Story by Brit McGinnis
People get angry at politicians all the time for their public comments, especially those regarding homosexuality. But not everyone goes on a mission to make a politician’s name a noun for a physical byproduct of anal sex.
Dan Savage did. Since 1991, his sex advice column “Savage Love” from Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger has become famous for its opinionated, tell-it-like-it-is nature. Savage is also the author of many books including Skipping Toward Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America and co-founder of the anti-discrimination It Gets Better Project. And on November 1, the University of Oregon will be a part of his latest project—Savage U, a late-night show for MTV about sex and relationships.
This television show was a long-standing idea for Savage, says an MTV spokesperson. He had pitched the idea of a show about real sexuality aimed at young people, and when the show was approved the network asked him to include filmed segments from the Q&A sessions Savage held at university campuses. He agreed, and initiated a filming tour of 12 different universities and colleges in a variety of locations, one of which is the UO. The representative added that the crew will film around the campus and throughout the city of Eugene to display the area’s distinct personality.
Savage can be counted on to bring his special brand of irreverent humor to the shoot at UO (gems include calling his hetereosexual female personal assistant his “wife”), as well as his rollicking language. A great deal of the success of “Savage Love” can probably be attributed to Savage’s playing with the definitions of words, ranging from an attempt to reclaim the homosexual slur “faggot” to telling readers what are in in what he deems to be unhealthy relationships to DTMFA (Dump the MotherF**ker Already). He’s spoken widely about his own experience coming out as a gay man, his marriage to Terry Miller, and his adopted son D.J.. He created the It Gets Better Project with Miller in 2010 in response to the discrimination against and subsequent suicide of gay youth Tyler Clementi, the first of several such suicides to take place that year. The Webby Award-winning website for It Gets Better now includes thousands of online videos from celebrities, politicians, and even professional sports teams.
Savage U is only the latest in a long line of works by Savage, and he doesn’t show any signs of halting. He is a regular contributor to public radio, as well as various magazines. He even recorded his call-in sex advice podcast (the Savage Lovecast) while filming on the road for Savage U (even though he was without his gang of Tech Savvy At-Risk Youth). But somehow, he still manages to keep going. His positions on gay marriage, monogamy, and the legalization of the sale of sex toys has made him famous. Well, that and the fact that he tried to infect conservative Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer with the flu.
Dav Savage will film his Q&A in the Giustina Ballroom of the Ford Alumni Center at 7 pm on November 1. Admission is free for students, but a slip and apprearence release form from the MTV crew (available on the UO campus) is required to attend.

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A Wild and Crazy Guy