Lauren Southern: Difference between revisions

Lauren Southern
Southern in 2016
Born	(1995-06-16) 16 June 1995 (age 29)[1] Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Education	Two years of a four-year undergraduate degree in political science
Alma mater	University of the Fraser Valley (did not graduate)
Occupation(s)	Political activist, internet personality[2]
Political party	Libertarian
Website	laurensouthern.net

Lauren Cherie Southern (born 16 June^[3] 1995) is a Canadian far-right^[a] political activist, Internet personality, and journalist^[4][5] associated with the alt-right.^[6][7][8] In 2015, Southern ran as a Libertarian Party candidate in the Canadian federal election. She worked for The Rebel Media until March 2017. In addition, she has written for Spiked,^[9] the International Business Times, and The Libertarian Republic.^[10] Southern continues to work independently and publishes videos on YouTube.

In 2017, Southern supported the white identitarian group Defend Europe opposing the action of non-governmental organizations involved in search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. She was detained by the Italian Coast Guard for blocking a ship embarking on a search-and-rescue mission.^[11] In March 2018, Lauren Southern was also detained while trying to enter the United Kingdom and officially banned from entering the country. A spokesperson for the British Home Office said that "her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good."^[12]

Southern was born in Surrey, British Columbia.^[13] She studied political science at the University of the Fraser Valley but only completed two years and did not receive a degree.^[7][14][15]

In 2015, Southern was a candidate in the 2015 Canadian federal election representing the Libertarian Party in the district of Langley—Aldergrove.^[14] She was briefly removed by the party as a candidate, but was eventually reinstated with support from Breitbart News and The Rebel Media.^[16] The election was eventually won by Conservative candidate Mark Warawa. Southern finished last, having received 535 votes, or 0.9% of the total.^[17]

In June 2015 while reporting on the Vancouver SlutWalk for Rebel Media, Southern's cameraman was shoved and Southern's protest sign stating "There Is No Rape Culture In The West" was torn up.^[18][19]

In March 2016, a protester in Vancouver poured a container of urine over Southern's head while she was engaging with LGBTQ protesters at a rally in Vancouver, arguing that there were "only two genders".^[20][21][22] Southern was mistakenly suspended from Facebook, having criticized the site for banning several conservative commentators. She later received an email apology from Facebook saying the suspension was an "error".^[23][24] In October 2016, Southern had her gender legally changed to male as part of a video produced for Rebel Media to show the ease of the new gender ID laws.^[25][26]

In 2016, Southern authored and self-published Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation.^{[27][non-primary source needed]}

In January 2017, Southern posted incorrect rumours from 4chan that the Quebec City mosque shooting had been carried out by Syrian refugees; she later deleted those tweets.^[28] In March 2017, Southern announced she would be leaving Rebel Media to become an independent journalist.^[29] In the same month, she gained access to White House press briefings.^[30][31] In April 2017, Southern was one of several scheduled speakers at a Patriots' Day rally in Berkeley, California.^[32] The rally led to a riot between pro-Trump demonstrators and anti-Trump counter-protesters.^[33]

In May 2017, Southern took part in an attempt organized by the identitarian group Génération identitare to block the passage of an NGO ship, the Aquarius (co-owned by SOS Mediterranée and Doctors without Borders), which was leaving Sicily to start a search-and-rescue mission for ship-wrecked migrants off the shores of Northern Africa. Claiming that the goal of the activists "was to stop an empty boat from going down to Libya and filling up with illegal migrants", Southern was briefly detained by the Italian Coast Guard. NGO ships often rescue migrants and refugees, who disembark from Libyan shores on unsafe makeshift rafts, and bring them to Sicily. ^[34][35] With regard to her actions, Southern stated that "if the politicians won’t stop the boats, we’ll stop the boats."^[11]

Southern supported similar actions by identitarian group Defend Europe, which chartered a vessel in order to track and stop what it called collusion between NGOs and human traffickers. The group has been accused^{[by whom?]} of intending to obstruct the rescue of migrants and refugees in distress at sea. In July 2017, Southern revealed that Patreon had deleted her account out of concerns about her "raising funds in order to take part in activities that are likely to cause loss of life."^[36] Southern denied these allegations, stating that Defend Europe's actions were likely to save lives and that none of her funding went towards the group.^[37]

In February 2018, Southern, along with Brittany Pettibone and Caolan Robertson, distributed flyers in the English town of Luton that said, "Allah is a Gay God".^[38]

In March 2018, Southern, Pettibone, and Pettibone's boyfriend Martin Sellner were all denied entry to the United Kingdom.^[39] Southern was also questioned under the Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.^[38] Her denial of entry was on the same grounds as Pettibone and Sellner.^[40] A representative from the British Home Office stated, "Border Force has the power to refuse entry to an individual if it is considered that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good."^[12]

Southern has been described as alt-right,^[b] far right,^[a] and right-wing.^[c]

Southern has advocated against European countries accepting refugees or other migrants from Africa and Asia. Southern has promoted Renaud Camus's "great replacement" theory that immigration would lead to white genocide.^[41] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has described Southern's Youtube videos as anti-feminist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and borderline white nationalist.^[42][43]

Southern has described South African farm attacks as "genocide" against white South Africans. Race is not accepted as the primary motivator of these attacks by the South African government or most NGOs.^[44]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Lauren Southern.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lauren Southern.

• Lauren Southern on X
• Lauren Southern at IMDb
• laurensouthern.net