Mon 22 May 00 21:10
For all you Dr. Laura "fans" out there...
Wednesday May 10 7:04 PM ET
Canada Blasts U.S. Host Dr Laura Over Gay Comments
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's official broadcast watchdog Wednesday
issued a damning indictment of controversial U.S. radio host Dr.
Laura Schlessinger, saying her anti-gay views could trigger
violence against homosexuals.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) condemned
Schlessinger for referring to the sexual behavior of gays and
lesbians as "abnormal", "aberrant", "deviant",
"disordered", "dysfunctional" and "an error".
"The hosts's unremittingly heavy-handed and unambiguously
negative characterization of those sexual practices is abusively
discriminatory and in breach of (Canada's broadcasting) code,"
the CBSC said in one of its most hard-hitting judgements in
recent years.
Schlessinger's weekday U.S. call-in radio program, heard by an
estimated 18 million listeners, is rebroadcast on some Canadian
stations.
The CBSC acknowledged Schlessinger did not "advocate any of the
homophobic hostility or, worse, brutality, which can be found in
criminal corners of society".
But it said the cumulative effect of her views on gay and lesbian
issues "from her powerfully influential platform behind a very
popular microphone...may well fertilize the ground for other less
well-balanced elements, by her cumulative position, to take such
aggressive steps".
Schlessinger -- whose comments the CBSC variously described as
"clearly pejorative" and "fatuous and unsustainable" --
denies being anti-gay or trying to foment intolerance toward gays
and lesbians.
"The sexual practices of gays and lesbians are as much a part of
their being as the color of one's skin or the gender, religion,
age or ethnicity of an individual," the CBSC said.
"To use such brutal language as she does about such an essential
characteristic flies in the face of Canadian provisions relating
to human rights."
CSBC head Ron Cohen said Canadian radio stations would now have
to stop broadcasting any comments by Schlessinger which broke the
country's broadcasting code.
"Human rights are very important for the CBSC. This is one of
the clearest judgements on this issue we have released," he told
Reuters.
"We have reiterated this issue on a number of occasions and
while I would say our previous judgements have been clear I
believe it would be fair to say this program provided us the
opportunity to be particularly clear," he said.
The CSBC noted that professional psychiatric and psychological
associations felt Schlessinger's views were more than a quarter
of a century out of date.
In March, gay activists staged a boisterous rally outside the
Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles to protest the studio's
plans for a TV talk show hosted by Schlessinger.
-30-
... Canada: Where cigarettes are $7/pack but heart transplants are free.
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JOHN MUSSELWHITE
Canada and Dr. Laura
By David Ljunggren
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