juiy7.2ÛQQ'|MKMK.23
D p . Laura to set Portland
straight on KGW-TV
Continued from Page 21
Schlessinger also believes that the usual
bankrolling behind the “gay agenda” is support
ing the national movement. But Tyler says this
movement has survived on ltss than $10,000
raised by T-shirt sales and one individual
donation.
Tyler says Schlessinger’s rhetoric is danger
ous and has hit a nerve in the gay community.
“Our community is saying ‘enough,’ ” Tyler
exclaims.
“The more cities we get, the more the spon
sors are hesitant about sponsoring her,” she
adds. “W e’d love to do Portland in August.”
Major cities throughout the country have
held protests during the late spring and early
summer and more have summer protests sched
uled, including Cincinnati; Kansas City, Mo.;
Providence, R.I.; Orlando, Ha.; Minneapolis;
and Houston.
“Would you give David Duke a cooking
show.7” Tyler asks. “W hat if he didn’t say any
thing racist.7”
Tyler says she posed those questions to the
There haven’t been any local advertisers
general manager of KING in Seattle and he
who have pulled their ads, Buratti says. She
replied, “O f court not! He’s a known racist.”
would not name any Portland-area advertisers
Tyler wants to know what the difference
who have purchased time during the Dr.
is— is it OK to promote a known homophobe
Laura broadcast but confirmed that there is no
but not a known racist.7
shortage of companies wanting to buy time.
Some general managers have offered a “bal
anced programming” rationale, but Tyler doesn’t
nother matter of contention is Sch
buy that.
lessinger’s use of the title “Dr.” Critics
“There is no such thing as ‘equal time’ for big
believe that the popular radio host dishes
otry,” Tyler says. “Equal time is not giving us a
out advice and opinions in a context that
spot on some bigot’s show, where
they make millions, and we get
the time to define ourselves.”
Major cities throughout the country have
She adds: “It’s not about Dr.
held protests during the late spring and
Laura. It is about corporations
profiting from hate"
early summer and more have summer
Schlessinger and her support
protests scheduled, including Cincinnati;
ers insist that gay activists are
trying to take away the talk show
Kansas City, Mo.; Providence, R.I.;
host’s freedom of speech. But
most who are offended by S ch
Orlando, Fla.; Minneapolis; and Houston
lessinger’s comments say they
support her right to speak what
suggests she has psychological or psychiatric
she believes. They assert, though, that they also
credentials.
Schlessinger has neither. While
have the right to object to the content of Sch
Schlessinger holds a doctorate in physiology,
lessinger’s show and have the freedom to dis
she has no mental health credentials or train
courage advertisers, just as conservatives have
ing.
done with any number of television shows,
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
including A B C ’s Ellen.
Defamation is extremely concerned about the
It’s not about free speech, Tyler insists, it is
views on homosexuality that Schlessinger
about greed.
A
broadcasts to millions. Yet G LAA D contends
that Schlessinger shouldn’t be compared to
religious or political leaders who often attempt
to influence others with anti-gay speech. Sch
lessinger’s listeners, and soon her viewers, look
at her as a person who is an expert, because she
is a “doctor."
Tyler and others think that when someone
dehumanizes gays by using terms like “biologi
cal errors” and “deviant,” hate crimes against
gays increase.
Schlessinger, meanwhile, adamantly denies
that she called homosexuals deviants, but
admits that she described homosexual behavior
as “deviant.”
Schlessinger also refutes claims that she has
called gays “biological errors,” although she
says it is an inarguable fact that homosexuality
is a biological error and is abnormal. She says
some people just don’t want to hear the truth.
The 2,000 mostly gay and lesbian physicians
and medical students of the Gay and Lesbian
Medical Association also are worried. The
group says that as national murder rates have
decreased, murders of sexual minorities have
increased— by 150 percent in the last two years.
Last month, the Portland Police Bureau
reported that issues surrounding sexual orienta
tion motivated 25 percent of the bias crimes
reported during May. Bias crimes relating to
sexual orientation account for 28 percent of
the total bias crimes reported from January
$ 42,0 0 0
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• Medical Transcription
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through May of this year. But
the figures may not fully repre
sent the violence that sexual
minorities are experiencing on
the streets of Portland. Some
police officials believe crimes
against sexual minorities are
vastly underreported.
G LM A members are also
concerned that anti-gay speech
framed in a clinical context
drastically affects teens who
are attempting to understand
their sexual orientation. Gay
and lesbian youths are said to
commit suicide at a rate three
times that of their heterosexu
al peers. And Oregon has one
of the highest suicide rates in
the country.
Time’s Jeanne McDowell,
who interviewed Schlessinger,
evidently was confused about
the radio host’s credentials.
Referring to Schlessinger as
“the sharp-tongued psy
chotherapist” in her article’s
lead paragraph, she demon
strated the likelihood that
Schlessinger’s radio and future television
audience will continue to consider her more
than a physiologist.
Schlessinger may be sharp-tongued— in
fact, she readily admits that she nags and can
be angry and irritated. But Dr. Laura is not a
psychotherapist, though some of her critics
insist she may need one.
■ For more information about starting a Portland
chapter o f S top D r L aura .COM, contact Robin
Tyler at (818) 893-4075 or
rtstopdrlaura@aol.com, or call Lynn Thomas at
(503) 274-1741.
J onathan K ipp is a Just Out staff reporter
and doctor o f love.
W
hether it’s freedom of speech or free
dom of religion, the First Am end
ment is often talked about but sel
dom read. Here is the exact wording:
Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press, or the
right of the people peaceably to assem ble,
and to petition the Qovemment for a
redress of grievances.
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