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Dr. Laura Schlessinger
c/o Premiere Radio Networks
15260 Ventura Blvd, Suite 500
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
fax: 818-461-5140
Dear Dr. Laura,
We are writing to express our deep concern for the detrimental effects your anti-gay commentaries are having on America's children.
Dr. Laura, with 20 million listeners, you are one of the leading talk radio show hosts in the country.1 Though you have publicly acknowledged that your Ph.D. is in physiology and not psychology, the loyalty of your listeners derives, in part, from their trust that you are relying on mainstream scientific opinion. Yet the anti-gay beliefs you espouse on a regular basis - that homosexuality is "deviant" and that gays can and should be cured2 - are entirely outside the mainstream of scientific thought.
Today, fortunately, it is difficult for public figures to argue that African Americans or Jews are biologically inferior. Yet you have become a leading radio show host while claiming that homosexuality is a "biological error".3
We are concerned that your show, columns, and television appearances are contributing to the fear and hatred of gay and lesbian people. We are especially concerned that your commentaries are teaching otherwise happy and healthy young people to hate themselves.
First, your claim that gays are more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexuals is not only incorrect, it creates fear and hatred of gay people. The notions that homosexuality is caused by childhood sexual abuse, or that gays are more likely to molest children, have been rejected by every leading medical, mental health and child welfare organization in the country. Study after peer-reviewed study backs the scientific consensus that heterosexual men pose a greater risk to children than homosexual males.4
Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court examined the evidence and came to the same conclusion when it ruled that the Boy Scouts could not exclude gays. "The belief that a gay scoutmaster poses a risk to young boys because of his orientation is patently false," the Court wrote.5
Second, your claim that homosexuality is a tragic pathology and that gays and lesbians can and should be "cured" by "reparative therapy" is not only inaccurate but also promotes the idea that there is something wrong with being gay.6
The idea that homosexuality is an illness has been repudiated by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American School Health Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers.7
The above groups were so concerned by the notion of "reparative therapy" that they recently created and sent a booklet to all 14,700 public school superintendents in the country, reiterating strongly that there is "no support among health and mental health professional organizations" for the idea that being gay is a mental illness, abnormal, or in any way something that must be cured through therapy.8
Nowhere are the consequences of anti-gay feelings more apparent than in the high number of suicides among gay youth. Studies have found that gay youth are three to seven times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual children.9
While suicide is the ultimate consequence of homophobia, studies find that gay youth - and youth who are perceived to be gay - are more likely to get beat up, feel isolated, and have trouble in school. In Massachusetts, a state known for its tolerance of gays, a study done for its former Republican Governor found that 97 percent of public high school students reported hearing homophobic remarks regularly from their peers, and 53 percent reported hearing them from school staff.10 Gay teens are four times more likely than heterosexuals to be threatened with a weapon at school.11
Given the environment of fear and violence created by homophobia, it’s little wonder that over a decade ago, President Reagan’s Department of Justice concluded that gays are "probably the most frequent victims" of hate crimes.12
And it’s not just gay teens who suffer. Children of gays and lesbians suffer from the stigmatization of their parents as unfit and immoral. Yet study after study has concluded that same sex parents are as capable as straight parents of providing everything a child needs for his or her psychological development.13
It doesn’t have to be this way. Embraced by their family and by the larger society, gay youth - and the children of lesbians and gays - are as happy and healthy as other young people.
We encourage you to follow the example of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who recently told a gathering of gays and lesbians that "I have been strident in my language... We acknowledge that words can lead to actions." The Reverend said he would critically examine his statements to avoid any "statements that can be construed as sanctioning hate or antagonism against homosexuals"14 and pledged to no longer refer to homosexuals as deviant.15
Dr. Laura, we are not saying that you should be censored. Nor are we implying that you don't have the right to express yourself. We are simply saying this: young people who are otherwise happy and healthy are being taught to hate themselves simply because they are gay.
As the most powerful radio show host in America, you understand the effects of language on children. It is within your power to use your wit and intelligence to help kids by speaking out against homophobia and anti-gay violence.
Sincerely,
List of Endorsers
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While we are no longer soliciting additional endorsements for the open letter to Dr. Laura, Horizons Foundation extends its profound thanks to the nearly three thousand individuals and organizations who have added their names and voices in support of this project.
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