Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Dan Savage: “It Gets Better” comes to Carleton U

First of all, sorry for the hiatus. Busy time of the year plus a partner recovering from severe pneumonia = little time for blogging.

In connection to previous post on the It Gets Better Project I thought I'd post this notice that LGBT rights activist and sex/relationship advice columnist Dan Savage will be speaking at Carleton University on Feb 2 about the It Gets Better Project. Now, I know this isn't necessarily the space to advertise such an event, but I have reasoning behind my madness.

A common, though debated, theme of Canadian history that ideas and movements begin in the US or Britain and become transplanted and adopted/adapted here also fits the gay rights movement in general. With its infantile beginnings in the US cir. 1940's-1950's in the Homophile movement the strain eventually reached Canada and morphed into our own gay rights/liberation movement beginning in the 1970's.

My point? Dan Savage is American and has quite a following within the North American LGBT community. As well, he is very political, often encouraging his listeners (via a podcast) to vote for particular candidates, propositions etc. With this in mind I expect, well knowing that historical prediction is rather futile, that Savage will have a place in the North American, or even the Global, LGBT movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Keep an eye out for his name 50 years from now.

Here you see him highlighted in the high profile American media...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qu3o_dan-savage-on-tcr_fun

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/conversation-project-jeremy-hubbard-dan-savage-it-gets-better-stranger-youtube-gay-suicide-teen-world-news-11761205

Nothing like keeping an eye on the history of the future...

Jordan Kerr
 
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