Dr. Laura & Anita Bryant - Still Homophobic?

[hayden777]

Does anyone out there happen to know if after all these years and all that has changed in the world, are Anita Bryant and her alter ego "Dr." Laura STILL the raging ignorant, homophobic hate mongers they were before? To the best of anyone's knowledge, have they ever expressed any regret or remorse over their hate? Has either one of these two "delightful ladies" ever offered any apology to the gay community? Or are they the same ignorant homophobes they always were. What do you know? What has anyone heard about this?

 

[SuprSonic]

From her wikipedia entry:

Some fundamentalist audiences and venues shunned her after her divorce. As she was no longer invited to appear at their events, she lost another major source of income. With her four children, she moved from Miami to Selma, Alabama, and later to Atlanta, Georgia.[11] In a 1980 Ladies Home Journal article she said, "The church needs to wake up and find some way to cope with divorce and women's problems." She also expressed some sympathy for feminist aspirations, given her own experiences of emotional abuse within her previous marriage.[12]

Yeah, I have to wonder if the karmic message sunk in.

 

[JayQueer]

Dr. Laura is NOT homophobic.

She takes phone calls from openly gay people, and she helps them with their issues with same-sex relationships, most of which are the same issues that straight people face in their relationships. Dr. Laura supports marriage between one man & one woman, but she has also spoken out in support of monogamous same-sex unions (such as civil unions).

From the Dr. Laura blog, see these two articles --

http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/11/10/hate-mail/

http://www.drlaurablog.com/2010/06/22/setting-my-record-straight-about-gays/

Here's what gay callers have to say about Dr. Laura --

1)

“Thank you for reading the email from the gay gentleman. I’m a gay woman (I don’t like the word ‘lesbian’) [she writes] and listen to you faithfully. I applaud you for protecting children and keeping people on the right path. I echo the feelings of the gay man who emailed you today. I am and have been single for 10 years. I just wanted to let you know how much I agree with you on how to make relationships work. I only wish I had found you before my partner left. If I had, I don’t think she would have ended the relationship. I hope more people in gay relationships will listen to you.”

2)

“I just heard you read the email over the air from the faithful gay listener. Add me to the column! I’m a gay male in central Virginia who listens to you every day after I get home from work. I’ve been listening regularly for the past three years and I wouldn’t miss it. Gay or straight…white, black, green, purple, or blue…Momma Laura knows how to knock some sense into people’s heads.”

3)

“I’ve been a listener… for years and years. I’ve always enjoyed your show and appreciated your approach. One of your conversations today prompted me to write you. I am gay, and have had a long and challenging process in accepting my sexuality. Not only am I gay, but I’m a Christian, and generally hold conservative beliefs. Many of my friends have bought into the “victim” mindset that our community is told we have to fall into. In my opinion, all this seeks to do for anyone is to separate and divide. They believe that everyone needs to completely accept and support gays.

“While I personally believe that this is how I was born and how God made me, I also realize that many people do not share my view. While I disagree with them, I respect their right to hold that opinion. You made an excellent point today when you highlighted the difference between tolerance and acceptance. Right or wrong, good or bad, It’s simply unreasonable for anyone to demand complete acceptance of anything from anyone else.

“I wish with all my heart that my gay and lesbian friends would get past their biases and listen to what you have to say about right and wrong, healthy behaviors and appropriate ways of handling conflict. Thank you for being you, standing up to those who cowardly try to tear you down and silence you, and for coming into my radio every day. You have helped me more than you will ever know!!”

 

[SuprSonic]

If she's against same sex marriage, then she's homophobic.

 

[jdbadboy]

I think Anita may have recanted but she has been out of the spotlight for so long I can't remember where to tell you to look. I think in the 80's there was a photo of her dancing with a gay man in Newsweek magazine.

I doubt Dr. Laura has changed much. Most likely her views have simply crystalized for her and she is just as fundamentalist and judgemental as ever.

 

[JayQueer]

If she's against same sex marriage, then she's homophobic.

