Dr. Laura Ending Radio Show

Read what The Advocate had to say about Dr. Laura in its 2000 cover story on the antigay radio host.

***

One week after coming under fire for repeatedly using the n word on the air, controversial conservative talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced she's ending her radio show at the end of the year.

Schlessinger made the announcement Tuesday night on Larry King Live, saying she decided not to renew her contract when it expires this year because she doesn't want her opinions, however provocative, to be muzzled.

"I want to regain my First Amendment rights," she said. "I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that."

Schlessinger stressed she's not retiring. She said she will continue to write books and appear for speaking engagements.

The radio host apologized last week after coming under fire for using the n word 11 times on the air while talking with a black caller.

"If anybody with enough melanin says it, it's a horrible thing; but when black people say it, it's affectionate," she said. "It's very confusing."

No stranger to controversy, in 2000, gay activists launched StopDrLaura.com after she referred to homosexuality as a "biological error." Further, she said, "a huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys."

On Tuesday night, a headline on StopDrLaura.com read: "We Stopped Dr. Laura."