The truth is, bullying begets bullying. And Dan Savage’s campaign to make Santorum’s family name synonymous with something “gross” is some real bullying shit.
And then there’s this: Dan Savage does not speak for all gay men—and among that diverse community, there are gay men (and their allies) who consider it objectionable, and deeply counterproductive, to treat as “gross” something that is central to gay male sexuality.
(Which is not to suggest that gay men are the only people who have anal sex, or that all gay men have anal sex, but the campaign was designed by a gay man specifically to embarrass Rick Santorum for saying something homophobic about gay men, so the context here is pretty evident.)
Suffice it to say I am unconvinced that responding to a homophobic bully with homophobic bullying is an efficacious strategy to reduce homophobia or bullying.
—Shakesville articulates much better than I could the two main reasons why I am uncomfortable with the Google bombing of Santorum. I have some pretty strong emotional reactions to bullying, and using a byproduct of anal sex as an insult seems to me to perpetuate the denigration of anal sex, and I don’t really understand how that could possibly be productive for anyone’s sexual freedom.
