Dominic Dieter, a WMMS Ohio radio DJ who last week told a father who found his daughter kissing a woman to get one of his friends to essentially rape his daughter into becoming a heterosexual, has apologized after GLAAD and others stepped in to counsel him. But not all are pleased. On the WMMS radio website, fans are outraged — that Dieter apologized, and have even created a “Free Dieter” t-shirt. Clearly, they don’t understand.
Dominic Dieter last week told the father, “You should get one of your friends to screw your daughter straight.”
Today, on-air, Dieter told his audience:
I just wanted to say that, I know on the show this past Friday I made some comments that people found…considered to be offensive. And I just wanted to say, I understand why people are angry. I want to genuinely apologize to anyone who may have been offended by what I said.
I regret what I did say. My comments were inappropriate. They were inexcusable, and just downright stupid. And I want to make it clear; there was absolutely no intention to promote physical or sexual violence. And I’m truly, truly sorry by my poor choice of words that led people to believe otherwise.
Aaron McQuade, Director of News and Field Media at GLAAD, wisely writes:
If this girl is in fact gay, if she’s underage, or if she’s simply not interested in having sex with one of her dad’s friends, then what was suggested here was rape, plain and simple. While many might find it ridiculous to suggest that one could rape a young woman who is gay and turn her straight, this is not an uncommon occurrence in many parts of the world, and is in fact referred to as “corrective rape.” It is horrifying that this occurs anywhere, and it is reprehensible that Dieter told this man’s daughter that it should happen to her.
But some fans are outraged. Fans of Dieter on the WMMS radio website’s message board wrote entries like:
 That so stupid, glad is saying that he suggested that the girl get raped, the can really blow everything. To take the meaning and his stupidity and change the comment and plaster it all of the news saying the he said she need raped is fucking crazy. Our political correct country is fucking stupid. You cant say anything, Gay, fag, retard, stupid, what the fuck happened to freedom of speech. Glad might just be worst than Al Sharpton.
and
Complete horseshit, he said she needed fucked straight not raped. Dieter says shit like this all the time who cares it’s Deiter, who takes anything he says seriously. Whats any different from what Deiter said and what the pray gays straight therapy christian ministries do?
and
 I really didn’t think that comment was that bad that is his belief its probably more tame than a hardcore.Catholic priest would.say about a gay daughter.
Fans also say there are rumors Dieter has now been fired, which don’t seem to be true.
The Huffington Post notes today:
In addition, “Rover’s Morning Glory” has invited local LGBT advocacy group Equality Ohio to join its community advisory board.
As MSNBC reported, Dieter’s comment came in response to an email from a concerned parent who caught his teenage daughter kissing another girl on April 27. “You should get one of your friends to screw your daughter straight,” Dieter quipped.
The comment was quickly condemned by GLAAD, among other organizations. “It was appalling and dangerous for this show to tell a father that he should have one of his friends rape his daughter” Aaron McQuade, GLAAD’s Director of News & Field Media, is quoted as saying in a statement. “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.”
McQuade also notes:
WMMS has pledged to run public service announcements about the dangers of parental rejection, and the importance of giving LGBT young people a safe learning environment. Even if no parent would go to the vile extremes suggested by Dieter, the message he telegraphed to the audience was that this parent should not accept that his daughter might be gay or bi.
It is crucial that parents know that LGBT young people who are rejected by their parents are almost six times more likely to report high levels of depression, and more than eight times more likely to attempt suicide as LGBT young people who feel accepted by their parents.
Even if this father did not take Dieter’s suggestion literally and instead merely followed the underlying suggestion that he not accept his daughter for who she is, he could be placing her in great danger.
WMMS has also invited LGBT advocacy group Equality Ohio to join its community advisory board, to help ensure that LGBT issues are covered accurately and inclusively, and that incidents like this do not happen again.
While the disciplinary action is important, it’s more important that WMMS’s audience understand why this issue needs to be taken so seriously. Over the last few years we’ve seen a national conversation take place about the bullying that young people are subjected to in our schools, especially youth who are (or are perceived to be) LGBT. But that conversation has only scratched the surface of the need for LGBT youth to feel welcome not just at their schools, but at their home as well.
LGBT young people make up somewhere between 5% and 10% of our youth population, but tragically they are anywhere from 20% to 40% of our nation’s homeless youth – either because they are kicked out of their homes, or because they don’t feel safe there and leave on their own. Parental rejection of LGBT young people is an incredibly serious issue, and we’re pleased to see that WMMS’s management is treating it like one.
GLAAD has again done excellent work. It’s time for others to open their minds.