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Catholic group wants a Dan Savage apology

May 9, 2012 @ 3:40 am (Updated: 5:53 am - 5/9/12 )

Another Dan Savage speech, another group offended.

SavageSeattle's Savage is on a roll. He offended a group of high school journalists, and now he's upset Catholics with an appearance at Elmhurst College in Illinois.

Video footage (below) shows the gay rights activist engaging in an anti-Catholic rant that implies homosexual children are beaten "because of religion."

As Savage talked about same-sex marriage, much of the audience was laughing and clapping.

Savage got a loud response when he said, "What the Pope is saying is the only thing that stands between my d**k and Brad Pitt’s mouth is a piece of paper. I love that thought."

All of Savage's comments are things he's said before, including a quote that children "watch their parents beat up gay people from afar with their checkbooks and their votes. They feel entitled to beat up that gay kid in that school, because the adults in their lives are doing and giving their blessing to it, because of religion."

When Savage spoke to the National High School Journalists convention in Seattle in April, he told the crowd to "ignore the bull---t in the Bible about gay people" and described the reaction of a number of students who walked out as "pansy-assed." He later apologized for those comments.

Now another apology is requested - not from Savage but from Elmhurst College. Catholic League President Bill Donohue wants the president of Elmhurst, Dr. S. Alan Ray, to formally apologize for Savage's remarks on his campus.

Donohue tells the Catholic News Agency, "They had to have known about Dan Savage’s history of offering obscene anti-Catholic rants when they asked him to speak at the campus chapel."

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Comments (35)


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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    A liberal...apologize?
    May 9, 2012 5:16 am
    Might as well wait for he// to freeze over. They are never wrong.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    SAVAGE...
    May 9, 2012 11:39 am
    does NOT represent "LIBERALS" as a group. just like YOU don't represent ALL conservatives, we hope.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tbookout17 wrote...
    yeah but
    May 9, 2012 5:32 am
    He would probably just ask for more
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Savage bigotry
    May 9, 2012 5:55 am
    Were the kind of Catholic hatred from a bigoted demigod to spew from a protestant church, or a mosque, or a synagog, it would rightly be called 'hate speech'. And likely condemned by the Left. ............. But let it be said by a self-proclaimed spokesman for the gay variant of secular humanism, and the Left claps and cheers. ......................... But hate is hate is hate is hate. And all hate begets is more hate. .................. When does the gay community realize that creatures like Savage actually HURT acceptance ???????
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Ron?? "The left claps and cheers"?
    May 9, 2012 6:17 am
    How does "the left" clap and cheer? How does "the right" clap and cheer? Neither the left or right clap and cheer. *Individuals* on the left or the right might clap or cheer. In what way is everybody to the left of you responsible for the most ridiculous actions of some individuals who are to your relative left?

    In what way is everybody on the right responsible for the most ridiculous actions of some individuals who are well to the right of the general population?

