---

Radio Hall of Fame will not Bow to Homosexual Pressure to Dump Dobson

By Hilary White

CHICAGO, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago has drawn the wrath of homosexual activists who object to the induction of Dr. James Dobson, a major figure in the US Christian pro-life and family movement. Wayne Besen, a homosexual activist, organized a campaign against the Hall of Fame that resulted in several hundred emails demanding that Dr. Dobson be removed from the list of nominees. 

Dr. Dobson is the founder and head of Focus on the Family, one of the most prominent US Protestant evangelical organizations. According to homosexual activist Wayne Besen, Dr. Dobson is "an extremist who has built his empire on the backs of gays and lesbians" and "a bigot who distorts scientific research." Focus on the Family is one of Besen's favorite targets and he has set up a website meant to refute the medical and psychological research put forward by Focus on the nature and treatment of homosexuality as a disorder.

"It is an affront for the Radio Hall of Fame to honor James Dobson, a right wing demagogue," said Besen.

Since the late 1970s Focus has been a leading advocate of traditional Christian social values, those most derided and demonized by the homosexualist and feminist movements. Dobson broadcast his first Focus radio broadcast in 1977 and currently reaches about 220 million people in 164 countries. In the 1980s, Focus became a key player in the efforts to bring together a coalition of Christian denominations to fight the "Culture Wars" over abortion, the defence of natural marriage and the rights of Christians in the public square.

Gary Schneeberger, vice president for media and public relations (PR) at Focus on the Family, said that Besen's complaint is noisy and has generated a lot of media attention, but is lacking substance.

"The Focus on the Family broadcast was created as, and remains, a means of helping families thrive," Schneeberger said. "If you were to analyze the content of our 32 years of broadcasts, only a minuscule number deal with public-policy issues, and an infinitesimal number deal with homosexuality."

In a public statement, the chairman of the National Radio Hall of Fame (NRHF) showed no hint that it intends to bow to pressure to politicize its nomination. The nominations, he said, are based solely on the honoree's contributions to radio.

Bruce DuMont, NRHF chairman, said the selection is not based on the politics or religious beliefs of the candidates but solely on "tenures and accomplishments in the radio industry."

Once the nominations are made, voting includes members of the public and the selection of Dr. Dobson has been a popular one. "The very nature of radio," DuMont said, "often creates large numbers of fans devoted to their favorite personalities, and the number of votes cast in 2008 increased significantly."

The voting ended July 15 with more than 70,000 votes cast and with Focus on the Family having won the nationally syndicated broadcasters category, beating out Dr. Laura Schlessinger and "shock jock" Howard Stern.

 Back to Top

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.