A rchive Date
[ 16-05-2000 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[Dissing Doctor Laura
By MARIANNE MEED WARD
Toronto Sun
May 15, 2000
There are plenty of scary things about Dr. Laura Schlessinger and her radio show, but I'm not sure her comments about gays and lesbians are among them. Intemperate, to be sure. Not to mention rude. And just plain wrong sometimes.
I wouldn't want to hang out with someone who describes gays and lesbians as "abnormal," "aberrant," "deviant," "disordered" and "dysfunctional." Or who says pedophilia is related to being gay and is more common among gay people. Pedophilia has more to do with gender - most pedophiles are male - than orientation.
Most are also heterosexual. Schlessinger acknowledges this, but says the percentage of pedophiles among homosexuals is higher than among heterosexuals. Ergo, homosexual equals pedophile. Oh.
She and I are probably on the same page on a lot of social issues, but her manners come from a different book altogether. Call it the pit bull book of decorum. She berates, interrupts, hectors and insults not only her critics, but also occasionally her callers - who have come to her for help. Kinder people might call her blunt. No kidding.
These are a few of the reasons I don't listen to her show, broadcast out of California and providing a blend of pop psychology, religion and "time-honoured solutions" about family, morality and faith. But close to one million Canadians do listen to her show, broadcast on 30 radio stations across the country, including Talk 640 in Toronto.
Clearly, many people like her straight talk. And in some respects, who can blame them? When any disagreement on a controversial public issue can earn you the label of "phobic" or "racist" or "sexist" or worse, people understandably appreciate someone who's not afraid to say what she's feeling out loud, on the air.
But her comments didn't win her any friends with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, an independent, not-for-profit organization established by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, which has 430 members in private radio and television.
The CBSC released a decision last week stating Schlessinger's comments about gays and lesbians that aired in Toronto and on a Halifax station violated Clauses 2 and 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics.
Clause 2 states that broadcasters shall ensure their programming "contains no abusive or discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of ... [sexual orientation]" among other grounds. Clause 6 says broadcasters must provide "full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial."
The assertion that pedophilia "has to do with being gay is ... an abusively discriminatory comment," ruled the council. It also said Schlessinger's "unremittingly heavy-handed and unambiguously negative characterization" of homosexual behaviour is also "abusively discriminatory."
Maybe. But the council is somewhat selective about what it deems "abusive."
In 1988 it decided it was not abusive to call Southern Baptists "wackos" for launching a boycott of Disney. The controversy was about economics, not religion, and thus didn't violate the code, said the council. (Economics isn't covered.)
I see. I suppose no one at the council considered that the Baptists called for the boycott because of religious beliefs. But I digress.
The scary part of the Schlessinger decision is that the council's more concerned with her listeners than her comments.
"When her positions are analyzed one by one, most are not in breach of the Code, despite the fact that some of these may be unenlightened and anachronistic," stated the council. "While she does not herself advocate any of the homophobic hostility or, worse, brutality, which can be found in criminal corners of society, from her powerfully influential platform behind a very popular microphone, Schlessinger may well fertilize the ground for other less well-balanced elements, by her cumulative position, to take such aggressive steps."
Schlessinger has, in fact, unequivocally condemned violence as the solution to any problem. So it's a stretch to censor her on the grounds that she might incite violence. Let those who are violent be held responsible for their own actions.
And let listeners decide whether to censor her or not by where they tune their radio dial.
Marianne Meed Ward, a freelance writer with an interest in social and ethical issues, appears Mondays. Her e-mail is:pward@interlog.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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