So what's the big deal? On the air his show seems helpful and genuine. He gives the number of his Hopeline
1-800-394-HOPE (4673) frequently throughout the show, saying that you can speak with one of their trained Hopeline representatives. His website,
dmlive.com , seems to reflect his show and it offers several other methods of getting in touch with his show. In addition to calling him or the Hopeline, you can text,
Facebook, or tweet.
This past Sunday, I was listening to the show when I began to wonder how they would react to a teenage boy questioning his sexuality. I decided to call the Hopeline and ask. On the automated menu, it stated that I had to be between the ages of 13 and 29. I thought it curious that the show could speak with children that young. Upon confirming that I was of said age, I was presented with the option to speak with either a trained Hopeline representative or Dawson McAllister. Because I knew I would never get through to McAllister, I opted to speak to a representative. Pretending to be a 16 year old boy (I am really 22), I told him that I had recently begun to question my sexuality and that I thought I might be gay. The first thing he told me (which he told me several times throughout our conversation) is that they get a ton of calls like this. He then asked if I had been raised religiously. I told him no, and that is where things began to explode. He told me that it is common for "children raised with no God to question their sexuality." He went on to say that "if I embraced God, I could be cured." He continued, comparing homosexuality to "alcoholism or pornography or drug addiction." He said that"homosexuality was not natural." He then quoted several Bible verses, saying that homosexuality was just as bad as "adultery, theft, or murder." He agreed that I was "broken and needed to be cured." This conversation lasted for 20 minutes. When I couldn't take any more, I thanked him for his time and hung up on him while he said that he would be praying for me.
After calming down, I called again, hoping to get a different representative. I had to know if this was just one person or if this is what the radio show and the Hopeline believed. Thankfully I did get a different representative. Still posing as a 16 year old boy questioning his sexuality, I told him about the conversation I just had and that I was frightened because I didn't want to go to Hell. He confirmed that the Hopeline gets many calls like that and went on to refer me to the
Exodus International program and
Live Hope Ministries. For those of you who don't know, the Exodus International is not only a program that attempts to "cure" homosexuality from "infected youth," it has ministers who have been in
Uganda preaching that the murder of homosexuals is not only acceptable, but should be made into law. **(see correction below)
I did a little research and found that Dawson McAllister Live has strong Christian Right ties.
Despicable. Can you imagine the number of gay or questioning children that, because of this advice, have hurt of killed themseves? Who have lived a lie for the rest of the life? This makes me sick. When McAllister is on the air, he never overly stresses religion or gives the impression that he is hosting a religious show. But a quick look on
McAllister's Partner's Page will show that he doesn't try to hide this. EXODUS INTERNATIONAL IS RIGHT THERE!!
I called and spoke with
Kiss 108 Boston's Program Director, Chris Tyler, and he stated that not only was he unaware that McAllister's show was giving out this advice, but that he was unaware the show had a religious foundation! Kiss 108 is Boston's most popular radio station, it has been for decades and is part of
Clear Channel Radio and the Premier Radio. Take a look at the
other 165 stations that have contracted Dawson McAllister's sleazy little enterprise--most of which are radio stations serving younger audiences.
Dawson McAllister is an evil, calculated sneak who is reaching out across the country and hurting our gay youth while pretending to be a good person who just wants to help people.
-Greg Kimball, Knowthyneighbor
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** Correction to "It (Exodus) has ministers in Uganda preaching that murder of homosexuals is not only acceptable, but it should be made into law." While there is no evidence that indicates that Exodus International with its presence at the Ugandan "Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009" Conference in March of 2009 actually "preached" for the murder of homosexuals in that country, it did participate in the conference and allegedly provided its core talking points -- that homosexuality is a curable disease, which was used to give validation to the Ugandan Bill. Readers should note that the Ugandan Bill adds to existing Ugandan law of life imprisonment for "being" a homosexual, a mandatory 7 year jail sentence to anyone (ie those who are or claim to be straight) who commits an act of homosexuality AND it demands HIV testing of those arrested with death administered to the HIV positive. Exodus International later responded to Truth Wins Out's accusations
Tom Lang, Director of KnowThyNeighbor