Gay professional troll Milo Yiannopoulos, a racist, misogynist, and loud transphobe, signed a book deal recently and one would think the world had ended. Immediately, gay groups and progressive activists began badgering publishing house Simon and Schuster, urging it to call off the deal – which had an advance of $250,000, according to the Hollywood Reporter – and posting online petitions asking that Amazon not sell it. Actually Threshold Editions, the designated right-wing imprint of Simon and Schuster, is publishing Yiannopoulos' book. And yes, he is a hateful man who revels in pushing buttons and making outrageous comments because he knows it will generate a reaction. Yiannopoulos, a writer at Breitbart News, will be at UC Berkeley February 1 spewing his insults even as media outlets report campus security will be increased during his "Dangerous Faggots" talk, which is sponsored by the Berkeley College Republicans.
But after the decades of censorship that the LGBT community has experienced – making the sending of sexual materials through the mail illegal, being ignored or reviled by the mainstream media – our community should be mature enough not to feed into what's turned out to be loads of publicity for Yiannopoulos before his memoir, titled "Dangerous," is even published. Already banned from Twitter for his racist tweets about "Saturday Night Live" star Leslie Jones, his aim is to manipulate a collective rise out of progressives – and give cover to fellow alt-righters to cheer him on. A darling of the alt-right, there's no doubt that he has expressed repugnant views. The alt-right, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "is a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that 'white identity' is under attack by multicultural forces using 'political correctness' and 'social justice' to undermine white people and 'their' civilization. Characterized by heavy use of social media and online memes, alt-righters eschew 'establishment' conservatism, skew young, and embrace white ethno-nationalism as a fundamental value."
Threshold Editions may have identified Yiannopoulos as a "possible future" of conservative thought, according to a Vox article; and Yiannopoulos himself has suggested his book is the "moment" he goes mainstream. That is scary. If his book is successful it will prompt publishers to ink similar deals, conferring legitimacy on a brand of hate that is repulsive.
What progressive advocates should be concerned about is the value of freedom of speech. If protesters are successful in shutting down Yiannopoulos' book deal, that would be troublesome. What happens when someone doesn't like a book by a liberal LGBT person, or rails against a left-leaning publishing imprint over a deal with a progressive queer person? In these last couple of weeks before the beginning of the Trump administration, this is an issue worth pondering. Republicans will control all three branches of the federal government, and we have already seen business leaders and politicians jump when President-elect Donald Trump tweets. Just this week, after House Republicans eviscerated the Office of Congressional Ethics, Trump tweeted his disapproval and viola, the GOPers reversed themselves in less than 24 hours.
Boycotts should be used cautiously and as a last resort in specific circumstances. The state of North Carolina, for example, found itself in the crosshairs last year over the passage of its anti-trans bathroom law. Various sports organizations – from the NBA to the NCAA – moved games or tournaments out, costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. The law remains on the books after a recent special session to repeal it failed. But that's different from targeting a person because of their speech. In this case, the state is actively discriminating against a group of people, and it's up to opponents of the law to engage in peaceful protest while demanding that responsible companies take action. It's been very successful in calling attention to the issue.
Twitter's banning of Yiannopoulos is again different and does not constitute censoring free speech. He was found to be in violation of the social media company's terms of service and booted off. There is no constitutional right to be on social media.
But speech is different. Yiannopoulos is a provocateur, much like the late Fred Phelps and his clan, showing up at funerals carrying their "God Hates Fags" placards. It's often those with disgusting worldviews that shout the loudest, but that doesn't mean we have to listen – and we shouldn't.
There's an easy remedy – don't promote or buy Yiannopoulos' book.