Dan Savage accused of persecuting Christians

[rtvc2012]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/05/03/the_flip_out_over_dan_savage_is_part_of_a_larger_agenda_to_silence_pro_gay_discourse_.html

File this under "can dish it out but can't take it".

[ironbite]

Oh that's what he said?

Ironbite-yeah that's just stupid.

[Smurfette Principle]

Dan Savage is a hateful ass, but in this case he is the lesser of two evils. Go, Slate.

[Fpqxz]

Dan Savage, in some respects, reminds me a bit of the late Christopher Hitchens, in that he manages to piss off allies and enemies alike.

[rtvc2012]

I think this video sums it up perfectly, if you think of Cartman as a homophobic Christian and Kyle as a LGBT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBotY5Bsi7I

[TheL]

Dan Savage, in some respects, reminds me a bit of the late Christopher Hitchens, in that he manages to piss off allies and enemies alike.

Yeah.  I love his column, but he can be a bit of a dick.  He's also somewhat transphobic, which makes It Gets Better look a lot more selfish than it was probably intended to be.

[Smurfette Principle]

Dan Savage, in some respects, reminds me a bit of the late Christopher Hitchens, in that he manages to piss off allies and enemies alike.

Yeah.  I love his column, but he can be a bit of a dick.  He's also somewhat transphobic, which makes It Gets Better look a lot more selfish than it was probably intended to be.

Transphobic, sexist, biphobic, the list goes on...

[Osama bin Bambi]

Dan Savage, in some respects, reminds me a bit of the late Christopher Hitchens, in that he manages to piss off allies and enemies alike.

Yeah.  I love his column, but he can be a bit of a dick.  He's also somewhat transphobic, which makes It Gets Better look a lot more selfish than it was probably intended to be.

He's not just transphobic. He's also biphobic, and doesn't seem understand lesbians very well either. Once in his column there was a lesbian who wrote in about her bisexual girlfriend who wanted to have a threesome with a man. Mr. Savage told this woman to dump her bisexual girlfriend and "find a real lesbian girlfriend." He has said on videos that he thinks most bisexuals are just trying to deny their homosexuality. His "proof" is that apparently most bisexuals end up marrying people of the opposite sex, instead of the same sex. No shit, Sherlock. There are more heterosexuals than homosexuals, so obviously there are fewer gay/bi partnerships than straight/bi partnerships. Later he said that bisexuals are responsible for their own struggles against biphobia, because they aren't doing enough to combat it. Dan Savage, a major LGBT icon, being a sexist shithead has nothing to do with it, apparently.

Another time, there was a straight couple who wrote in to the column. The wife had been raped and had trouble with intimacy ever since, but she still wanted to please her husband. Mr. Savage told her to "get over it."

Oh, and he once called a lesbian who said she didn't like oral sex "broken."

The "It Gets Better" campaign can basically be summarized as "You just have to stick this out. Then you can adopt a baby and move to Paris." It pays no attention to class limitations and is also a violent reassignment of guilt (the implication being that if you cannot endure anti-LGBT bullying, then you are not going to be happy as a person). Frankly I do not like the It Gets Better Campaign - there was always something about it that made me feel uncomfortable, even before I learned more about Dan Savage.

So yeah. Savage is a schmuck. That being said, it does bother me when Christians in the United States whine about being persecuted. They're only the dominant religious group in the country, after all.

[clockworkgirl21]

Dan Savage isn't biphobic at all, neither does he deny it exists. He just said he's a little skeptical when young people claim they're bisexual because a lot of gay teenagers claim to be bisexual first to sort of test the waters and see how their friends and family react. He said he realizes a lot of bisexual people end up in relationships with the opposite sex because there are more straight people around than gay people. He even mentioned a friend named Eric who is totally 50/50 bisexual. Even if he did believe bisexual people weren't real at some point, he doesn't believe it now. (I also want to add that he's snarky in nearly every column he writes. I've heard him give fake advice first, then real advice later. It's assholeish, yeah, but he isn't serious.)

As for "It Gets Better", Dan started it because he realized how difficult it can be to reach gay kids in communities that hate gay people. He didn't start it because he doesn't think we should do all we can do end bullying in schools. He started it because right now, some kids can't be reached because their lives only include people who hate what they are. The only thing they can immediately do is go online and hear from people who were in their situation and later lived happy lives. In fact, the whole "you can adopt a baby and move to Paris" thing is so wrong because Daniel said he feels celebrity additions in the campaign are less valuable, because he wants it mostly made of ordinary people. He didn't want to spread the message that the only way you can be gay and happy it to become a celebrity.

I'm not saying Daniel is perfect, but the above points were so unfair I couldn't let those go.

[Shane for Wax]

On the other hand, he is indeed Transphobic.

Perhaps I'm a transphobic bigot, but I honestly think waiting a measly 36 months to cut your dick is a sacrifice any father should be willing to make for his 15-year-old son. Call me old-fashioned.

