Dan Savage, Gay Bullies & the Intolerant Left

Who knew that there was such a thing as gay bullies? Well, if you are a fan of Seinfeld, you know full-well that there are indeed gay bullies. First introduced in the classic episode, The Soup Nazi, gay bullies Bob and Cedric steal an armoire that Kramer is watching for Elaine. In The Sponge, Kramer is again confronted by Bob and Cedric, who he describes as “ribbon bullies,” when they try to bully him into wearing an AIDS ribbon during a charity AIDS walk. “Who does not want to wear the ribbon” became one of the more famous catchlines from Seinfeld’s 1990’s run. In their third and final appearance in The Puerto Rican Day, Bob and Cedric lead an angry mob who attack Kramer after he accidentally set the Puerto Rican flag on fire with a sparkler.

Bob and Cedric — the gay bullies or “street toughs” — in the hands of Jerry Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David, were meant to be humourous. But, as we have been told repeatedly in the last few years, there is nothing funny about bullying. Whether the victim of bullying is gay or straight, bullying should not be tolerated. Regardless of one’s beliefs about homosexuality, there is absolutely no place for engaging in or condoning any type of bullying behavior directed at those who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered. For Christians, the Bible is clear that all people are created in the very image of God and, as such, are to be accorded the dignity and worth of those made in His image. To do otherwise, either through words or actions that are bullying in nature, is the opposite of love that Jesus said we are to show to our neighbor.

That, however, does not mean that we should not speak the truth in love. To preach from the pulpit — as I do on occasion — that any sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman is sinful is neither hate speech nor does not it make me a bully. There are those, like Dan Savage, who would probably define bullying to encompass just such speech, even if that speech is spoken in a church. I reject that notion out-of-hand. For, to agree with that definition would be to limit both freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Regardless of what laws may or may not be passed to curtail my rights (and the rights of others) to preach from God’s Word, I shall be forced to disobey those laws should they ever come to pass in this country.

Some might think this is much ado about nothing, but if those who share Dan Savage’s leftist views get their way, then all such speech with which they disagree or find objectionable will be outlawed. We have seen that trend on college campuses. We see moves to silence dissent and to stigmatize those such as Kirk Cameron who dare to publicly offer traditional views of marriage. The attacks on freedom of speech and freedom of religion — particularly on the issue of homosexuality — will continue to get more pointed in the days ahead.

Dan Savage, in his recent comments at the National High School Journalist Conference in Seattle, showed just how intolerant those on the left, including the gay left, can be. Using profanity and what can reasonably be described as bullying language directed at Christians in the audience, Savage launched into a tirade against the Bible and traditional views on marriage. I certainly do not have a problem with Savage airing his views. I would be the first to defend his right to spew whatever vile and utter nonsense he chooses to, but the forum at which he chose to launch his attack showed his complete hypocrisy on the issue of bullying.

The founder of the It Get’s Better Project, started in the aftermath of several high-profile suicides by gay teenagers, has been at the forefront of the anti-bullying effort in the United States. That is certainly laudable. However, what is not laudable and what is indeed the height of irony, is that the man who has done so much to bring awareness to the issue of bullying would himself become the bully. Perhaps he forgot that no one likes bullies — even gay bullies. But, then again, perhaps Mr. Savage is himself a bully. At least on this occasion, with an audience who thought he would be talking about bullying, he instead ended up giving first-hand illustration of what bullying looks like.

Laced with profanities (the video is embedded below), Savage’s anti-Christian diatribe was more than some of the high school students could take. (If the shoe were on the other foot and it was a “Bible-thumping” preacher telling this audience of high school students how sinful homosexuality was, would the outrage be the same? I think we all know the answer to that question.)  I’m not sure some of those who walked out had ever heard of Dan Savage or been exposed to his writings, but it’s probably not a stretch to think that the organizers of this event knew exactly what they were getting with him. After all, this is the same man who infiltrated the Gary Bauer Presidential campaign in 2000 in order to get the Republican candidate sick just before the New Hampshire primary. Wrote Savage about his exploits:

So, much as it pains me to confirm a hateful stereotype of gay men — we will put anything in our mouths — I started licking doorknobs. The front door, office doors, even a bathroom door. When that was done, I started in on the staplers, phones and computer keyboards. Then I stood in the kitchen and licked the rims of all the clean coffee cups drying in the rack.

So, here we have an anti-bullying campaign advocate — one that President Obama has seen fit to endorse as a national leader in this campaign — using the same type of bullying tactics on students that he has decried. What hypocrisy. But, then again, this is the radical left. Will liberals and leftists — gay or straight — call out Mr. Savage on his bullying? I highly doubt it. Excuses will be made. Double standards will be employed. This is the SOP of the intolerant left. Preach one thing — do the complete opposite. However, if nothing else, Dan Savage has reminded us all of this: no one likes bullies, not even gay bullies!