KISS 108 radio program now funnels listeners to Focus

After removing "ex-gay" contact information from their website, the Dawson McAllister show directs questioning teens to Focus on the Family instead.

Nationally syndicated call-in radio program Dawson McAllister Live has come under fire recently after reports emerged that the show's representatives were directing teens struggling with their sexuality to Exodus International, an "ex-gay" program that purports to "reverse" homosexuality through prayer and Christian-based therapy.

Since then, Clear Channel, which produces the show, requested that contact information for Exodus be removed from Dawson McAllister's website (dmlive.com) after receiving significant pressure from the LGBT community. The show complied, but is now directing teens to anti-gay organization Focus on the Family instead.

Boston's popular KISS 108 radio station (WXKS-FM) airs Dawson McAllister Live every Sunday night. McAllister's call-in show is designed to help teenagers and young adults (25 and under) tackle some of their deepest issues, ranging from drug abuse to pregnancy. It was revealed early this month that representatives from his HopeLine were directing teens to Exodus when Know Thy Neighbor (knowthyneighbor.org) blogger Greg Kimball, 22, called in, posing as a 16-year-old struggling with his sexuality. The representative with whom he spoke not only provided him with contact information for Exodus, but also equated homosexuality with murder (see Bay Windows, April 15 - 21, 2010, page 1).

"My jaw hit the floor," Kimball said after he was referred to Exodus. "How many gay or questioning youth has [McAllister] hurt? How many have cut themselves or run away from home or killed themselves or lived a life of lies and suppressing who they are because of his advice?" Kimball asked. "It's sickening." The blogger, while happy that Exodus' contact information has been removed from the McAllister website, believes that the original anti-gay message is still intact thanks to the inclusion of Focus on the Family.

"McAllister is too close of a mentor to Exodus' president [Alan Chambers] to think that McAllister is somehow suddenly pro-gay" since his website removed Exodus' contact information, said Know They Neighbor director Tom Lang. "But it isn't even about being pro-gay. McAllister and Clear Channel need to stop hurting kids. Using God as a means to tell LGBT youth that there is something wrong with them is not in their best interest."

Exodus International president Alan Chambers released a statement on behalf of the organization expressing disappointment in McAllister's decision to remove the information from his website. "Left with a choice between losing favor with Clear Channel by maintaining a relationship with Exodus, or maintaining media visibility by severing our ties, [McAllister] chose the latter," Chambers wrote. "[H]e informed us personally that, while he loves and supports Exodus, our name was now deleted from his partner's list, and he will no longer refer to us." (The official statement can be viewed at http://bit.ly/92NMzH.)

The online user comments generated on the organization's blog in response to the statement, however, revealed that teenagers and young adults who call into the show for guidance are being directed to Focus on the Family. A user identified as "Jason Thompson" asked how the show's representatives approach questioning callers, and Chambers responded, saying that the show "intend[s] to continue referring people to Focus on the Family." Chambers said he asked the CEO of the Dawson McAllister Show, "How long do you think it will be before [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] challenges that?" and reports that the CEO responded, "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Chambers also revealed in the statement that it was McAllister who originally referred Chambers to Exodus when he was 19 years old. "Dawson McAllister was the catalyst for my journey, which eventually led me to direct the organization he's now unwilling to officially associate with," Chambers wrote. "Could the irony be any more bitter?"

Several movements opposing McAllister's show have cropped up among LGBT advocacy groups, primarily calling for its removal from KISS 108 programming. "KISS 108 should immediately sever its relationship with the McAllister show to avoid aiding and abetting these homophobic proselytizers," Arlene Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, said. "It is cruel to counsel LGBT youth in this fashion. It's a form of 'therapeutic bullying' that would definitely traumatize many kids and possibly cause long term damage to some. ...It is not safe for LGBT youth to be counseled by McAllister's representatives."

The American Psychological Association publicly denounced "gay rehabilitation programs" similar to those offered by Exodus last August, saying, "Practitioners can assist clients through therapies that do not attempt to change sexual orientation, but rather involve acceptance, support, and identity exploration and development without imposing a specific identity outcome."

The Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) Greater Boston branch offers on its website a guide to "Reparative Therapy," including statements from several leading medical and psychological organizations denouncing "ex-gay" programs. (View the statements at http://bit.ly/bZTRai.) "I think that the most important thing to [be] emphasized is the fact that there is scientific consensus that the approach advocated by Dawson McAllister is worthless at best and quite likely harmful," Stan Griffith, president of Greater Boston PFLAG, said. He authored a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe earlier this month, writing, "[W]e should hold KISS 108 management accountable for disseminating potentially life threatening misinformation about sexual orientation and gender identity. And it should stop immediately."

Truth Wins Out, a national program that counters the "ex-gay" industry, has also been vocal against McAllister's ties with Exodus. "Dawson McAllister Live is sending LGBT youth to programs that have damaged many people and have caused much harm," said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out. "If he wants to dole out religious advice contrary to every respected medical and mental health organization in the nation, he should be relegated to fundamentalist radio. It is outrageous and insulting that mainstream radio stations would give him a platform to pose as a secular while offering medically unsound and sectarian advice."

In addition to Focus on the Family, contact information for Truth Media Internet -- a "ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ" that offers e-mail ministry for youth; and Aglow Women's Ministry -- which offers "intercessory prayer warriors"; is also available on the "Partners" section of Dawson McAllister's website.

"The Dawson McAllister show will continue to be homophobic no matter what links they put on their website," said Mark Snyder, founder of QueerToday.com. "Youth deserve non-biased, accurate information that validates their human dignity."

Kimball and Know Thy Neighbor urged Clear Channel to include contact information for the Trevor Project on Dawson McAllister's website. The Trevor Project, a hotline for LGBT and questioning teens, provides support, guidance, resources, and confidential services in the name of suicide prevention. Meanwhile, however, Kimball has one request. "I want [McAllister] off the air," he said. Granting that this option may not be entirely feasible, Kimball said McAllister should return to Christian radio or include a disclaimer throughout his show saying, "the opinions expressed here are the opinions of such-and-such organization, just so people know what side he's coming from," Kimball said. "I want him to at least announce his motives and stop trying to come across as this 'Good Samaritan' guy trying to help everybody, because he's not."

A production of Premiere Radio Networks and Clear Channel Radio, the Dawson McAllister show airs on more than 140 stations across the country and reaches more than 500,000 listeners. Because the HopeLine phone calls aren't aired, the production companies say that they cannot control the content. "The Dawson McAllister Association separately runs the volunteer HopeLine call-in service," a statement from Clear Channel Radio read. "Clear Channel and Premiere Radio Networks are not directly involved in that operation, nor do we exercise any control over it."

Following an increase in media attention pertaining to the show, Clear Channel released an amended statement that read, "We were concerned about how listener calls to the Hopeline that discussed sexuality were addressed and referrals callers were given to third parties. Clear Channel has a history of making significant commitments to diversity within our own company, and has been honored by the Human Rights Campaign for its policies regarding GLBT employees and business partners. After looking into this matter, we expressed to the producers of Dawson McAllister Live that Clear Channel listeners who call the Hopeline be treated in a manner consistent with our corporate commitments to diversity."

Representatives of KISS 108 forwarded Clear Channel's press statement to Bay Windows after calls and e-mails for comment went unreturned.