Dan Savage Gets Glitterbombed, Called Transphobic At University Of Oregon

Dan Savage may be one of the most high-profile gay rights advocates in the nation -- but that didn't prevent him from reportedly being glitterbombed during a visit to the University of Oregon yesterday.

Though details of the incident are continuing to emerge, reports say a representative from the "Dan Savage Welcoming Committee" rushed the stage to douse the celebrity sex columnist with glitter. A statement from the group reads as follows:

During this session, the operative leapt to the stage and poured glitter over Dan's head as they shouted, "Dan Savage is a transphobe!" As they turned tail, they added, "Glitterbomb courtesy of the Dan Savage Welcoming Committee," and just before they got out the door, "He's a racist and misogynist and a rape-apologist, too!" The operative then fled the scene.

Savage, who was on hand to tape an installment of his MTV show "Savage U," has faced allegations of both being transphobic and biased against bisexuals in the past. In 2010, he openly criticized Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna, noting, "It's staggering that Rob McKenna, a female-to-male transsexual, is making it harder for other FTMs (and MTFs) to access the life saving sex-reassignment surgery that allowed Rob to become the man he is today." (McKenna, who is married with four children, is not actually transgender). Similarly, Savage's earlier use of the term "shemale" in several of his "Savage Love" columns generated heat from transgender rights activists, as did his decision to title one piece "Bad Tranny."

Though he has yet to comment on the glitterbomb incident, Savage dismissed the allegations to David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement, noting that his view of the transgender community had shifted considerably in recent years. "How do you disprove a charge like you're transphobic? I'm not afraid of trans people," he said. "I certainly have had a journey in the last 20 years -- as have we all -- on trans issues. When I started writing 'Savage Love' 20 years ago, and you can yank quotes 15, 18 years ago and flat them up today and say, 'You know, that's transphobic,' I'd probably agree with you. [Fifteen] years ago I didn’t know as much as I know now -- nor did anybody."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified McKenna as being transgender. He is not.

Comments

[Brian Gorrell]

03:52 PM on 12/02/2011

Dan Savage is a legend.
Just google Santorum.

[pharmmajor]

01:59 PM on 11/14/2011

Dan Savage; more proof that anyone can be a big.ot.

[jellojello]

12:01 PM on 11/12/2011

I happen to be there the night Dan Savage got glitter bombed. Dan handled it beautifully, stating, "If I'm the enemy, then the war is over." Now that is the truth!

It was embarrassing to watch this woman do such a silly thing! Talk about misdirected energy.

[killing it all]

12:37 PM on 11/10/2011

Dan Savage got glitter bombed at UC Irvine last night, he then went on to explain the reason people do it. We make mistakes, we learn and then move on. All you trans lovers out there, you have balls so use them, and those who dont but want them, act like you have them, grow up and move on.

[eugenemyst]

12:56 PM on 11/06/2011

As with any protest, it's about drawing attention to the cause. Transgender issues face a lot of ignorance. Like Savage, I recall when my best friend came out to me and how hard I laughed and joked at him about it. He silently took it all until I realized he meant it. It seemed ridiculous to me because he is married, has children and is built like a freaking hunk.

I have changed more about the issue in these past three years (since that revelation) than in the past 30 years. I almost lost a best friend over it. I understand how it looks when the past ignorance catches up with you.

Transgender people have a difficult road that includes mostly educating every single person in their lives. I thought it was hard coming out as a gay man, and it was, but this.... wow. Only the strong need apply?

[eugenemyst]

07:30 PM on 11/06/2011

The above post meant for the second sentence start, "like Dan Saage.." to be posted at the start of the second paragraph.

[KaraC]

01:16 AM on 11/09/2011

What a great post. We all make mistakes and learn. I cringe when I think of stuff I said before I admitted to myself who I truly am. Fanned and faved!

[SteveDenver]

03:08 AM on 11/06/2011

What a waste of glitter and effort: Dan is probably the most likely to advocate everyone who is different from the norm.

[PostCapitalist]

12:46 PM on 11/05/2011

nikolasoddfellow
Hellooooooo
107 Fans
Become a fan

20 hours ago (4:12 PM)
I'm a gay man who finds ultra-fem hipster gay's annoying. Am I a homophobe?
_________________________________________
Your certainly entitled to your feelings. Why do you find them annoying?
Behavior ? or Appearance? It has become acceptable, sort of, to be gay if you look like your straight. People can pretend your normal. Our culture rigidly enforces gender stereotypes and of course punishes those who don't conform.

[ThisOneJethroQ]

01:33 AM on 11/05/2011

How do you prove you're not transphobic/biphobic? By apologizing for your previous statements. It doens't have to be a big gesture, just a few paragraphs acknowledgeing that your words have hurt people in the past, and you'll do your best not to do so again. As for the allegations of quotemining, the instance of the "s-m" word is from 2009.

He also didn't seem to comment on the racism allegations (which stem from his comments about the myth that Proposition 8 was passed by a disproportionate amount of black votes). He also argues to etymology about the alleged transphobia and biphobia. Much like homophobia, this isn't a question of fear, it's a question of dislike and dismissal.

@Joe: The other activists are actually doing work /making/ things better in small communities, not just making videos online saying it will, based on the personal anecdotes of the privileged few who have a supportive enough family and friends, and can at will just move to a new place.

