Dan Savage speech: conservatives denounce gay author for remarks on ‘bull—t’ in Bible (Video)

Comments made earlier this month by the sex advice columnist and gay rights campaigner Dan Savage — who denounced anti-gay passages in the Bible — are now drawing condemnation from conservatives.

In remarks to a National High School Journalist Conference in Seattle, Savage said to applause and booing: “We can learn to ignore the bull—t in the Bible about gay people.”

More from GlobalPost: Tyler Clementi suicide: Parents start foundation

A video recording of Savage’s remarks has been posted to YouTube:

“We can learn to ignore the bull—t in the Bible about gay people, the same way, the same way we have learned to ignore the bull—t in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore bull—t in the Bible about all sorts of things,” Savage is heard to say.

In the video, students can been seen walking out.

Fox News reported yesterday that the gay Republican organization GOProud demanded an apology.

“Dan Savage should apologize for his comments and should apologize to the high school students in attendance whom he called ‘pansy-asses,’” Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia was quoted as saying. “It is ironic that someone whose claim to fame is fighting bullying would resort to bullying tactics in attacking high school students who were offended by his outrageous remarks.”

More from GlobalPost: Peru, Latin America's hidden growth story

According to Fox, the event's organizers defended Savage and said student journalists had a duty to listen to what they did not want to hear.

“We appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and deliberation regarding Dan Savage’s keynote address,” the National Scholastic Press Association was quoted as saying in a statement.

“Some audience members who felt hurt by his words and tone decided to leave in the middle of his speech, and to this, we want to make our point very clear: While as a journalist it’s important to be able to listen to speech that offends you, these students and advisers had simply reached their tolerance level for what they were willing to hear.”