GLAAD in Syracuse for Lateisha Green’s Trial
July 10, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
I am on the ground in Syracuse preparing for next week’s court trial involving the murder of Lateisha Green. I will be in Syracuse with a couple of our sister organizations throughout the entire trial working with both the family and media outlets covering this profoundly sad story.
On November 14, 2008, “Teish,” a young African American transgender woman, was shot and killed. You can read more about her story here.
For the past few months, I have been working with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) and the Rainbow Alliance of Central New York to raise awareness around Teish’s murder and ensure media coverage is fair and accurate throughout the trial.
Lateisha Green. Image from News-10.
This particular trial is important. Teish’s murder will be the first hate crimes prosecution in New York State involving the murder of a transgender person. It is also the first murder ever classified as a hate crime in Onondaga County.
On Monday, July 13, Dwight DeLee will go on trial for the murder of Lateisha Green. If DeLee is found guilty, it will be only the second conviction involving the murder of a transgender person as a hate crime in the United States. The first occurred earlier this year in the trial for the murder of Angie Zapata in Greeley, Colorado – you can read about our extensive work with the Zapata family here.
Prior to the trial, GLAAD, TLDEF and the Rainbow Alliance have planned a community memorial service at a local church to remember Teish and her life. Teish’s family will deliver brief remarks followed by a few performances by local groups. The service will close with doves and bubbles being released outside of the sanctuary.
I have been speaking with reporters and journalists about the memorial service. We are expecting The Associated Press and The Syracuse Post-Standard among a few others to attend the service and provide coverage leading up to Monday’s trial.
We have also arranged for a press conference to occur before the trial begins on Monday. Roxanne Greene, Teish’s mother, will deliver a brief statement, followed by remarks from the Rainbow Alliance of Central New York, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and Empire State Pride Agenda.
I wanted to provide our readers with a few details about what you can do before the trial begins to unfold:
- We wanted to let you know that readers can submit personal notes of encouragement to Lateisha’s family during this difficult time. You can email correspondence to: rgreen269@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee the family will be able to reply to your emails. Please do not direct media requests to the family’s email address. GLAAD is fielding all media requests for the family, so please email me instead at marra@glaad.org.
- Make sure to visit and join the Justice For Teish Facebook group for news and updates about the trial. The group has 4730 members and counting. GLAAD and TLDEF are administrators so we will be posting information to update members throughout the trial.
- GLAAD and TLDEF have also teamed up to tweet live throughout our time in Syracuse:
You can follow me on Twitter for media developments, observations during the court trial and other updates at @Andy_Marra.
I will also be blogging throughout the trial to keep our readers updated on the trial and any related developments.
Please also follow Michael Silverman on Twitter for legal analysis and commentary related to the court trial at @TLDEF.
I need to go and prepare for several meetings including one with Lateisha’s family. But make sure to check back often for the latest developments at GLAADblog or by following us on Twitter.
Related Posts:UPDATE: Fresno Rebuffs Anti-Gay Informercial with LGBT Faith Documentary
July 3, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
For the past several months, my colleagues and I have been responding to the anti-gay infomercial Speechless: Silencing Christians. Our work with community partners in responding to the deceptive infomercial paid for by the American Family Association (AFA) has led us to organize in Kansas, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan and several other states.
Because of our collaborative efforts with community leaders, I have a wonderful update to share with our readers. And our latest development to debunk the myths associated with the infomercial hails from Fresno, California.
On June 22, local grassroots organizers alerted us that KMPH FOX-26 aired the AFA infomercial. I specifically received urgent tweets from Gayrainarmy, k8cch14 and jace78. After conducting some initial research, GLAAD blogged about the incident and provided contact information for local community members to share their concerns with the station. You can find that here.
One Fresno community member even contacted two other local ABC and CBS affiliates and asked them to share their perspectives on the local FOX affiliate airing the infomercial.
ABC 30 said:
We will never show anything like that and I can’t believe Fox would do something like that. We have gone through great lengths to make sure stuff like that never goes out on the air, and we will continue to.
CBS 47 also stated:
We would never do anything like that, and I’m going to have my assistant check to just to be sure that is not going on here.
KMPH station management was quick to replied to the concerns expressed by community members. I was forwarded a statement from the Senior Vice President and Director of Programming Debbie Sweeney.
Debbie Sweeney wrote:
I want to thank you for your very well thought out response to the paid program KMPH aired last night at 11:00 p.m.
Please know that the program was a paid infomercial and based on the amount of response the station has received, I guarantee you it will not air again.
Again, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns we truly appreciate hearing from you.
The local FOX affiliate wanted to make amends and agreed to air For The Bible Tells Me So, a LGBT faith documentary exploring Christian traditions and their intersection with sexual orientation. The affiliate also agreed to air the film at no charge.
GLAAD immediately contacted Daniel Karslake who produced and directed the documentary to request permission for it to be aired on FOX-26. Daniel then spoke to The Sundance Channel that owns exclusive rights to air the documentary on television.
After some discussions with the network, Sundance granted permission to allow For the Bible Tells Me So to air on FOX-26. Now, Fresno viewers will be able to tune in this Sunday, July 5 at 11:00pm PST to watch the LGBT faith documentary. **PLEASE SEE NOTE BELOW**
GLAAD will continue to follow this story. Please check back with us for updates.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send me a tweet on Twitter at @Andy_Marra
*Note – We are also receiving reports about the anti-gay infomercial airing on WGRZ NBC 2-TV in Buffalo, NY. GLAAD constituents have reported it being aired on June 27 from 7:00-8:00pm EST. We will be looking into this further and update our readers after the July 4 holiday.
