Laura Schlessinger

[[File:DrLauraSchlessingerByPhilKonstantin.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Laura Schlessinger in 2007]]
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'''Laura Catherine Schlessinger''' a.k.a. '''Dr. Laura''' {{lived|1947|}} is an [[United States|American]] [[right-wing]] [[radio]] host and [[author]] known for her [[Morality police|morality policing]] and love of [[The Bible]]. Schlessinger's doctorate is in physiology, with her thesis on the effect of insulin on rats.<ref>''Effects of insulin on 3-0-methylglucose transport in isolated rat adipocytes'' by Laura C. Schlessinger (1974) Columbia University.</ref> Constantly referring to herself as "Dr. Laura" in a professional context, while never discussing anything relevant to her professional qualifications is a form of [[credentialism#Credential abuse|credential abuse]].

Since 2011, Schlessinger has been hosted exclusively on Sirius XM<ref>https://adage.com/article/media/radio-host-dr-laura-makes-move-sirius-xm/147344</ref> although before that point she was incredibly popular on AM, with her being the fifth most popular radio host in the country in 2010.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20180626054534/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/barack-obama-critics-rush-limbaugh-top-annual-list-influential-radio-hosts-article-1.195023?barcprox=true</ref> Surprisingly, she also spent a few years on the editorial board of ''[[Skeptic magazine|Skeptic Magazine]]'', but resigned in 1998 because the magazine published an issue on the topic of [[theism]]. Although it showed various views from different perspectives, even questioning the existence of [[God]] was enough to get her to leave.<ref name=secular>https://secularhumanism.org/2001/01/dont-listen-to-dr-laura/</ref>

==Homophobia==
If there's one thing that Schlessinger is infamous for, it's her [[homophobia]]. Quotes from her on this topic include, but are by no means limited too:
*"I'm sorry, hear it one more time perfectly clearly: If you're [[Homosexuality|gay or a lesbian]], it's a biological error that inhibits you from relating normally to the opposite sex. The fact that you are intelligent, creative and valuable is all true. The error is in your inability to relate sexually intimately, in a loving way to a member of the opposite sex ­it is a biological error."<ref name=homophobia>https://web.archive.org/web/20000511044147/http://stopdrlaura.com/laura/index.htm</ref>
*"I asked for only those supporting legal [[gay marriage]]s to respond to the question of whether it's OK for adult male and female siblings to marry."<ref name=homophobia/>
*"How many letters have I read on the air from gay men who acknowledge that a huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys?"<ref name=homophobia/>

==Racism==
Schlessinger came under fire for her use of the racial slur "[[nigger]]" when a Black woman named Nita Hanson called Schlessinger's show to ask for advice on how to deal with a husband who did not care when she was the subject of racist comments by acquaintances. When the caller noted that she was referred to as the "n-word" by the individuals in question, Schlessinger saw a [[double standard]] with Black people using the n-word amongst themselves and non-Black people being stigmatised for attempting to use such (reclaimed) slurs, and as if it couldn't get any worse, uttered "nigger" eleven times on air. Schlessinger denied it was directed towards Hanson, and spuriously accused Hanson of reporting the incident to the [[NAACP]].<ref name="Pavlus">{{Cite web |last=Pavlus |first=Sarah |date=2011-01-21 |title=Caller: Dr. Laura Is Lying About Me |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-schlessinger/caller-dr-laura-lying-about-me |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=Media Matters for America |language=en}}</ref> Hanson questioned the motivation and sincerity of Schlessinger's apology, believing it to be result of being "caught."<ref name="nita">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2010/08/dr-laura-caller-tells-cnn-its-never-ok-to-use-that-word.html|title=Dr. Laura caller tells CNN: 'It's never OK to use that word'|access-date=August 20, 2010|date=August 19, 2010|work=Orlando Sentinel|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823035849/http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2010/08/dr-laura-caller-tells-cnn-its-never-ok-to-use-that-word.html|archive-date=August 23, 2010}}</ref> Hanson also said that Schlessinger did not apologize for her comments on interracial marriage.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1008/19/ltm.03.html|title=CNN.com – Transcripts|publisher=CNN|access-date=August 26, 2010}}</ref>

