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Protest Paramount
- March 21, 2000

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News from StopDrLaura.com

StopDrLaura.com in the News

  • Newsweek, March 12, 2000, "Dr. Laura, Talk Radio Celebrity"
  • Time Magazine, March 20, 2000, "Dr. Laura, Heal Thyself"
  • Entertainment Weekly, March 17, 2000, "A proposed Dr. Laura TV show outrages gay activists"
  • Associated Press, March 11, 2000
  • LA Times, March 11, 2000
  • People Magazine - March, 20 2000 - HEAT WAVES Radio Provocateur Dr. Laura Schlessinger Raises a Ruckus with Controversial Talk About Gays
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Criticism sends ‘Dr.' Laura into a tizzy," March 8, 2000
  • New York Daily News, "Gay groups turning up the heat on radio host Schlessinger," March 8, 2000
  • New York Post, March 7, 2000 "No one spared as radio shrink boils over"
  • New York Times, "Gay Groups Campaign Against Radio Host´s Plan for a TV Show" March 6, 2000
  • San Francisco Chronicle, "Dr. Laura Talk Show Provokes Backlash," March 4, 2000
  • Channel 2000, "Gay Activists Step Up Dr. Laura Campaign," March 4, 2000
  • TVSPY.COM, March 3, 2000
  • PoliticsOnline.com, "Activists Go Online to Stop Dr. Laura," March 3, 2000
  • Los Angeles Times, "Site-ing Dr. Laura," March 2, 2000
  • USA Today, "Talk show host's TV spot sparks a protest site," March 2, 2000
  • CNN, March 2, 2000
  • Access Hollywood, March 2, 2000
  • Salon, "StopDrLaura.com," March 1, 2000
  • BBC Radio, March 1, 2000
  • CNet Radio, March 1, 2000
  • Potomac Tech Wire, March 1, 2000
  • Southern Voice, "'Frasier' Producer Slams Paramount on Dr. Laura," Feb. 24, 2000
  • O'Reilly Factor, FOX News, Feb. 18, 2000
Outside Links

GRUESOME GAY MURDER CHILLS CBS AIRING OF DR. LAURA TV SHOW

March 23, 2000
Lesbian & Gay New York (LGNY)
Issue No. 129
By Troy Masters
www.lgny.com
(This is an advance copy to run in Friday's edition.)

Murder Stalls NYC Dr. Laura Show
CBS Flagship Fears Backlash After Gruesome Anti-gay Killing

The Dr. Laura Television Show, produced by Paramount Pictures, has entered into an agreement with local New York CBS affiliate and flagship station WCBS-TV, according to sources within the programming and public affairs office who asked to remain anonymous. That agreement, according to the source, has not been completed and officials at the television station may be reconsidering their decision to air the show. WCBS-TV serves Americas largest most affluent television market.

Concern about Dr. Laura’s incendiary statements regarding homosexuals has increased after details of the gruesome homophobic killing of Steen Fenrich began unfolding today. A pedestrian in Alley Pond Park found Steen Fenrich’s skull, parts of his pelvis and one foot in two plastic food containers. The words "Gay nigger number one" were carved into his skull, which had been bleached. The New York Times reported that his social security number had also been etched into his skull. Fenrich, 19, had been missing for several months. His stepfather committed suicide after police arrived at his home to question him.

Unsolicited, the source commented on the Queens murder of Steen Fenrich, when told that LGNY was calling to confirm that WCBS-TV had signed an agreement to air the Dr. Laura show. "Funny you’d call today. There was big buzz about the Metro Section story (in The New York Times), the skull found out in Queens. News reported the word "Gay" was carved on the skull. And, when he heard about it, one of the big guys here said we should hold off a couple of weeks on publicizing our Dr. Laura Show agreement. He asked something about 'atmosphere of hate.'" Asked who the "big guy" was the source refused to reveal an identity and said "you're not gonna print that are you?" Dr. Laura has mounted a campaign of intolerance against gays, admonishing her 20 million listeners that homosexuality is deviant behavior and the result of biological errors.

"I'm sorry, hear it one more time perfectly clearly: If you're gay or a lesbian, it's a biological error that inhibits you from relating normally to the opposite sex. The fact that you are intelligent, creative and valuable is all true. The error is in your inability to relate sexually intimately, in a loving way to a member of the opposite sex - it is a biological error," said Dr. Laura in a 1998 program. "I call homosexual practices deviant," she told the New York Post.

Efforts to stop Dr. Laura’s march into the media spotlight has been criticized by conservatives as an attack on Dr. Laura’s first amendment rights. They criticize gays as hypocritical, citing their desire to end intolerance yet possessing an intolerance of "what they call intolerance." However, there is no evidence of a first amendment infringment against Dr. Laura as no one has ever suggested legislation that would prohibit Dr. Laura’s from waging her antigay campaign. Instead there exists an effort to get to recognize Paramount and all corporately involved entities to recognize the damage a demogogue like Dr. Laura can do to people’s ability to live in a civil society. Dr. Laura’s antigay sentiments have become so strident as to resemble the rhetoric of a eugenics campaign. Even Dr. Laura’s apology was an attempt to reposition her anti-gay statements as a clinical statement of "fact."

What is clear is that station management at WCBS-TV are able to debate the dangers of Dr. Laura and that is an understanding gays must build upon. LGNY encourages all readers to let WCBS-TV management know how it feels about Dr. Laura. Call station program director Jim Picinich at 975-2157. You can also call the Vice President and General Station Manager, Anthony Petitti at 975-3032. You may write them 524 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019.

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