Home » Admin » Wave Weekly » Gay rights activist Dan Savage speaks at JU, makes media waves with City Council comments

Gay rights activist Dan Savage speaks at JU, makes media waves with City Council comments

Sex advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage made some waves in local media Tuesday, Feb. 19, discussing the Jacksonville City Council at a media availability before his speech at Jacksonville University.

Dan Savage

First Coast News reported on Savage’s reaction to the council narrowly defeating HRO-296 last year. The measure would have protected the LGBT community from discrimination.

“The City Council needs to understand that this is not going away, the issue will be before them again, and they need to give up and give in, and give people this, or they’re going to be badgered about this for the rest of their political careers,” he told reporters. “When the government discriminates against people who are queer with DOMA (Defense of Marraige ACt), or (the now rescinded) Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, or your City Council here, it reinforces, in the heads of the bullies and the bigots, that they might be right. That they have a point.”

See the interview on First Coast News below:

Savage is co-creator of the “It Gets Better” videos, which encourage gay youths to stay strong if they are bullied. He spoke to JU students at the Kinne Center Tuesday evening, interacting with them and using frank language to answer their questions and discuss everything from cheating to healthy sex attitudes to relationships to religion.

“I like that he doesn’t sugar-coat anything,” 19-year-old JU student Jamie Richards told Folio Weekly for its story (click here to read). “He is consistent, and I really agree with his opinion on most topics.”

Savage told reporters before the event that college campuses should continue working to inform students that bullying doesn’t just hurt their targets, but the bullies themselves.

“At some point the rules change, and the things you could do in high school don’t fly in college,” he said. “You’re going to get hit with failure if you keep up that kind of activity in a college setting.”

Savage’s sex advice column, “Savage Love,” is syndicated in newspapers and websites throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. According to his biography from the CAA speaking agency, he is the Editorial Director of The Stranger, Seattle’s weekly alternative newspaper, and his writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Onion, and on Salon.com.

His bio also states:

Savage is also the author of several books, including Savage Love; The Kid: What Happened When My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant (PEN West Award for Creative Nonfiction, Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction); Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America; and The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family.

In addition to his appearances on CNN, MSNBC, and The Colbert Report, Savage is a contributor to Ira Glass’s This American Life, and has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, and ABC’s 20/20. Savage is a frequent and popular speaker on college campuses across the United States and Canada.