==Television show==
Between September 2000 and March 2001, Schlessinger hosted a daytime television show produced by Paramount Domestic Television.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211340/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/051900-01.htm</ref> Gay activists, along with anybody with any sense of decency, protested this decision primarily as a result of her homophobia.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080220082506/http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/2000/05/08/NEWS15161.dtl</ref> A website called "Stop Dr. Laura" was created explaining the reason for the protests, arguing that "No television studio would host a show by someone who called [[African-Americans]] biological errors. And in fact, when Jimmy the Greek suggested blacks were biologically different, he got fired. But when Ms. Schlessinger suggests gays and lesbians are biological errors, she gets a TV show. That's a [[free speech]] smoke-screen, and an anti-gay [[double standard]],"<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20000511094341/http://www.stopdrlaura.com/paramount/index.htm</ref> and received over a million page views in two days.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20090429020159/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/030400-02.htm</ref>

Although the show did eventually premier, a combination of low ratings and an inability to get [[Advertising|advertisers]] quickly caused CBS to shove it into a late night time slot<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20071215184400/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/07/dr.laura/</ref> before cancelling it altogether in March 2001. The most notable thing about the show is how Schlessinger would repeatedly have her staff dress up various people so she could interview them,<ref>https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=114986&page=1</ref> basically making it so the interviews were totally fake.

==That time she attacked an eighth grader on air==
"If she were my daughter, I'd probably put her up for adoption," said Schlessinger about an eighth grader in [[Connecticut]]. She went on to say, "When she makes her [[marriage]] vows, and her husband has sex with someone else, let's see if she thinks that philosophy works." The girl in question had published an essay on the importance of [[free speech]] on the internet&nbsp;— that's it.<ref name=secular/>

==Hypocrisy==
{{main|Hypocrisy}}
Despite being a strict supporter of [[family values]], Schlessinger:
*Started dating her husband, Lew Bishop, while he was still married to somebody else (i.e., [[adultery]]). The couple also lived together for nine years before marriage ("living in [[sin]]" as some [[fundies]] still call it<ref>[https://www.boundless.org/blog/why-living-in-sin-is-no-laughing-matter/ Why “Living in Sin” Is No Laughing Matter] by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin (October 13, 2020) ''Boundless, Focus on the Family''.</ref>).<ref name=secular/>
*Is estranged from both her mother and sister.<ref name=secular/>
*Says that [[Kinder, Küche, Kirche|women with children should stay at home to raise them]], despite working on an incredibly popular radio show despite having a juvenile child for a large chunk of that time.<ref name=secular/>
*Allowed her radio broadcaster, Bill Ballance, to take [[naked]] pictures of her while having an affair with him in 1978.<ref name=snopes>https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/letter-to-dr-laura/</ref>

==Why can't I own a Canadian?==
{{main|Why can't I own a Canadian?}}
In 2000, a man named Kent Ashcraft wrote a fictional letter to Dr. Laura mocking her use of The Bible as an argument for things being right and wrong. One particular section of the letter has since become famous:

{{quotebox|Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess [[slaves]], both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to [[Mexicans]], but not [[Canadian]]s. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?<ref name=snopes/>}}

For those unaware, {{bible|Leviticus|25|44}} says the following:

{{quotebox|Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the [[heathen]] that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.<ref>https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/25.html#44</ref>}}

Of course, part of the joke is that [[Leviticus]] is the most cited book in The Bible in regards to Christian and Jewish homophobia, due to {{bible|Leviticus|18|22}} stating:

{{quotebox|Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is [[abomination]].}}

The letter has since been used to mock others who are highly religious. It appeared in an episode of ''The West Wing'' as part of a takedown of somebody rather similar to Schlessinger, and was circulated against [[George W. Bush]] in 2004.<ref name=snopes/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlessinger, Laura}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Authors, Homophobes, Internalized discrimination, Living people, Racists, Right-wing activists