A radio personality in Cleveland is facing tremendous backlash after telling a father that he should get one of his male friends to rape his daughter to force her to turn straight. In response to an email from a father who suspected his daughter was gay after discovering her kissing another girl, DJ Dominic Deiter declared on the air that “You should get one of your friends to screw your daughter straight.”
You read that correctly. An apparently anti-gay radio personality told a father that he should arrange for his daughter to be raped repeatedly until she magically turns straight.
After the disgusting remark, GLAAD received multiple reports about the incident, which was said during ‘Rover’s Morning Glory’ radio program that airs on WWMS 100.7 FM radio station on Clear Channel Communications, which includes radio shows hosted by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and several other right-wing radio shows. Clear Channel is also owned primarily by Bain Capital, the company that Mitt Romney began and is still involved with.
GLAAD’s Director of News & Field Media Aaron McQuade says “It was appalling and dangerous for this show to tell a father that he should have one of his friends rape his daughter. That’s essentially how Dieter responded to this listener, and this is no laughing matter in a world where people are too often the victims of violence and sexual assault based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. And Dieter gave this vile advice to everyone who was listening, including educators, parents and children – sending the message that it’s okay to physically or sexually abuse people who are perceived to be gay.”
Clearly, this disc jockey needs to be fired immediately for his comment. Advocating for rape to change homosexuals into heterosexuals is egregiously wrong on so many levels. Rape is a violent act against women, and to say that a father should have his own daughter raped for any reason is flat out evil. If Republicans needed a reason why the Violence Against Women Act and the update to include gays and lesbians should be passed, this is precisely why. Without this Act and the crucial updates, measures would not be in place to prevent the kind of violence Deiter is suggesting be used to curb homosexuality. Furthermore, members of the LGBT are human beings who have rights. Nobody deserves to be raped because of who they are.
Unfortunately, many people heard Deiter’s remark. And undoubtedly, many anti-gay activists may indeed harbor similar feelings. Could they switch their strategy from ‘pray away the gay’ to ‘rape away the gay’? I wonder how many of these anti-gay activists will be courageous enough to condemn Deiter’s response. Probably none of them.
