Out Magazine Profiled Gay White Supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos and Twitter Issued a Take Down

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Out Magazine Profiled Gay White Supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos and Twitter Issued a Take Down

Out Magazine has profiled, interviewed and provided a photoshoot to notorious racist, Islamophobe, transphobe, and all-around bigot Milo Yiannopoulos.

Towleroad has previously covered Yiannopoulos’ banning from Twitter, his ‘Gays for Trump’ party at the RNC, his attempts to profit from his racism with a reality TV show, and his seemingly corrupt scholarship foundation. Writing an opinion piece for this site, I have also looked at Yiannopoulos’ proclivity for fame-whoring at the expense of human decency.

Out‘s profile, titled “Send In the Clown: Internet Supervillain Milo Doesn’t Care That You Hate Him”, elicited swift backlash online.

I just read the full @outmagazine profile of Milo. It’s so fucking flowery I don’t even think there’s any journalism in it.

— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) September 21, 2016

At multiple junctures, Out appeared to go out of its way to normalize Yiannopoulos, rather than highlight the ways in which he is the very definition of an extremist.

In the article’s headline, Yiannopoulos is described innocuously as an “Internet super villain.” As if this were a comic book and his actions didn’t have actual repercussions outside ‘the internet.’

And in the magazine’s photoshoot, Yiannopoulos is dressed and styled to amuse. Appearing in drag and also in a clown costume, the photos suggest that their subject is someone we should be entertained by rather than someone with whom we should be disgusted. Far from depicting Yiannopoulos as the anti-gay homocon white supremacist that he really is, he comes across as playful and harmless.

What most disturbs me about the Milo imagery is that he’s being sexualized — another instance of white guy getting a pass bc of thirst. pic.twitter.com/MxVpkMAydM

— Mathew Rodriguez (@mathewrodriguez) September 21, 2016

No publication, but ESPECIALLY not a gay one, should be glamorizing Milo like this. Just shockingly bad judgment. pic.twitter.com/Vd75pnV17s

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) September 21, 2016

The profile left many wondering why Out would provide Yiannopoulos with an additional mouthpiece to spread his hatred, and why they would physically portray him so benignly. To look at the images and to read the interview, Yiannopoulos is a mere provocateur. Not the racist infantile xenophobe he has proven himself to be.

Out provided an editor’s note to try and explain its decision to interview Yiannopoulos:

“It should not need saying that the views expressed by the subject of this piece in no way represent the opinions of this magazine, but in this era of social media tribalism, the mere act of covering a contentious person can be misinterpreted as an endorsement. If LGBTQ media takes its responsibilities seriously we can’t shy away from covering queer people who are at the center of this highly polarized election year, and we ask you to assess Milos Yiannopoulos, the focus of this profile, on his own words without mistaking them for ours.”

lol ok, @outmagazine pic.twitter.com/UA54JiLYm5

— shannon keating (@__keating) September 21, 2016

Reaction was immediate.

“If LGBTQ media takes its responsibilities seriously.” Fuck you @outmagazine. Your only responsibility is covering Nick Jonas’ abs. pic.twitter.com/daUXZUjVsk

— Ira Madison III (@ira) September 21, 2016

That editor’s note is such a cop-out. From the jokey clown costume to the very decision to offer Milo a platform, editors made these choices

— Gabe Gonzalez (@gaybonez) September 21, 2016

“Not an endorsement” @outmagazine, yet your author @Chadwick_Moore is all on Instagram with racists by the pound? pic.twitter.com/U98BVQhBZB

— Ira Madison III (@ira) September 21, 2016

The decision to feature a racist such as Yiannopoulos so prominently in Out came across as particularly tone-deaf given the endemic killing of innocent young black people at the hands of police officers in this country, to say nothing of the fact that the Republican nominee for president has elevated white supremacists to an alarming position of privilege within his own campaign.

I’m sorry, but black people are dying in the streets, and Out gave Milo a platform.

— Brandon Taylor (@brandonrambles) September 21, 2016

We have to stop pretending that elevating the trash antics of clowns like Milo and Trump to the level of discourse is anything but violence.

— Brandon Taylor (@brandonrambles) September 21, 2016

It is a farce, and it is violence. I don’t understand how this is difficult for people to grasp. DO. NOT. GIVE. TROLLS. PLATFORMS.

— Brandon Taylor (@brandonrambles) September 21, 2016

Acknowledging that someone uses racism and sexism to bolster their brand and then giving them a platform is tacitly endorsing them.

— Charles Pulliam (@CharlesPulliam) September 21, 2016

Out‘s profile on Yiannopoulos was also compared to Jimmy Fallon’s recent interview with Donald Trump, given the way each normalized their respective subjects.

I propose we trademark this type of buddy-buddy hair mussing of white supremacists in the media as “Falloning.”

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer) September 21, 2016

Out‘s piece on Yiannopoulos also revived a long-standing conversation about racism in LGBT media and the LGBT community more broadly speaking.

Queer people of color already knew about white supremacy in the LGBTQ community, but @outmagazine has propelled it forward by normalizing it

— Mathew Rodriguez (@mathewrodriguez) September 21, 2016

The post Out Magazine Profiled Gay White Supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos and Twitter Issued a Take Down appeared first on Towleroad.