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SUMMARY: Radio and television talk show host Laura Schlessinger has called on listeners to support an amendment to a U.S. Senate education bill that GLBT activists say is anti-gay.

Radio and television talk show host Laura Schlessinger has called on listeners to support an amendment to a U.S. Senate education bill that GLBT activists say is anti-gay.

In her daily radio show last week, Schlessinger urged her listeners to contact their senators in support of an amendment authored by Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina. The Helms measure would prohibit delivery of federal funds to any school that prohibits the Boy Scouts of America from using school facilities without similarly banning other organizations.

Some schools have expressed concern that the Boy Scouts' exclusion of gays violates school nondiscrimination policies and have discontinued sponsorship and other special privileges for the Scouts, but only one school district -- Florida's Broward County -- has attempted to block access to the Scouts outright. Citing First Amendment violations, a federal court overturned that decision this spring.

Opponents of the bill say such a measure is redundant to constitutional protections already in place. The GLBT lobbying group Human Rights Campaign has called the bill "gratuitous gay bashing."

Schlessinger and her broadcasts have been the target of gay rights organizations for what they say is homophobic content. For instance, she has referred to homosexuality as a "biological error."

Boycotts led by StopDrLaura.com and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation against advertisers on Schlessinger's television show were successful in shutting it down. Paramount studios announced the show's cancellation this spring.

"She's proven our point, had we not launched StopDrLaura.com, Dr. Laura would have been blasting these anti-gay action alerts via her TV show, courtesy of Paramount," said John Aravosis, one of the site's founders. "So, I thank her for one thing, she proved our point."

"What she's doing is absolutely hideous, but to her credit, it's absolutely consistent with her previous behavior," Aravosis said. "Dr. Laura still defends her 'biological error' crack. It only makes sense that she'd saddle up with the biggest homophobe in the U.S. Congress."

The House of Representatives approved a measure identical to Helms' last week.

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