Really? Wow. Then I guess about 48 to 55% of Americans are homophobic. In rural areas, I guess 80% of people are homophobic, right?

This is unfortunately what a lot of gay liberals do. You have to agree with them about an issue that's near & dear to their heart, or you are branded a "bigot" or a "homophobe."

A good number of people don't support same-sex marriage, but they may have gay friends & family members they care about dearly & include in their everyday lives. That doesn't make them homophobic.

 

[jdbadboy]

I think Dr. Laura also opposes gay couples from adopting children or being parents.

 

[cliffdweller]

Dr. Laura always struck me as an opportunist, i.e., she'll hold whatever opinion she thinks will get her the most attention. There was a time when she was not homophobic at all, then she became progressively more anti-gay. I think she may have toned it down a bit in the last few years. Is she still doing her radio show? I thought I read she quit that a couple of years ago after she got pissed about being called out for using the N word.

I'm pretty sure Anita Bryant is as homophobic as she ever was, but I think she's got too many other problems to deal with; I read that she tried to resurrect her singing career, which failed miserably, and that she never paid the people who worked for her and has moved around to try to avoid paying her debts.

 

[JayQueer]

I doubt Dr. Laura has changed much. Most likely her views have simply crystalized for her and she is just as fundamentalist and judgemental as ever.

What I like about Dr. Laura is that she is a "no nonsense," "tell it like it is" kind of lady. In today's world, its hard to find people like that. Most people will be soft & mushy.

In a phone call with a gay man (Latino & Christian) struggling with coming out, she gives him good advice, especially towards the end when he asks if he should have "angst" towards his mother for "keeping him closeted for so long."

She says the truth, "Look, as much as your mother can love you to pieces, and want everything for you -- moms want their sons to marry girls, and have babies, and etc etc. So no matter how wonderful you are, and how embracing she is of you, there's going to be that disappointment. And you have to be as understanding of that, as you want her to be of you......It has to go both ways."

I agree with her statement. Almost all parents assume that their children will be straight, and biologically produce grandchildren. Even liberal parents assume this. I remember reading a Details magazine interview with "liberal" Hollywood fathers who were afraid at the thought of their sons being gay.

Here is the phone call from a young gay man with Dr. Laura --

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z17H947qYBU[/ame]

 

[JayQueer]

The only reason anyone would not want homosexuals to share the same rights is because they don't like gays, which is homophobic. It absolutely makes no sense if an individual doesn't have an issue with homosexuals and then doesn't want them to share the same rights.

Many people don't support same-sex marriage, but do support civil unions or domestic partnerships that offer the same rights & responsibilities as marriage. Many of these people would also be fine with repealing or altering DOMA to give federal recognition of civil unions in states that recognize such unions.

But for a lot of Americans, the term "marriage," because of their culture, values, or faith, refers to an opposite-sex union. So, the real battle here is over a redefinition of the word, marriage, right?

 

[miaedu]

not sure why you have this obsession with anita bryant?

http://www.justusboys.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322599&highlight=anita+bryant

 

[scream4ever]

People who oppose same sex marriage need to understand that they most likely do so for religious reasons. What we are fighting for has nothing to do with religion. We want our relationships held up to the same level of civil respect/protections as straight couples. Anything less is seperate but equal. How can you say that to people you love? It does make one homophobic.

 

[JayQueer]

I personally am a fan of Dr. Laura.

I grew up listening to Dr. Laura whenever her show used to air in the middle of the day. My mom would listen to Dr. Laura in the car while she would run errands, and I was usually sitting in the back seat.

I think that her advice is to the point. I like that she "tells it like it is."

 

[hotatlboi]

Really? Wow. Then I guess about 48 to 55% of Americans are homophobic. In rural areas, I guess 80% of people are homophobic, right?

Sounds about right.

 

[pai mei]

it's possible to have gay family members and friends, and still be homophobic.

i hope everyone realizes that. call it internalized separation, it's kindah like how i could jerk off to gay porn when i was 16 and still tell myself i wasn't gay.

 

[BrianPGH]

it's possible to have gay family members and friends, and still be homophobic.