    There is little difference between a stereotype of everybody on the right, everybody on the left, and the type of stereotypes that Dan Savage claims gay people are subjected to by Christians. Savage himself stereotypes Christians in these anti-Christian rants of his. You ought to consider being more enlightened than Savage- he could use some work.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    CG : The Left clapping and cheering
    May 9, 2012 6:30 am
    is reference to the story post of an audience 'laughing and clapping.' - and I don't think they are on the right side of the spectrum. .............. No, 'the left' should not be stereotyped. But why do few on 'the left' ever condemn the Dan Savages (or Bill Mahrs) of this world ? .. Too often, such views are seen as 'politically correct', or at the least given a pass. .. And 'the left' far too ofter labels anyone who even objects to a Dan Savage, 'a bigot'. ................... You might also ask yourself why, few others leaning left, can exercise the fairness you express.
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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    I think he's saying
    May 9, 2012 7:24 am
    You will find plenty of people decrying hate speach from the right, but you only hear crickets when looking for condemnation of Dan Savage's comments. His attack on Rick Santorum was clearly a fabrication if anyone bothered to look at the transcript. Yet Dan Savage's lies are continually repeated and echoed by the left.
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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    We can disagree
    May 9, 2012 7:19 am
    on aspects of social policy without hating another person. Well said Mr. Prevost.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    KIRO's man of the year
    May 9, 2012 5:59 am
    Your station made him the person he is today....a d**kwad
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  • CH wrote...
    Bush...apologize?
    May 9, 2012 6:05 am
    Might as well wait for he// to freeze over. He was never wrong. What this punk needs...Is a good old fashioned arse whoopin'.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    The Dalai Lama is a also a hatefull bigot!
    May 9, 2012 6:16 am
    "A Western friend asked me what harm there could be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it," the Dalai Lama continued, warming to his theme. "But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don't create life. I don't mind -- but I can't condone this way of life."
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  • Cash wrote...
    Why can't
    May 9, 2012 6:21 am
    Savage just be gay and go on about his life like most gay people? Is that all his life revolves around is being gay and hating everyone else who is not? I frankly don't give a hoot about who is gay and who is not and I am just assuming that the vast majority of people don't care either. Being straight or gay is just a small fraction of who you are and it is not everything in life.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Duh, we invited Dan Savage to speak at our college and he was inflammatory and controversial...
    May 9, 2012 6:34 am
    Hello? When you order a strawberry sundae with chocolate sauce, whose fault is it when you discover it doesn't taste like a vanilla milkshake?

    Dan Savage is going to show up and say outrageous things. It's his schtick, in the same way that some radio broadcasters make outrageous statements.

    Dan Savage is going to demonize and stereotype people who are unlike himself. He is going to look for individual examples of bad behavior, and assign blame for that individual behavior to entire categories of people. Is that right? No. Is it unusual, regardless of political or sexual orientation? No. Should Savage temper his speech? That might be best, if his goal is to influence the largest audience. Will he temper his speech? No, because his goal is simply to outrage the largest possible group of people.

    Dan Savage has to bear individual responsibility for his intolerant remarks about Christians, (ironically claiming that we are all too intolerant). He isn't going to apologize for being offensive- he intended to be offensive.

    Elmhurst college has to bear responsibility for inviting Savage to speak at all. It isn't as if he normally shows up, lectures on the Beatitudes, serves communion, and quietly departs- when you book Dan Savage you have to know what you're getting.

    Don't order a strawberry sundae and then demand that the ice cream vendor should *apologize* that it doesn't taste like a vanilla milkshake. You want a vanilla shake? Order one.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Which was 'our college' ???????
    May 9, 2012 7:02 am
    Elmhurst College is basically United Church of Christ - historically a backer of gay rights (among others). An older protestant denomination that has mainly backed liberal caused more recently, it is doubtful they much concern themselves with the Beatitudes. .. So the Catholic Church was not 'ordering' a sundae of any type. .............. Maybe 100 years ago, but in 2012, I would think that a protestant church would not condone obscene jokes about the Pope. ........ Yes, maybe it is the place of Elmhurst to apologize,rather than Savage, but this war on Catholics is going much too far. ............................. And, maybe not a strawberry sundae that tastes like vanilla, but certainly not laced with sour wine, either.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    @Ron, my mistake was assuming that the Catholic church
    May 9, 2012 7:30 am
    was demanding an apology for remarks made at Elmhurst College because the college was affiliated with the Catholic church.

    I'm slightly surprised that you, in turn, assume that a protestant denomination would not be much concerned with the Beatitudes.

    We agree that most protestant denominations would not condone obscene jokes about the Pope.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    agreed also that I have heard enough of Dan Savage
    May 9, 2012 8:40 am
    to last the next 10 years. .. But he may well be on his way to self-imploding anyway.
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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    He's just another bigot justifying his hate
    May 9, 2012 7:17 am
    He's no different than any other racist or bigot who hates a class of people that are different than him or don't agree with him, but his speach is publicly applauded and supported by media and liberal society. When society condemns all hate speach, then we'll be on the right track. Well here's your chance.
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