Dan Savage was born on this day in 1964
Author and LGBTIQA+ activist Dan Savage was born on this day in 1964 in Chicago.
Savage first came to prominence writing a sex advice column in the Seattle independent publication The Stranger. He had met the newspaper’s founder Tim Keck while working as the night manager of a video store in Wisconsin.
When Keck announced that he was moving to Seattle to start the newspaper Savage suggested an advice column was an essential part of a publication, Keck offered him the job. Prior to starting The Stranger Keck has been one of the founders of satirical newspaper The Onion
The Savage Love column which focused mainly on advice about gay sex proved to be extremely popular and was picked up by many other publications and soon Savage had an international audience. For many years Savage responded to letters with the opening “Hey Faggot” in an attempt to reclaim ownership of the slur.
The term ‘pegging’ which describes the anal sex act of a man being penetrated by a woman with a strap-on dildo was first coined by Savage and his readership.
Savage would go on to have a radio show based on the column, and today hosts the Savage Love podcast. He has become a sought after commentor on social issues and regular appears on many US media channels.
Savage’s columns have been published as a collection, and he’s also written several autobiographical books about his relationship with husband Terry Miller.
His 1999 book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant documents the couple’s decision to adopt a child and their relationship with the birth mother ahead of the child’s arrival. It was later adapted into a musical. Savage later documented the couple’s decision to get married in The Commitment.
The 2016 TV series The Real O’Neals is based on idea from Savage, and he served as the series executive producer. The show follows the life of middle-child Kenny O’Neal who shares with his family that he is gay. Noah Galvin played Kenny with Martha Plimpton portraying his mother.
In 2010 Savage founded the It Gets Better Project following the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas who bullied for his perceived sexual orientation.
The project encouraged people to create videos to highlight that life often improves as you get older. The project later put out a TV special and books of essays following the theme.
An Australian version of the charity that was licensed from Savage’s US organisation was de-registered by Australian authorities in 2016 following questions about its financial management.
At the time the Australian version of the charity denied any financial mismanagement and described the revocation of its charity status as a “paperwork error”. Despite the claim, they ceased operations, and their parent company was deregistered in 2018.
