Call to Action: Tell Clear Channel to stop radio host Jim Quinn’s defamatory attacks

On the January 14 edition of Clear Channel's nationally syndicated radio program, “The War Room with Quinn and Rose,” host Jim Quinn made outrageous and defamatory comments about people living with HIV/AIDSand what he called the “homosexual AIDS lobby.” Quinn erroneously compared contagious tuberculosis patients to people living with HIV/AIDS and went on to say, “When you get AIDS, pal, the door opens up to you. You have got all kinds of government goodies, including a maid to clean your house, transportation - I mean it's - there's just a wealth of wonders that come.”

Media Matters For America released audio of the comments you can listen to here.

Quinn’s attempts to compare HIV/AIDS to tuberculosis are grossly inaccurate and appalling. His overall comments defaming people living with HIV/AIDS are also beyond the pale.

These statements are particularly troubling given similar comments by Quinn in the past. In November 2008, GLAAD issued a call to action after Quinn made defamatory remarks about marriage for same-sex couples in California, saying, “Gay marriage doesn't produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state doesn't have – or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals more for their – for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us.'"

At that time, GLAAD called on Clear Channel executives to reprimand Quinn and stop providing a national platform for these kinds of defamatory attacks.

GLAAD urges you to contact Clear Channel Communications and voice concerns about Jim Quinn’s latest reprehensible comments. Ask Clear Channel Executives why Quinn is still being allowed this platform to perpetuate hatred, fear and misinformation:

Lisa Dollinger
Chief Communications Officer
Clear Channel Communications
(210) 822-2828
lisacdollinger@clearchannel.com

Rod Phillips
Programming Senior Vice President
(210) 822-2828
rodphillips@clearchannel.com

Robert H. Walls, Jr.
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
(210) 822-2828
robert.walls@clearchannel.com

Pat Robertson sez people are "made homosexuals" because of sexual abuse

Today, Media Matters for America condemned national religious media figure Pat Robertson’s recent comments that he was not “persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems,” and that while “there may be a very few, there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them.” Robertson has made similar comments in recent weeks baselessly linking homosexuality with pedophilia.

“As a national religious media figure, people look to Pat Robertson for spiritual guidance. But he continues to use his platform on The 700 Club to mislead his audience and spread fear and intolerance,” said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. “As our nation celebrates the LGBT community and the strides we have all made to overcome our history of intolerance and ignorance, Robertson’s rhetoric reminds us that there is still more work to be done.”

Read more after the jump.


Other heads of national and state-based LGBT organizations have spoken out against Robertson’s comments:

Jon Blair, CEO of Equality Virginia: “Equality Virginia is disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised, by Pat Robertson’s recent comments. For years, Robertson has been toting the same tired message that being GLBT is a dysfunction, likely caused by something traumatic in a GLBT person’s life. The overwhelming truth, supported time and again, is that most GLBT people have normal childhoods and are living healthy lives. Abuse is no more or less prevalent in the GLBT community than it is in the straight community. At the end of the day, the most prevalent trauma that GLBT people endure in life is the social discrimination they receive at the hands of misinformed people like Robertson.”

Jeff Lutes, Executive Director of Soulforce, said of Robertson’s comments: “As a therapist, it is hard for me to believe that there are still so many who refuse to even consider the growing body of social science research on this subject. Robertson ought to be deeply ashamed of himself for giving the mother who wrote him, and his television viewers, such misguided, erroneous, and dangerous advice. I hope this young man's parents will ignore Robertson and seek more reputable information -- his very life just might depend on it.”

As Media Matters documented, on the June 9 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s The 700 Club, Robertson responded to a mother who asked: “How should we, as parents of a homosexual son, handle the ongoing challenges facing us, such as staying true to our faith and following the commandment to 'love your neighbor as yourself'? This is very difficult for us.” Robertson replied:

Well, first of all, he's not your neighbor. He's your son; that's a different thing. You owe him, you know, advice and counsel and guidance. You're his parent. First of all, you didn't say how old he is. Secondly, I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there's something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, "Well, he's a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?" Well, I think you ought to tell him, "Listen, son, you know, here's what the Bible says about this, and it's called an abomination before God, so I've got to tell you the truth because I love you." That's what I think.






Matthew Shepard Act will not gag ministers

During the April 29 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, correspondent Molly Henneberg reported that religious groups are concerned that under the proposed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, "they may be prosecuted for their religious beliefs if they believe that homosexuality is a sin, that it could gag ministers who preach that, or even if a church may not want to marry a gay couple. There is concern that they could face lawsuits as well."

However, the assertion that the legislation would allow individuals or groups to "be prosecuted for their religious beliefs" is false: Section 8 of the bill states that "Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the Constitution," and the First Amendment to the Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (emphasis added).

Indeed, the House Judiciary Committee's report on the legislation states that the purpose of Section 8 of the bill is "to lay to rest concerns raised in the 110th Congress mark-up of the legislation, and repeated since then, that religious speech or expression by clergy could form the basis of a prosecution.

Nothing in this legislation would prohibit the constitutionally protected expression of one's religious beliefs." - via Media Matters

Declare war on Jim Quinn and 'The War Room'

On November 6, Jim Quinn (seen above in his lavender, faux-finished bedroom with his two poodles) of the nationally syndicated radio program, 'The War Room with Quinn & Rose', made defamatory statements about marriage for same-sex couples. As noted by Media Matters for America, "Discussing the passage of a California ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, radio host Jim Quinn asserted: '[G]ay marriage doesn't produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state doesn't have – or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals more for their – for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us.'"

Media Matters released a transcript and audio of the comments.
To listen to the segment click here.

The War Room with Quinn & Rose originates in Pittsburgh and is syndicated by Clear Channel Communications. It can be heard in 12 markets across the country in Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and nationally on Satellite XM radio.

Please contact Clear Channel to voice your concerns about Quinn's reprehensible remarks about gay people and people with AIDS. Call on Clear Channel to reprimand him and stop providing a national platform for these kinds of defamatory attacks.

CONTACT:

Lisa Dollinger
Chief Communications Officer
Clear Channel Communications
(210) 822-2828
lisacdollinger@clearchannel.com

Kathryn Johnson
Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations
Clear Channel Communications
(210) 822-2828
KathrynMaysJohnson@clearchannel.com

Sanda Coyle
Clear Channel Radio
(210) 822-2828
sandacoyle@clearchannel.com