Brown: A missed chance to send a message

Recently, nearly every member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation took part in a video for the It Gets Better Project, an organization that provides encouragement for gay and lesbian youth facing bullying and harassment in school. The one exception was Senator Scott Brown, the delegation’s sole Republican. While Brown’s participation would have been meaningful, it’s easy to see at least one reason why he might hesitate.

The founder of the It Gets Better Project, syndicated advice columnist Dan Savage, has made crass comments about a hypothetical “Scott Brown action figure’’ - comments that were indeed, as a spokesman for the senator termed it, “vile and sexually crude.’’ And while the project is a genuine service to bullied teens, Savage’s column isn’t for everyone, and his criticisms of Republicans make him a polarizing figure.