Anti-bullying speaker Dan Savage blasts Christian teens who walked out of lecture after he criticised 'bullsh*t in the Bible'

Nearly a dozen of high school journalists walked out of a lecture by Dan Savage, the prominent ant-bullying advocate that pioneered the 'It Gets Better' campaign.



His comments about the relationship between anti-gay bullying and the bible sparked a walkout of Christian teens at the National High School Journalist Conference in Seattle.



Mr Savage called the defectors 'pansy-assed' and would not back down from his comments.

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Strike: High School students walked on a lecture by Dan Savage when he began to discuss the 'bullsh*t in the bible about gay people'

'I thought this would be about anti-bullying,' Rick Tuttle, the journalism adviser for Sutter Union High School in California, told Fox News .

'It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs.'



Mr Savage's keynote address was presented in a large lecture hall for thousands of people.

A video of the lecture shows students beginning to walk out after Mr Savage started talking about the 'bullsh*t in the bible about gay people.'

'People often say that they can’t help with the anti-gay bullying acts because it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong,' Mr Savage said.



'We can learn to ignore the bullsh*t in the Bible and what it says about gay people.'

He compared dogmatic acceptance of anti-gay teachings equivalent to adhering to verses about slavery and eating shellfish, two issues that have been reinterpreted in modern day.



Many people in the audience met his statements with applause, but some Christians did not appreciate Mr Savage's comparison and walked out.



Spotlight: Mr Savage, left, and his partner are advocates of the Queer community

Anti-Bullying Bigshot: Mr Savage started the 'It Gets Better' anti-bullying campaign



'It became hostile,' he said. 'It felt hostile as we were sitting in the audience – especially towards Christians who espouse beliefs that he was literally taking on.'



Mr Savage recognized that his ideas were not going over well with the audience and addressed their concerns head on.



'The bible guys in the hall can come back now because I'm done beating up the bible,' he said.



'It's funny, as someone who's on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the bible, how pansy-assed some people react when you push back.'



Mr Savage is renowned for his outspoken opinions on sexuality and anti-bullying.



Heckler: After some of the students left the lecture, Mr Savage called their actions 'pansy-assed'

In addition to creating the wildly successful and influential 'It Gets Better' campaign, he also writes a sex advice column 'Savage Love.'



'I apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings...but I have a right to defend myself,' he said.



The executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association that sponsored the conference also defended Mr Savage.



'We appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and deliberation regarding Dan Savage’s keynote address,' the NSPA wrote to Fox News.