Also, a rape apologist

I’m extremely sorry that you were raped, DRARS, although your baseless accusations of rape make me doubt you when you claim to be a survivor of rape. The feminist bloggers are going to accuse me of thought crimes: If a woman says she was raped then, by God, she was raped. (Tell it to the lacrosse team.) But if my reaction to your letter is a thought crime, I can only plead entrapment: I wouldn’t have had these illegal thoughts if you hadn’t sent me such a stupid letter in the first place.

But honestly, this fuckery about the Bible is him at his most tame.

[Smurfette Principle]

Dan Savage isn't biphobic at all, neither does he deny it exists.

Bullshit.

He just said he's a little skeptical when young people claim they're bisexual because a lot of gay teenagers claim to be bisexual first to sort of test the waters and see how their friends and family react.

That's still biphobic. Plenty of young people come out as bisexual and - guess what - are bisexual. The idea that bisexuality is a "stepping stone" or "hiding place" for closeted gays is precisely why a lot of people think bisexuality is something you can grow out of or use to hide your true identity.

Also, the exact quote: "I meet someone who's 19-years-old who tells me he's bisexual and I'm like, 'Yeah, right, I doubt it. I tell them come back when you're like 29 and we'll see.'"

That's not "a little skeptical," that's "I'm completely devaluing your sexual identity because I know more than you about who you love and are attracted to."

He said he realizes a lot of bisexual people end up in relationships with the opposite sex because there are more straight people around than gay people.

And then he said immediately after that those people lose touch with the community. He implied that he prefers bi people in queer relationships to those in straight relationships because they stop being activists. This is also bullshit: I don't stop being an activist just because I'm dating a man. I'm bi and I will always be bi, barring sexual fluidity, and I don't stop being part of the community because my partner is male.

He even mentioned a friend named Eric who is totally 50/50 bisexual. Even if he did believe bisexual people weren't real at some point, he doesn't believe it now.

Fantastic. However, having a bi friend is the same as having a black friend - just because you have one doesn't mean you're not ridiculously privileged and say offensive things. Also, not all bisexuals are 50/50, or 50/50 in the same way, or 50/50 all the time.

I'd also like to point out that he's said that bisexual men aren't very monogamous or into long-term relationships. That adds to the stereotype that bisexual people are cheaters, polyamorous, or untrustworthy.

He's amazing, whatever, but that doesn't mean he's not a biphobic piece of shit. He can be awesome in the white cis gay male community and still be a biphobic piece of shit.

[Askold]

He said he realizes a lot of bisexual people end up in relationships with the opposite sex because there are more straight people around than gay people.

And then he said immediately after that those people lose touch with the community. He implied that he prefers bi people in queer relationships to those in straight relationships because they stop being activists. This is also bullshit: I don't stop being an activist just because I'm dating a man. I'm bi and I will always be bi, barring sexual fluidity, and I don't stop being part of the community because my partner is male.

I think his point was that since a bisexual person who is in a relationship with a straight person is somehow a 'traitor' because they might appear to be straight and therefore do not face the same bigotry, discrimination and other problems that homosexuals suffer from. To me this sounds equal parts stupid and jealous.

I'd also like to point out that he's said that bisexual men aren't very monogamous or into long-term relationships. That adds to the stereotype that bisexual people are cheaters, polyamorous, or untrustworthy.

He didn't 'accuse' them of being polyamorous. He very specifically said that bisexuals will not be faithful EVEN in polyamorous relationships.


After hearing more about Dan Savage I finally realised what he reminds me about. He is like the fundie preachers who claim to defend "freedom of religion" but only want that freedom for their particular brand of religion and sometimes even demand taking that same freedom from anyone not of their faith.

[Smurfette Principle]

He said he realizes a lot of bisexual people end up in relationships with the opposite sex because there are more straight people around than gay people.

And then he said immediately after that those people lose touch with the community. He implied that he prefers bi people in queer relationships to those in straight relationships because they stop being activists. This is also bullshit: I don't stop being an activist just because I'm dating a man. I'm bi and I will always be bi, barring sexual fluidity, and I don't stop being part of the community because my partner is male.

I think his point was that since a bisexual person who is in a relationship with a straight person is somehow a 'traitor' because they might appear to be straight and therefore do not face the same bigotry, discrimination and other problems that homosexuals suffer from. To me this sounds equal parts stupid and jealous.

Especially considering that one might argue that gay people with beards are also traitors because they appear to be straight and thus aren't out and proud members of the community and don't suffer the same discrimination.

[Thejebusfire]

Conservative adults have called Jessica Alquist tons of worse names than that, but I guess we're just going to ignore that.

[gyeonghwa]

Conservative adults have called Jessica Alquist tons of worse names than that, but I guess we're just going to ignore that.

Conservative told Jessica Alquist they would rape her. Whatever Dan Savage said about the Bible is a thousand times more tamed.