Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Glitter Bombing of Dan Savage sparks Interesting dialogue


So Dan Savage was glitterbombed again by trans activists. This time may have been questionable, however these incidents made me think about a few things.
  • When it comes to our 'favorites' or 'stars' with our community, do we tend to look the other way? In Dan's case, I feel that we do. He has been known for saying some stupid things towards Trans, Black and Bi people. If anyone calls him out on it, some within the community runs to his defense, saying how dare we call him out. He's an Ally for us! Interesting, so I guess we can't hold him accountable for his not-so-cute remarks? If this was Christopher Barron (not defending him here), we would be all over him like fashion on Iman. I can't tell how many comments I've seen from JMG and Towleroad, contridicting themselves. They are quick to say 'Why are they (Trans) attacking their own?', but in the same breath say, 'Christopher Barron needs to be attack!' The gag is both of them are gay and have said hurtful things to the members our community, but it seems that Dan gets a pass.
  • And speaking of a pass... Some will say that Dan was transphobic, racist or biphoic, but now he's changed, so we need to forgive him. Okay, I can say that about Ken Melhman and folks would try to stake me like a vampire. Ken was an anti-gay marriage clod, then later he came out and fought for marriage equality. However, bloggers and others will not allow him to change or have a 2nd chance. Ken was the enemy and many would love to see him jump through hoops for our approval. But if that's the case for Ken, should Dan go through the hoops too?
Now, don't get me wrong, I know Dan's not a bad guy. He has done some good stuff,  but he is not above criticism or critique. He has flaws and he makes mistakes. And that's okay, but the minute we start treating him and others A-Listers like Gods, we do ourselves a disservice.

So let's not put LGBT bloggers or personalities on high horses, let's keep them grounded  and real.

5 comments:

Mind Of Mine said...

Glitter bombs are so appropriate!

WilsonW said...

Hallelloo.

Anonymous said...

Savage has always struck me as something of an asshole who is a little too full of himself.

But he is amusing to watch when he rips into the bigots.

EMikeGarcia said...

I agree with almost every criticism, but your comparing him to Melhman is making me want to run to his defense. That is a very big stretch, my friend.

Anonymous said...

The next time one the gays gets called Tinker Bell they better not scream hate.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.