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Gay Wake Forest sports fans question anti-gay radio affiliation

Gay Wake Forest sports fans question anti-gay radio affiliation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some gay fans of Wake Forest University say they’re disappointed the college’s football and basketball games will be aired on radio stations belonging to an anti-LGBT Christian radio network.

Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University

That business choice, says one fan, betrays Wake Forest’s history of inclusion and contradicts the college’s LGBT-friendly values.

QNotes reports Wake Forest grants broadcasting rights to its football and basketball games to IMG College, a private company that bills itself the “nation’s leading collegiate sports marketing company.”

It’s through IMG College that Wake football and basketball games will air on Charlotte’s WCRU and Durham’s WDRU, two stations belonging to The Truth Network, based in Winston-Salem.

The Truth Network airs a variety of Christian talk shows, sermons and other programs. Several programs and shows regularly feature anti-LGBT commentary. One of its most high-profile, anti-LGBT shows is “Line of Fire,” hosted by Concord-based activist Dr. Michael Brown.

The station’s “doctrine” also specifically says “Christians should oppose…every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality and pornography.”

Additionally, the network is a member of National Religious Broadcasters, a Christian radio industry group that has opposed LGBT equality legislation like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

In 1985, Wake Forest University ended its relationship with the North Carolina Baptist Convention and subsequently took steps toward LGBT inclusion.

The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, houses an LGBT student center and offers LGBT-related student activities and programming. The campus church, Wake Forest Baptist, though no longer officially affiliated with the college, has had two lesbian pastors.

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