I had the chance to catch up with queer author, columnist, and provocateur Dan Savage this week for QBlog in advance of his new book “American Savage”, which comes out on Tuesday! We chatted about sex, marriage equality, community pushback, transphobia, biphobia, bullying, the new book and more.

Read my interview with Dan below, then come out to Powell’s books this Sunday at 2pm for a Q Center-sponsored reading, Q&A, and meet and greet with Mr. Savage himself!

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Logan Lynn: Hey Dan. Thanks for squeezing me into your busy schedule today. I’m looking forward to your book launch event at Powell’s in Portland coming up this weekend on June 2nd! How does it feel to be making these book rounds once again?

Dan Savage: (Laughs) It feels good. It’s been 7 years since I managed to carve out the time to sit down and write a book because they invented blogging and podcasting and vlogging and Twitter and Instagram. It’s not enough anymore to write a weekly column or bust out a few news items a week. You have to be constantly running your mouth online. It really takes the time away that I used to be able to put into plowing away at a book. It was a tough thing to manage.

Lynn: Well, I’m looking forward to reading it. You recently won an Emmy as well, correct?

Savage: Yeah. I didn’t win an Emmy, everybody who participated in the It Gets Better project won an Emmy. It was awarded The Governor’s Award, which is kind-of their Up With People, social justice, good works award. We are really proud to have gotten (the Emmy) but it was for the project and it’s because of the great impact it has had. The Emmy wasn’t for me and Terry. It was for all of us.

Lynn: That’s really great. What has been the most rewarding part of being involved with the It Gets Better project for you?

Savage: I’ve heard from so many LGBT kids who were helped by the project. People don’t write newspaper stories about kids who don’t kill themselves, so most of these stories aren’t out there and people don’t hear them. I now have ongoing penpal/Twitterpal relationships with some of the Read the rest of this entry »

Tickets for the July 2013 Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay are on sale now.  The tour is presented by AccidentalBear.com and will be hitting up San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and New York City this first round, with more cities in the works for later this year and early next.

100% of the proceeds from the A.B. Queer Music Tour go to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF), so there are offering a few ticket levels in an effort to raise the most money possible for these vital community resources.  The mission of this tour is to bring awareness and visibility to LGBTQ music while working to diminish the stigma around mental health and raise money for suicide prevention efforts in each of the communities where the tour is taking place.

Help us live out the mission of Ali Forney Center, Pride Foundation, Q Center, LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project by purchasing your ticket to the Queer Music Summer Tour today and come have a great time for a great cause this July!

Tour Dates, Cities and Tickets:

7/5 – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA – Tickets:  http://bit.ly/15h9592

7/7 – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA – Tickets: http://ticketf.ly/12kzPbS

7/11 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR – Tickets: http://bit.ly/11DxBPg

7/14 – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA – Tickets:  http://bit.ly/18r0hgP

7/19 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY – Tickets:  http://tktwb.tw/YfzqmD

Here’s the ticket pricing info for all 5 shows:

$15 – G.A. (General Admission)
$45 – G.A.+ (General Admission + Tour T-Shirt + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at VIP reception)
$75 – V.I.P (General Admission Ticket + Tour T-Shirt + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at pre-show VIP reception + Photo with bands)

Watch videos by all the bands playing the tour at the following:

Logan Lynn: http://youtu.be/_fa5WgqY6cA

Big Dipper: http://youtu.be/h_6py7V2OuU

Conquistador: http://youtu.be/_HHsz902p_0

Darling Gunsel: http://youtu.be/kPA366T2wDU

Rica Shay: http://youtu.be/IIhf8InaOr4

Accidental Bear has also released a FREE digital 13 song compilation album called “AB // XO” with songs from the bands headlining the tour, which is available at AccidentalBear.Bandcamp.com – Download yours today for zero dollars and get excited about the shows this summer!   

Thank you to our official tour sponsors Manhunt Cares and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.  If you are an individual, business, corporation, or organization and you are interested in showing your support of the LGBTQ community, a great way to do that is to become a sponsor of the AB Summer Tour! Click HERE to download the sponsorship packet. 

Like the A.B. Queer Music Benefit on Facebook HERE.

See you next month!