Controversial far-right figure and conversion therapy advocate Milo Yiannopoulous is now an intern for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), her office confirmed Monday in a statement praising his “ex-gay” status, the latest in a series of anti-LGBTQ actions from the congresswoman.
Yiannopoulos, who was spotted with Greene multiple times recently, first announced he was working as an unpaid intern for Greene in a Telegram post, writing his “friend” had “persuaded [him] out of retirement.”
Greene’s office confirmed Yiannopoulos’ hire to Forbes, having earlier done so to The Hill and the Daily Beast.
Once a popular figure in right-wing media, the 37-year-old former Breitbart editor was reduced to relative obscurity in recent years, notably receiving a lifetime ban from Twitter in 2016 and getting disinvited from the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2017 over comments he made supporting sexual relationships between “younger boys” and older men.
More recently, Yiannopoulos declared himself to be “ex-gay” last year and his Telegram bio says he is “opening a clinic in Florida for men plagued by same-sex attraction.”
Greene’s hiring of the backer of conversion therapy, a practice banned by 20 states, comes just five days after she called for the end of Pride Month and baselessly claimed the Uvalde, Texas shooter cross-dressed and wore eyeliner, echoing a lie pushed by Rep. Paul Gossar (R-Ariz.) that the shooter was a “transsexual.”
“So I have an intern that was raped by a priest as a young teen, was gay, has offended everyone at some point, turned his life back to Jesus and Church, and changed his life. Great story!,” Greene said in a statement to Forbes provided by her communications director, Nick Dyer, also provided to other politico.com/minutes/congress/06-6-2022/greenes-provocative-intern/" href="https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/06-6-2022/greenes-provocative-intern/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" aria-label="outlets" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/06-6-2022/greenes-provocative-intern/">outlets.