Eight companies have
pulled advertising from a Sacramento, Calif., radio station
after the hosts of a morning talk show encouraged violence
against transgender kids.
Eight companies have
pulled advertising from a Sacramento, Calif., radio station
after the hosts of a morning talk show encouraged violence
against transgender kids.
So far, Bank of
America, Verizon, Carl's Jr., Snapple, Chipotle, and Sonic
have all pulled their advertisements from KRXQ, according to
the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Wells Fargo
bank said that it did not advertise with the station during the
March 28 broadcast, but will not commit to any more purchases.
Nissan also said that they will not renew their contract with
the station, which ended June 1.
Rob Williams and Arnie
States, two of the hosts of
Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning
, were discussing the parents of a boy in Omaha who wants to
transition from male to female. Rob called the boy "a
weird person who is demanding attention." He suggested
that his mother tell the boy that wearing a dress is "not
what we're doing in this culture." He also called
transgender people "freaks," asserting that therapy
could steer them away from being transgender, since "they
were [probably] molested" as children.
States also said that
if his son put on a pair of high heels, he would probably hit
him with one of his shoes.
"You got a boy
saying, 'I wanna wear dresses,'" States said,
"I'm going to look at him and go, 'You know what?
You're a little idiot! You little dumb ass! Look, you are a
boy! Boys don't wear dresses.'"
Meanwhile, Dawn Rossi
defended the kids during the segment, and constantly apologized
on air for her cohosts' remarks.
After GLAAD put out a
call to action on June 2, several individuals found a list of
advertisers and contacted them directly, requesting that
they pull their ads from the station. The next day,
the morning show hosts spoke about transgender issues for the
duration of the show, but Rich Ferraro of GLAAD said on Friday
evening that the organization was still waiting to hear an
apology from Williams and States.
While the show is
produced and broadcast at the Sacramento station, it is also
syndicated in Reno, Nev.
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1