
Dr. Phil will be airing a show tomorrow titled “Relationship Surprises,” an episode that deals with revealing secrets to loved ones. In this case, those secrets have to do with issues of sexual orientation.
We were pleased that the producers of the Dr. Phil show consulted with GLAAD about how to handle this topic. At our request, they placed Denise Penn, a clinical social worker who sits on the board of directors for the
American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB), to participate in the discussion.
Jane Velez Mitchell, host of
HLN's Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell, is also appearing on the show to talk about her own struggles with alcoholism and coming out, a process which is the subject of Mitchell's new memoir:
I Want.
We received an advance copy of the show and were pleasantly surprised with the content. Given
previous problematic episodes (and
teazers), most notably a segment on transgender children that they were planning to re-air earlier this year until GLAAD reached out to Dr. Phil’s producers and
issued a call to action, we feel the Dr. Phil show is making major strides towards being fair, accurate and inclusive.
We are curious to hear your reactions to the show. Please contact us at
nationalnews@glaad.org with your thoughts. We will be posting a more thorough analysis after the show airs tomorrow afternoon.