Right-wing activist Lauren Southern touches down in Brisbane wearing an 'It's okay to be white' T-shirt. Photo / Twitter
Right-wing activist Lauren Southern touches down in Brisbane wearing an 'It's okay to be white' T-shirt. Photo / Twitter
Controversial YouTube star Lauren Southern appeared on Sky News Australia last night β and she made one point very clear.
Controversial alt-right YouTube star Lauren Southern has appeared on Sky News Australia making it clear that she is "happy to be white".
Lauren Southern. Photo / Supplied
The 23-year-old Canadian activist, who touched down in Australia yesterday, told Sky News host Rita Panahi that she feels "zero shame whatsoever for being white."
"If I were black I could say I'm proud, if I were Asian I could say I'm proud, if I were any other ethnicity I could say I'm proud because that's how our culture is, but if I'm white and I say I'm proud the media will go nuts."
Ms Southern, who previously worked for Canadian website Rebel Media, was barred from entering the UK earlier this year for distributing "racist" flyers reading "Allah is a Gay God" and "Allah is trans" outside a restaurant in the English town of Luton.
Ms Southern is in Australia to headline a tour that advocates for free speech.
She was originally denied access from entering the country, but her visa was approved by the Home Affairs Department on Tuesday.
After landing in Brisbane on Friday sporting a "It's okay to be white" T-shirt, Ms Southern claimed to have received online rape threats.
Right-wing activist Lauren Southern touches down in Brisbane wearing an 'It's okay to be white' T-shirt. Photo / Twitter
"I was just reading the comments on the article that came out about the 'It's okay to be white shirt', and someone was saying, 'I hope she gets raped'," she told
She told the publication she believed the "unprecedented" number of hurdles being put in her way to enter Australia were due to her criticism of radical Islam.
"There are so many people that are offended by debate and free speech that sometimes governments cower. It's just way easier to play into the hands of people who are totalitarian," she said.
"I have criticised radical Islam, I have criticised the increasing blasphemy laws that are being brought into our societies. You won't see Christians violently attacking people for criticising their religion like you do with Islam, things like the Charlie Hebdo attack."
The outspoken activist will tour Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland alongside commentator Stefan Molyneux later this month.
Ms Southern's visit will also feature screenings of her documentary film Farmlands, which delves into the racially charged issue of South African farm killings.
The alt-right activist has also revealed that she plans to have dinner with Pauline Hanson after receiving a Tweet from the One Nation Leader on Tuesday.
"Sorry to hear about your trouble getting a visa @Lauren_Southern," the senator tweeted.
"If you are still in Oz when Parliament sits in August you have an open invitation to dinner. "I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the situation in South Africa & on Islam.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Telegraph, the activist said Australians should be allowed to own guns to protect themselves against a "totalitarian" government.
"I think the Americans have it right. The idea of having guns is essentially to protect yourself from a totalitarian government," she said.
Sorry to hear about your trouble getting a visa @Lauren_Southern.
If you are still in Oz when Parliament sits in August you have an open invitation to dinner. Iβd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the situation in South Africa & on Islam.
Good luck with your tour -PH
— Pauline Hanson π¦πΊ (@PaulineHansonOz) July 10, 2018
"You can see that, for example, in Paris β where they have horrific shootings and terrorist attacks, the theatre attack, the Charlie Hebdo attack. They have some of the strictest gun laws in the world in France yet these horrific attacks and shootings still happen. Unfortunately there will always be bad people and bad people don't follow the law."
Australia has had just one mass shooting β a domestic violence incident β since former Prime Minister John Howard banned semiautomatic and other military-style weapons in 1996. America has had 154 this year alone.
During her week-long visit in Australia Ms Southern, a friend of confessed troll Milo Yiannopoulos, told The Daily Telegraph there would be heavy security at her shows to protect herself from "crazy protesters". She said she regularly received death threats.
Last year Immigration Minister Peter Dutton allowed Kathy Griffin into Australia to parade around on stage with Trump's severed head. But now @Lauren_Southern can't get into Australia because she once joked about Islam? Turnbull Government priorities. pic.twitter.com/B7bVJOWKlc
Spread the word that @Lauren_Southern wasn't banned from Australia because of 'free speech', rather she figured she'd try a tourist visa instead of a business travel visa. She either planned on working illegally, or had no intention of coming. https://t.co/2tWrsVu8BTpic.twitter.com/n2PgyZL33O
— Mike Stuchbery ππ· (@MikeStuchbery_) July 9, 2018
