Dan Savage and the walkouts

Dan Savage was recently in Seattle speaking at the National High School Journalism Conference; many found his speech offensive and walked out. This video made me uncomfortable, but I think it’s impressive that the Savage Love writer and It Gets Better campaign creator seemed unfazed by the negative response from his audience. He’s secure in his convictions, and even if his tone and wording were slightly abrasive, there is truth in his words.

“We can learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about gay people,” he said, “the same way we have learned to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore bullshit in the Bible about all sorts of things.”

It was astoundingly rude that so many people walked out. Even if they disagreed with what he was saying, you’re never going to learn things in life, especially if you want to be a journalist, if you’re unable to make it through uncomfortable moments. That’s usually where the story is, after all.

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