Dan Savage's defense of his buddy Andrew Sullivan is particularly specious, especially in two specific instances. First, he says, "Our inner lives, our sex lives, and our fantasies should be our own, private and privileged, not subject to the scrutiny of run-away special prosecutors or self-appointed, self-righteous gay sex police."
Well, Sullivan has already proven himself a "self-righteous gay sex policeman" when, in a 1999 interview with Sarah Schulman in the Advocate, he proclaimed that sex without love and promiscuity were signs of "emotional immaturity" for gay men who had such practices. So when a bloated, self-important pundit like Sullivan is caught with his pants down (and not entrapped in a "sting" as Savage puts it--the information was on the Internet, but "anonymous"), is it any wonder that the very people he lambasts publicly in print are going to gleefully cheer his outing?
Savage also says, "The private sexual conduct of some of the staff and board members at the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force no doubt conflicts with public positions those organizations have taken. Shall we investigate and expose those people?" Well, the actions of a BOARD taking a public position is different from a pontifficating single writer taking a public position contradicted by private actions. It's sadly typical that Savage confuses a board of directors with an individual. It's a ludicrous comparison.
Savage further sanitizes his sychophantic defense of Sullivan with accounts of threats agains him and his son. Savage has a long history of making controversial statements that often contradict each other in the long run (if you dare keep a scorecard), and tossing in "gay lefties" with two instances of violent threats is just irresponsible. In one column, he "defends" barebacking, and six months later he rails against "irresponsible" sex-and-drugs gay youngsters and worries about epidemiology. Make up your mind, Dan.
Savage and Sullivan wouldn't have a conservative leg to stand on today if it weren't for all those "crazy gay lefties" who did all the groundwork. It's a shame that Savage and Sullivan are two of THE most recognizable gay writers outside the gay community. Power to the panderers is my sad assessment of the "popularity" of these two men who are clearly cut from the same cloth.
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