Dan Savage: “Every dead gay kid is a victory” for Tony Perkins

Tony Perkins

I don’t usually pay much attention to Dan Savage, who tends to be a tad too crass even for my tastes (not that he’s wrong, mind you), but he recently lashed out at Tony Perkins of the SPLC-recognized hate group Family Research Council in a brilliantly eviscerative speech at Minnesota’s Winona State University:

Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council — First of all, they tell, Tony Perkins tells parents whose kids come out to reject them. Tony Perkins tells the parents of queer kids to do what Tony Perkins damn well knows drives those kids to suicide — doubles their already quadruple rate of suicide. Why would someone who calls themselves a Christian do that? Because every dead gay kid is a victory for the Family Research Council. They argue that the gay lifestyle is sick and sinful and dangerous and they point to the suicide rate, and then they turn around and do everything in their power to make sure that suicide rate does not come down and to drive it up. Tony Perkins sits on a pile of dead gay kids every day when he goes to work — and he calls himself a Christian. I don’t understand how real Christians let that little fucker get away with that.

Of course, the point should be made that all Christians are “real” Christians; they just believe in different brands of Christianity, just as all believers pick which religious teachings they take to heart and which they ignore. But that nitpick aside, every point Savage makes is incontrovertibly true. It must be nice for Perkins to be able to rely on such insular thinking – LGBT teens are dirty little sinners, which makes them lost and conflicted, which makes them more suicidal, which is in no way related to all the hate and abuse being shoveled at them by people like Tony Perkins, who’re all about loving thy sinners and whatnot.

Savage’s speech was recorded and shared by Campus Reform, a conservative group devoted to combating all that pesky liberal bias in U.S. universities, with the evident intent of shaming Savage or some such. As expected, Savage isn’t exactly backing down:

I'm Dan Savage and I approved -- and stand by -- this message: bit.ly/SuUvWT

— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) October 1, 2012

Naturally, Perkins & co. are beyond rustled in their jimmies^*, with Perkins even hinting at a threat of legal action against Savage. Because how dare he get all huffy and rude and use pointy words when talking about a lying ghoul who uses the suicides of vulnerable children that he’s partly responsible for to peddle his hate-soaked agenda?

* Don’t make me use LMGTFY.com.