ conservative views with last-minute security fees after an email was sent saying the event required six officers.
“It’s ridiculous to say one week before the event, ‘Here’s $2,000 you need to pay,'” Giles said. “We’re not going to let the university be a racketeer. ’Oh, it’s now more money.’ That’s abuse.”

The Des Moines Register took a look at the increase in hate crimes across the state since the election of reality television actor Donald Trump:

Randy Lee Webster, a minister in Burlington, left his house at 8:15 a.m. Nov. 10 to pick up his 82-year-old mother for her weekly hair appointment.
Waiting for him, tucked in between the windshield blades of his truck, was a note.
“So, father homo,” it read. “How does it feel to have Trump as your president? They’ll put marriage back where God wanted it and take yours away.”
n the week since Election Day, incidents of harassment and hate speech have been reported across Iowa and the nation. Some of these events, like the note left to Webster, referenced President-elect Trump directly, while other situations have included off-color terms or hate speech without a specific reference to the election.
There isn’t scientific data to verify an increase in hate speech or harassment incidents post-Election Day or establish that the events are being fueled by the election results. But some experts, including Timothy Hagle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa, believe the timing is too coincidental for these incidents to not be related to the election.

Wisconsin

The Business Insider looked at the anti-transgender views of Trump’s potential Homeland Security nominee, a county sheriff from Wisconsin:

One of President-elect Donald Trump’s top candidates to run the Department of Homeland Security made eyebrow-raising comments about transgender individuals on his radio show earlier this year.
David Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, is reportedly a contender to lead the DHS and met with Trump in New York on Monday. Throughout Trump’s presidential campaign, he has been one of Trump’s more controversial allies.
On the June 25th episode of his podcast, “The People’s Sheriff,” Clarke claimed that transgender Americans have mental disorders and painted them as one of several groups who live a “freakish lifestyle.”
The sheriff cited Walt Heyer, a former transgender author who has called for parents of transgender Americans to be jailed.
“Folks, more evidence that transgender persons suffer from mental disorders more than physiological disorders,” Clarke said, introducing a segment on his show dedicated to Heyer’s columns.

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