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APRIL 15 DEMONSTRATION IN DALLAS/FT. WORTH
Civil Rights Groups, Anti-hate Organizations, Religious Leaders Protest "Dr." Laura Show
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/2/00
For information: John R. Selig, 214.521.3553
seligafc@aol.com
Dallas, TX - A wide-ranging coalition of demonstrators will protest at the Dallas Offices of CBS affiliate KTVT, channel 11, located at 10111 N. Central Expressway, at 1PM on April 15, 2000. They will demand that KTVT-TV drop plans to air a television show hosted by radio talk show host and anti-gay activist Laura Schlessinger.
"KTVT-TV would never give air time to a host that called any other minority 'biological errors,'" says John R. Selig, Dallas organizer for StopDrLaura.com, sponsors of the April 15th protest. "I attended the protest at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on March 21st and am proud to be taking our message to the Dallas Offices of KTVT. Television affiliates in Texas and throughout the United States need to be aware that the gay community will no longer allow ourselves to be the targets of hate. The murders of Matthew Shepard and many other gay men and lesbians have been empowered by others that taught them that it was okay to hate gays."
KTVT-TV, Channel 11, plans to offer "Dr. Laura" on television this fall. Schlessinger has used her current radio program to rail against gays and lesbians, calling them "deviant," and "biological errors," and has suggested that a "huge portion" of gay men are involved in pedophilia.
The show is being produced and syndicated by Paramount Studios. StopDrLaura.com held a protest rally held at the main gates of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on March 21st. Approximately 500 protestors were in attendance. David Lee a writer, co-creator and executive producer of such Paramount hit TV series as 'Frasier,' 'Cheers,' and 'Wings' spoke at the rally. When Lee first heard that Paramount planning to do the show, he said he was ashamed of the studio that he worked at for 15 years. He asked Paramount Chairman Kerry McCluggage, "Would you be producing a show that was anti-Semitic or anti-black?" Since the Paramount protest, three national advertisers have dropped their sponsorship of Laura Schlessinger's syndicated radio show.
The April 15th protest at KTVT-TV is sponsored by StopDrLaura.com with co-sponsorship by a growing list of organizations including the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance (DGLA), Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and Gays and Lesbians Against Anti-Defamation (GLAAD).
The sponsoring organizations decided on the protest after the success of the Paramount protest on March 21st. John Ames, president of DGLA and Dallas protest organizer, said, "We need to show Paramount, CBS and KTVT that gays and lesbians in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex are not going to allow themselves to be made targets of hate speech. The gay community will continue to be heard at KTVT and we will also voice our concerns with any local and national sponsors of Schlessinger's TV show." Paramount's parent company, Viacom, is in the process of acquiring CBS. CBS affiliates represent the majority of the stations that have signed up to carry Laura Schlessinger's TV show.
David Taffet, President of Congregation Beth El Binah (a predominately gay Jewish congregation) and a rally organizer said, "How dare KTVT make profits on a show that features a host that calls any group biological errors, deviants and pedophiles? We remember all too well what happened in Germany when a demagogue made hateful statements against Jews."
Some of the speakers at the rally will include: John R. Selig, Dallas Rally Organizer for StopDrLaura.com; John Ames, President of the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance; David Taffet, President of Congregation Beth El Binah; Robin Tyler, National Protest Coordinator for StopDrLaura.com; John Thornburg, minister at the North Haven United Methodist Church; Cathy Renna, Community Relations Director for GLAAD and Dave Gleason and Kathy Massey, presidents of the Dallas and Denton Chapters of PFLAG. Other speakers are still being added and will be available in a future press release.
Hollywood celebrities are now joining the growing chorus of voices critical of Paramount. Academy-Award-winning-actress Susan Sarandon offered her comments and a photo for the StopDrLaura.com web site. "Dr. Laura has a right to her opinion, but I think it's irresponsible of Paramount to not give equal time, at the very least, to a person with a more enlightened and contemporary perspective," Sarandon's statement said. "I'm totally against wasting the airwaves giving visibility to a person who is clearly in dire need of compassion, education, and a good shrink herself." (The site also contains pictures and quotes from David Lee, writer Bruce Vilanch, and writer/director Christopher Landon).
The April 15th protest comes a little over six weeks after the debut of StopDrLaura.com. The site has received more than fifteen million hits, and has ratcheted up the controversy over 'Dr. Laura,' bringing thousands of phone calls and e-mails to Paramount and affiliates signed up to carry the show from concerned citizens. As pressure mounted, Schlessinger issued a tepid 'apology' for her remarks about lesbians and gays. But five days later she recanted the apology in an interview with a Boston Herald reporter, and said she will continue to speak out against gay and lesbian rights initiatives and will continue to promote dubious 'reparative therapies' to make gays heterosexual. Organizations, representing more than 477,000 health and mental health providers, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a 'cure.' The American Psychiatric Association has stated that the potential risks of reparative therapy are great including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior.
The Laura Schlessinger syndicated radio program, with the nation's #1 weekly listenership of 18-20 million, galvanizes the forces of hate in a way not seen since the days of Anita Bryant. But with the impending danger of a national TV hate broadcast also comes the opportunity for LGBT people to push back bigotry by calling for the cancellation of the TV show.
For local information On Stop Dr. Laura activities, call John R. Selig at 214.521.3553 or e-mail seligafc@aol.com .
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