You're absolutely right. And the "but she/he/I have gay friends" defense is just about as believable as the "she/he/I have black friends" version.

I have family members who don't "agree" with gay marriage. I know it's born out of their religious beliefs, but for the life of me I still can't wrap my head around it. I forgive them because I love them and they're my family, but I can't help wonder how they'd feel if I opposed their marriages.

 

[purina]

Oh, I would love to see that!

Anita Bryant Goes Dancing

Tom Moody
Louisville, Kentucky

Anita Bryant Is Upset By Photo Of Her At Disco

Singer Anita Bryant was "rather upset" when a photograph of her dancing with a minister was distributed, the minister said.

"It was the first time Anita has ever gone to a disco, and she was exploited in it," said the Rev. Russ McCraw of Montgomery, Ala., a close friend. "She'd like to have her privacy like anyone."

Miss Bryant, 42, who opposed gay rights in Florida, was visiting friends in Atlanta when she and McCraw went dancing.

McCraw, who serves homosexuals, said he and Miss Bryant were "just having a good time" when they stopped briefly at the night spot. Louisville Times 6-29-82
...

The definitions of "lasciviousness" include: "indecent bodily movements" and "unchaste handling of males and females" (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, pp. 79-80). Who can deny that this describes modern dancing? Lasciviousness is condemned in the word of God as a "work of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19) and is closely associated with fornication and uncleanness (Mark 7:21-22; 2 Corinthians 12:21).

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 6, p. 203
April 7, 1983

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Bryant
In a 1980 Ladies Home Journal interview, following her divorce and in the aftermath of her anti-gay activism, Bryant commented on her anti-gay views and said, "I'm more inclined to say live and let live, just don't flaunt it or try to legalize it."[12] However, the biography page on her Anita Bryant Ministries website (written in 2006) continues to defend her earlier anti-gay activism and views.

http://www.anitabmi.org/3.html

 

[LittleDove]

McCraw, who serves homosexuals, said he and Miss Bryant were "just having a good time" ...

Neither of them exactly look like they're enjoying themselves.

 

[hayden777]

Dr. Laura is NOT homophobic.

She takes phone calls from openly gay people, and she helps them with their issues with same-sex relationships, most of which are the same issues that straight people face in their relationships. Dr. Laura supports marriage between one man & one woman, but she has also spoken out in support of monogamous same-sex unions (such as civil unions).

From the Dr. Laura blog, see these two articles --

http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/11/10/hate-mail/

http://www.drlaurablog.com/2010/06/22/setting-my-record-straight-about-gays/

Here's what gay callers have to say about Dr. Laura --

1)



2)



3)

I'm Sorry, but that woman refers to us as "biological errors". Don't tell me that's not homophobic. IT MOST CERTAINLY IS! She also intimated in no uncertain way that Matthew Shephard DESERVED TO DIE! If that isn't anti gay bigotry, then what would you call it??!! She has called us "sexual deviates" and said that we molest children. She has repeatedly played into every anti gay stereotype that there is. JUST LIKE ANITA! She said that our sexuality is a "disease" that can be "cured", despite the fact that the entire mental health profession (which she does not belong to now or ever) says otherwise. She continues to advocate "reparative therapy", which the mainstream psychiatric profession has found to be both ineffective and extremely harmful to patients. This is the kind of pain she has caused us. Has she ever atoned for any of it? She certainly should.

 

[hayden777]

not sure why you have this obsession with anita bryant?

http://www.justusboys.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322599&highlight=anita+bryant

I don't have an "obsession" as you put it. Out of all the posts I have made since joining, only 2 have mentioned her. And only 1 of the 2 was just about her. That's because of a recent article I stumbled upon about an upcoming movie about her. Sometimes very homophobic people can come around and I just wondered if that was the case with her and "Dr." Laura. 2 questions, only 1 of which focused solely on her DOES NOT constitute a so called "obsession" If you want to love right wing anti gay bigots, be my guest. I don't get gay people who do. Makes no sense to me.