News
Page 4
Family guy
Sex columnist and gay rights activist Dan
Savage talks about his followers, detractors
and spending an ideal St. Valentine’s Day
with the love o f his life
BY SUE ZALOKAR
STAFF W R IT E R
an Savage grew up in a Catholic family in Chicago. At 18 years old, he came out as
gay to his family, who after one rocky summer, Savage says, became aggressively
supportive.
That support has served him well.
Today, his name is synonymous with gay activism and sex positivism. He is the author of
the syndicated Savage Love column and host of the Savage Love podcast. And he’s the
editorial director of The Stranger, a weekly newspaper in Seattle and the sister paper of the
Portland Mercury.
His journey to Seattle was all determined in a serendipitous moment at an independent
film store in Madison, Wise. Savage was the store manager, and there he befriended Tim
Keck, co-founder of The Onion. One day, Keck announced that he was moving to Seattle to
help start an alternative weekly newspaper titled The Stranger.
Savage made an offhand comment advising Keck to include an advice
column. Keck suggested Savage submit his ideas. Savage typed up a sample,
and, to his delight, Keck offered him the Job. Twenty-five years later,
OátfSaVá^éis still “America’s Sweetheart.”
On Feb. 13, Dan Savage will be recording a Savage Love podcast
and hosting “Unlucky in Love - A Pre-Valentine’s Pity Party” at
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark S t , as part of the new venue’s soft
opening. The show is sold out, but we had a chance to talk with
Savage about family, giving advice and, of Course, those critics.
■
S.Z.: Your column a nd podcast are kind o f like the secular, sexual/
emotional version o f the confessional from my Catholic youth. Are you
bombarded with people’s questions and problems in public?
D.S.: Yes! It’s funny you should say that. Of coursé it’s an
affirmation of the column and the podcast, that people who are
familiar with them,, and then who I get to know personally, feel
like I am a safe, and perhaps wise, person to confide in or ask
for input
It can get a little crushing, but I’m pretty insulated. Terry
(Miller, his parter of 20 years) is very protective. We have a small
and tight social circle. I’m not that exposed. I don’t go out much -
we’re very boring people, Terry and I. We have dinner at home a
lot. We are often in bed at 9:30 or 10 o’clock ...
S.Z.: W hatm oral compass do you use to offer advice?
D.S.: Sometimes when people don’t read my column very closely,
they will say that I sigh off on anything and I think that people should do
whatever they want But if you read the column, there is a moralizing
sort of core to it - a moral sensibility.
If you put all of the columns in a pot and boiled them down, you would
come out with: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
With the understanding that people are doing unto each other in my
listening universe possibly, something very different, than in the Sunday
school universe.
People have to be as considerate as possible. I don’t think that because
someone will let you use them, that its OK to use them. Some people
are self-destructive. You don’t get to be the rocks that they throw
themselves against and escape without being compromised or
damaged yourself. Do unto others and be thoughtful about your
actions and choices. That’s my advice.
S.Z.: Where do you go fo r love a nd sex advice?
D.S.: I used to go to my mom, but sadly she is deceased. I often
See SAVAGE, page 5
Street Roots • February 6-12, 2015