National Top 40 Radio Teen Advice Host Partners With "Ex-Gay" Groups

Tom Lang of Know Thy Neighbor alerts us that nationally syndicated radio host Dawson McCallister is directing teens that question their sexually to contact "ex-gay" organizations like Exodus International. McCallister's teen advice program is heard on Top 40 stations in 165 markets. Lang called the show and posed as a 16 year old boy to one of McCallister's counselors:

Pretending to be a 16 year old boy (I am really 24), 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.

Listed as partners on McCallister's website are Exodus International, Focus On The Family, and other anti-gay groups. According to Lang, the program director of the station that hosts McCallister's show in Boston was unaware of the show's ties to anti-gay groups. Expect more on this story.