Clear Channel's Anti-Gay Radio Bullying

What the heck is going on with Clear Channel? The company has long had a history of supporting LGBT rights, earning itself a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, and earning plaudits for good employee policies and community involvement when it comes to promoting equality. But for a company with a great track record on equal rights, why do they continue to syndicate a show that urges LGBT young adults to be cured from homosexuality?

The radio program in question is a nationally syndicated call-in show hosted by Dawson McAllister, a religious counselor who hosts a regular program geared toward young adults (ages 13-29). Consider it a Frasier Crane-like program, where young adults can call in and talk about their problems. The Dawson McAllister show even runs a "helpline," where young adults can call between 7:00pm-5:00am (CST) and speak to people about their problems. Each week, the Dawson McAllister show, and Clear Channel by default, market this helpline as a valuable resource for young adults.

And therein lies the problem. Because if you're an LGBT young adult, and you call this "helpline," you'll be told that homosexuality is akin to murder, and that you should turn to organizations, like Exodus International, which believe that homosexuality is sinful and something that should be treated.

Giving advice like that to young adults dealing with their sexual orientation or gender identity is not only bad science, it's downright a form of bullying. As a January 2009 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics revealed, when young adults receive negative feedback (like being told that their sexual orientation or gender identity is just as bad as murder or robbery), they are more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as vulnerable to severe depression and more than three times at risk of drug use.

Does Clear Channel really want that kind of statistic on their conscience?

Yesterday, Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, released a statement trying to pass the buck on the negative impacts that listeners of Dawson McAllister's radio program receive whenever they call his "helpline." But evasive statements won't cut the mustard when it comes to radio programs that tell LGBT young adults that they're sick, in need of conversion, and as bad as murderers.

Demand that Clear Channel investigate the anti-gay organizations and anti-gay "counselors" behind the Dawson McAllister show, one of their large syndicated programs. There's simply no excuse for using their airwaves to provide LGBT young adults a helpline that won't provide them much help at all, and instead will only tell LGBT young adults that they're sinful and sick.

Here's the full statement from Clear Channel and Premiere Radio Networks, as given by their spokesperson:

Clear Channel Radio and our subsidiary Premiere Radio Networks are dedicated to providing a wide range of commentary and opinion in our programming – while also supporting the highest standards of responsibility in broadcasting.  Dawson McAllister Live is a call-in show designed to meet the needs of teenagers and young adults ...

The Dawson McAllister Association separately runs the volunteer HopeLine call-in service; Clear Channel and Premiere Radio Networks are not directly involved in that operation, nor do we exercise any control over it.  With regard to current discussions online and elsewhere about a particular HopeLine conversation, we would note that Dawson himself does not make comments regarding homosexuality on air, on his website or on his blog.

That's simply just not good enough. Why? Because while Clear Channel has no direct tie to this "helpline" (which they call a "hopeline"), it allows the "helpline" phone number to continue to be referenced over its airwaves. If you listen to the Dawson McAllister radio program on a Clear Channel station, you will be told to call this "helpline" if you want to talk to a "counselor." And if you're a gay young adult, you will be told when you call this "helpline" that you should try and cure yourself of your homosexuality.

Now, perhaps Dawson McAllister doesn't put any of these "helpline" conversations over the radio. There's probably a reason for that -- meaning that if listeners actually heard the advice that this "helpline" is providing to LGBT young adults, there would be national outrage.

But beyond that, the Dawson McAllister show makes no bones about supporting organizations like Focus on the Family and Exodus International, two groups that Dawson McAllister celebrates on his Web site. Why is this dangerous? Well, here's a nugget from Exodus International:

"Exodus upholds heterosexuality as God’s creative intent for humanity, and subsequently views homosexual expression as outside of God’s will," says the Exodus International mission statement. Does Clear Channel also agree that homosexuality is an expression outside of God's will? If they don't, then why let a "helpline" be championed over their airwaves that does?

Simply put, if Clear Channel wants to keep its reputation as an LGBT-friendly company, there's no way to reconcile the distribution of a radio show that publicly (perhaps not over the radio waves, but certainly via their "helpline") calls for gay people to be cured. Demand Clear Channel and/or Premiere Radio Networks own up to the content that's being broadcast over their stations. Because the fact of the matter is that when it comes to LGBT young adults, the Dawson McAllister show, through its "helpline," is creating an environment where gay young adults are essentially being made to think that they're sick, in need of a cure, and just as bad as murderers.

That's not counseling, Clear Channel or Dawson McAllister. That's called bullying.

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