[Jeffrey Marks]

08:31 AM on 11/05/2011

While I don't believe that the black vote caused Prop 8, every poll out there shows that the African American community is statistically significantly the group that is most against marriage equality. More than those over 65, more than other ethnic and racial categories, and in many cases, even more than the Republicans. Similar results have been shown in NY and MD. I don't think that it's a matter of dislike; in this case, it's a matter of fact that needs to be addressed as a hurdle to marriage equality.

[lambdin1]

01:18 PM on 11/05/2011

Well I agree and I'm 64. Everyone straight or gay has to make a journey in their own minds. I've watched all this for decades and particapated in some activities supporting gay men and women. While I do not know any transgender people, I'm not afraid of them. The people that I am afraid of are the straights. I've watched them turn on gays over and over again. Why blacks are against equality I'll never know. I know several black gay men. They can not answer the question either, other than it has to do with being macho macho men. Someday this will all become moot. Someday!

[PinkoPanther]

07:49 PM on 11/04/2011

I am very liberal (perhaps even more-so than Dan) but I don't like his writing style at all... I don't agree with his "cyber-bullying" techniques directed at his political enemies and I don't like the way he conflates unrelated subjects like "bareback porn" with "child pornography". I can totally understand why people might want to stand up to him occasionally.

[Jeffrey Marks]

08:32 AM on 11/05/2011

Bareback porn is dangerous to all involved and can encourage others to do the same. It can have deadly results. Would you rather he conflated it to snuff films?

[joe1964]

04:14 PM on 11/04/2011

So, Dan's contributions to gay rights include work on The Trevor Project and he is solely responsible for starting the It Get's Better Campaign.
The protesters known contributions, thus far, are glitter bombing Dan and spewing insults as he or she runs out the door.
Hmmmmm.

[PinkoPanther]

07:46 PM on 11/04/2011

Actually, Savage is not SOLELY responsible for creating anything... A lot of funding went into that and many people (including myself) were making those videos before he was.

[Valerie Keefe]

02:28 PM on 11/11/2011

I would mention that IGB, first of all, was started after Dan, once again, got heat for some particularly transmisogynistic statements...

Also, as this reviewer points out, Kate Bornstein (I'll kvetch about her some other time) used the phrase earlier and repeatedly in her book, "Hello Cruel World."

www.prettyqueer.com/2011/10/18/ya-book-review-hello-cruel-world-by-kate-bornstein

Substantive enough for you?

I have no problem believing that Dan is good at fighting for the concerns of cis gay rights. It's the rest of the movement that's concerned.

[nikolasoddfellow]

04:12 PM on 11/04/2011

I'm a gay man who finds ultra-fem hipster gay's annoying. Am I a homophobe?

[joe1964]

03:16 PM on 11/04/2011

O.K., he's not perfect. Dan is a wonderful human being who I greatly respect. He is certainly on "our" side in the fight. Does he need to be called out for his mistakes? Yes. Was using the same tactics on Dan that we would use on Santorum or Bachmann appropriate after all that Dan has accomplished.
NO!
Some little attention queen decided to to take the spotlight by bombing a friendly target. Dan may be in need of some evolution on trans issues and he may need to become more sensitive to the trans community in his language, but he really did not deserve glitter bombing or the libel that the "operative" spewed as he or she "bravely" ran out the door.
Next time, be a man, girl! You got something to say you stand there and say it!

[Valerie Keefe]

07:10 AM on 11/09/2011

I would say your angry degendering of the protester (whose methods I do not approve of, though I may find them apropos) making sure to throw the wrong set of pronouns at them regardless, and perpetuating the meme that trans people (this person was a cis ally by the way) are somehow universally bi-gendered/gender-confused speaks volumes, in addition to ticking off those people who might actually want that pronoun set but are made to feel the butt of a joke by extension.

[joe1964]

01:14 PM on 11/10/2011

Don't be silly. Gay men call each other girl all the time. As a gay man I see nothing wrong with it. As for "angry degendering" what the heck is that? Not only was I not angry when I wrote this I also did not see in the article anywhere where it stated the sex of the protester so I had to cover all the bases. I am afraid you are way off base with this reply.

[joe1964]

06:31 AM on 11/11/2011

Valerie, I have not yet received an admission that you were incorrect in your accusations of "angry degendering." I think that speaks volumes.

[wrrd up]

02:32 PM on 11/04/2011

I was there, he responded to the criticism but laughed it off for the rest of the Q&A. He kept jokingly referring to it throughout the hour.

[RinoReagan]

01:22 PM on 11/04/2011

Why can't people just be proud of what they are? If you're gay, be proud of it! If you were born a man/woman, be proud of that too! Sorry, but I'm all for LGB. Not so much for pretending you're something you are NOT.

[Shaedofblue]

04:29 PM on 11/04/2011

Well I'm proud of being genderqueer, and no longer pretending to be something I'm not, like I was required to for the first part of my life.

You are insisting that I go back to pretending. No.

Also, I was born an infant, and I feel really sorry for your mom if you were born either a man or a woman. *wince*

[KaraC]

07:16 PM on 11/04/2011

Maybe. But transgender people aren't pretending to be something they re not - they are trying to become who they truly are. Check the research.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

12:20 PM on 11/04/2011

Savage has been a tremendous force in fighting Gay bias for many years. For anyone to claim he is not a tremendous asset to our cause needs to do some research.....................He was instrumental in the It Gets Better program and giving rightwing hate spewing homophobes many a verbal and written bitchslap................

And to view his crowning achievement simply use the Googles and input "Santorum"..............