Add a furry convention in Rosemont, Illinois, alongside the entire country of Australia to the list of places where alt-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos is officially banned from entering.
https://twitter.com/jaredlholt/status/1173681463817986048
This morning, Jared Holt via Right Wing Watch reported that the prominent furry convention Midwest FurFest was in the process of investigating what to do about Yiannopoulos’ registration to the convention after receiving messages of concern from other attendees. Mere hours later, Midwest FurFest has now definitively decided to completely cancel Yiannopoulos’ registration for the event and bar him from all future Midwest FurFests.
We have received a number of mentions and support tickets today – we assure all attendees that your safety is of the utmost importance and is not being ignored. We are investigating all concerns being relayed to us.
— Midwest FurFest (@FurFest) September 15, 2019
Yiannopoulos recently announced via his Telegram messaging channel that he had adopted the fursona of a snow leopard and purchased tickets to attend Midwest FurFest. Additionally, Yiannopoulos claimed that he had submitted a proposal to host a panel at the event called “The Politics of Fur.”
While Yiannopoulos’ possible attendance sparked mass disapproval within the furry community, some sub-communities such as the Furry Raiders warmly welcomed Yiannopoulos. According to their website, the Furry Raiders are “committed to upholding the values of free speech and expression within the furry community.” The group was founded in 2007 through the then-popular MMO Second Life. A prominent identifier for members of the Furry Raiders is a red armband featuring a white circle encompassing a black paw print. Sure, that definitely isn’t a thinly veiled nod to Nazi imagery.
https://twitter.com/Furry_Raiders/status/971340202424786950
https://twitter.com/Furry_Raiders/status/1173322482033389568
This desperate bid to appeal to the furry demographic and adopt a new grift comes shortly after Yiannopoulos lamented how much his livelihood has been affected by his consistent deplatforming. Telegram posts from Yiannopoulos last week reveal that he is at the end of his rope in terms of making a living as an online figure. Yiannopoulos said that he “can’t put food on the table this way” with the relatively small audience of 19,000 that he maintains on Telegram—one of the few platforms he hasn’t been banned from.
https://twitter.com/witchofpeace/status/1170945244185210881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1170945244185210881&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailydot.com%2Flayer8%2Fyiannopoulos-complains-telegram%2F
Disclosure: Milo Yiannopoulos was the founder of the Kernel, a publication the Daily Dot acquired in 2014.
READ MORE:
- Milo Yiannopoulos is dissatisfied with the living he makes from Telegram
- What does ‘yiff’ mean, and why do furries use it?
- Milo Yiannopoulos launches Patreon campaign, gets banned within 24 hours
H/T Right Wing Watch