It Gets Better Co-Founder Apologizes For Calling Walk-Out Pansyass
Two weeks ago, the words of It Gets Better co-founder Dan Savage led some high school students and teachers to leave his lecture partway through. During his speech, he called passages of the Bible that blast homosexuality “bullshit” that we should collectively ignore in the same way we do passages about slavery, shellfish and masturbation. Following the exodus (pun intended), Savage called the walk-out “pansyass”, but after some time to think, he’s decided to clarify his comments and back away from a portion of his attack.
Taking to The Stranger, Savage clarified that his “pansyass” remark was supposed to be a commentary on the walkout itself and not those who participated in it, but reasoning there’s probably not ultimately a difference, he apologized for using childish names to address the issue.
As for the shots at religion itself, he clarified he wasn’t trying to argue Christianity is bullshit, merely that some ideas contained within the Bible are bullshit. I highly doubt many offended will be pleased with that portion of his apology, but then again, there wouldn’t be much of a point in him contradicting his own beliefs and acting sorry about something he truly believes in his heart.
In the end, you can’t please everyone, as well-intentioned as you might be. Telling homosexual kids that their lives can be full of promise, wonder and enjoyment after they leave school is a noble pursuit. So too is believing in something larger than oneself.
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Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.
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