Four
organizations are demanding that the Museum of Broadcast
Communications retract its decision to induct Focus on the
Family founder James Dobson into its hall of fame.
The groups
are urging supporters to contact the Chicago-based
museum to share their disapproval, and to participate
in a protest against the induction.
Truth Wins Out,
the Gay Liberation Network, Equality Illinois, and
Soulforce issued a letter to museum organizers asking to
leave Dobson out of the annual ceremony.
"It is simply
unconscionable that the museum is giving its imprimatur
to a demagogue who has profited from divisive and
discriminatory rhetoric. If the museum wants to regain
its respect and credibility, it will choose to dump
Dobson," Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen
said in a statement.
Aside from
establishing Focus on the Family, Dobson's work also
includes founding Love Won Out, a prominent
organization that claims to cure gays and lesbians of
their homosexuality. At least seven scientists and
psychologists have accused him of cherry-picking
research results to back his teachings, according to
the statement.
Dobson
established Focus on the Family in the 1970s and launched a
radio show after a television appearance in 1978. The
internationally syndicated show has been on the radio
ever since, airing on 4,000 stations around the
world.
Should the museum
choose to go ahead with Dobson's induction, the
ceremony will take place November 8 at the Renaissance
Chicago Hotel. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)
