Far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has given an interview in which he claims to be “ex-gay” and has chosen to “demote” his husband to a “housemate”.
The 36-year-old, who is known for giving controversial commentary, allegedly told LifeSite — a right-wing Christian news outlet — of the changes to his sexuality and marital status in an interview published Monday.
Mr Yiannopoulos claimed to have only “leaned-in” to being gay in the past because an outspoken and “handsome” conservative would “drive liberals crazy”.
“When I used to kid that I only became gay to torment my mother, I wasn’t entirely joking,” said Mr Yiannopoulos, who described the sexuality as a “lifestyle”.
“[I] only leaned heavily into it in public because it drove liberals crazy to see a handsome, charismatic, intelligent gay man riotously celebrating conservative principles,” said Mr Yiannopoulos.
The far-right commentator added that he was focusing on supporting “conversion therapy”, the pseudo practice that is widely banned outside the United States and outlawed in relation to minors in only 20 states.
“Given my new spiritual preoccupations,” said Mr Yiannopoulos, “over the next decade, I would like to help rehabilitate what the media calls ‘conversion therapy’.”
The former Brietbart editor went on to describe his so-called coming out as the lifting of a “veil”, although he admitted that his husband might not be pleased at being demoted to the role of “housemate”.
“It helps that I can still just about afford to keep him in Givenchy and a new Porsche every year. Could be worse for him, I guess,” said Mr Yiannopoulos.
Although he allegedly hinted in his book, “Dangerous”, that might be “coming out” as straight in the future, Mr Yiannopoulos’s interview with LifeSite marked the first time the far-right commentator had claimed he was “ex-gay” in an interview that marks such a U-turn for the firebrand it could almost be read as satire.
The revelations were widely derided by Twitter users on Wednesday, and left many in the LGBT+ community jokingly celebrating Mr Yiannopoulos’s so-called straightness.
George Takei, who played Sulu in the Star Trek franchise, wrote: “Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos now claims to be ex-gay’ and, as a gay man, I for one am ex-haling a sigh of relief.”
Musician and comedian Jay Jurden added: “We lost one y’all!! celebrate!!”
The controversial remarks follow Mr Yiannopoulos’s permanent bans by Twitter and Facebook for breaking hate speech rules in 2019, which forced him onto smaller conservative online platforms – and allegedly stripped him of funds.