———-
**UPDATE: I just exchanged tweets and emails with @GayRainArmy and @jace78. KMPH will not be able to air For the Bible Tells Me So this Sunday, July 5 at 11pm PST. The station is editing out language and gestures to make it ready for Fresno viewers. KMPH is working with the documentary’s producer and director Daniel Karslake to air an edited version very soon. I’ll keep you posted on when they’re ready to air this amazing documentary.**
The Latest on Rockstar Energy Drink
June 30, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Craving an energy drink? Some LGBT family members, friends or colleagues may have told you before to steer clear of Rockstar energy drink due to the beverage company’s alleged connection with fringe anti-gay radio host Michael Savage.
Not familiar with what we’re talking about? Below is a brief recap about the chain of events that sparked this controversy.
- On April 23, The Bilerico Project Guest Blogger Michael Jones posted a story here about the connection between Rockstar energy drink and Michael Savage. The controversial shock jock is known for his offensive diatribes that has previously put him in hot water with LGBT and immigrant community leaders.
- A week later, attorneys for the beverage company threatened Bilerico with legal action for “factual inaccuracies.” You can read about that here.
- Other websites and blogs were contacted by the Rockstar legal team and threatened for similar reasons including thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com, GaySocialites.com, wiqqaable.com, AlterNet and gaywired.com.
- Bloggers continued to follow the story including Daily Kos and The Consumerist.
- The Rockstar attorneys also contacted Facebook over a few groups criticizing the beverage company, which were subsequently shut down for reasons similar to those listed above. Individual Facebook accounts were also deleted. You can read about that here.
In addition to the threats of impending legal action, a website called truthaboutrockstar.com was set up to counter the claims made about the beverage company and its connection to Michael Savage. It looks very similar to the one created by thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com.
Bilerico Founder & Editor-in-Chief Bil Browning
But now, according to Bilerico, the makers of Rockstar want to extend an olive branch to the LGBT community.
On June 28, Bill Browning of Bilerico wrote:
I can easily say that the company is remorseful for their stupid lawyer’s threatening tactics and wants to make good with the LGBT community.
Look for an announcement next week hopefully.
Please stay tuned for more details. GLAAD will continue to monitor this story and post more information as it becomes available.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send me a tweet at @Andy_Marra
Related Posts:GLAAD Reaches Out to Blog That Dehumanizes Transgender People
June 26, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
As the result of constituents contacting GLAAD, we have reached out to the site owners of a blog that dehumanizes transgender people and their experiences. Tranny Alert is a website that posts pictures of people who are perceived to be transgender and encourages readers to submit photos of perceived transgender people for the blog to publish and provide commentary. It is unclear whether the site’s subjects have provided consent to have their pictures taken and published in this context.
Lateisha Green
GLAAD has reached out to the blog about the defamatory nature of their content with their problematic language including the words “tranny,” “trannie” and “he/she.” We also expressed our concerns about the potential danger the site’s subjects could face as a result of having their gender identity and gender expression shared without their consent.
Given that transgender people are disproportionately targeted for violence, willfully subjecting them to this kind of online scrutiny could very well put their lives in danger. We need not look far to know how violence disproportionately impacts transgender people. Recent examples include Angie Zapata and Lateisha Green.
A Call to Action against Tranny Alert was started by a Livejournal user named gudbuytjane and it appears to have been quite effective. The blog’s Facebook page has already been taken down.
Tranny Alert remains active on Twitter. Some Twitter users have been tweeting #trannyalertfail to express their alarm and concern for the site’s questionable content.
Initially, @TrannyAlert tweeted the following in response to readers submitting their concerns:
Tranny Alert will be releasing a statement in the next 24 hours regarding the recent backlash.
Later, the blog sent out another tweet about readers concerns:
Wow people really need to get a f*cking sense of humor.
If you would like to share your own concerns about Tranny Alert and their content, you can email them at:
mayday@tranny-alert.com
You can also share your concerns about their problematic language and content with Blogger, the blog service that currently hosts Tranny Alert. You can contact them with your concerns here.
Blogger’s policy specifically states:
Blogger strongly believes in freedom of speech. We believe that having a variety of perspectives is an important part of what makes blogs such an exciting and diverse medium. With that said, there are certain types of content that are not allowed on Blogger. While Blogger values and safeguards political and social commentary, material that promotes hatred toward groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity is not allowed on Blogger.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send Senior Media Strategist Andy Marra a Tweet at @andy_marra
Related Posts:Journalists Take Note – Media Toolkits For Pride, Stonewall at 40
June 18, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
As many of you already know, 2009 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. We at GLAAD are encouraging journalists to incorporate this historic occasion into their planned LGBT coverage this month.
GLAAD’s Stonewall Toolkit includes history, progress and setbacks, an overview of the community today and media contacts. You can find it here.
GLAAD wants to give a shout out to Stonewall historian and David Carter who authored Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. You can learn more about Stonewall and share any related news and events during the special anniversary on his website.
We also have available a Pride Month Resource Kit that assists journalists to think outside of the box when it comes to reporting on this annual occassion. The kit includes story ideas, tips on diversifying Pride coverage and much more. You can find this resource here.
Pride Month brings a flurry of LGBT TV programming for small screen enthusiasts. Our Pride Month Progamming Guide provides a LGBT round-up of what will be on television this month. Check out what’s on television this month here.
Finally, GLAAD will be celebrating Pride month in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, DC. Make sure to join us to celebrate this special anniversary!
Related Posts:
GLAAD Update on Today’s KRXQ Broadcast
June 11, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Since June 1st, GLAAD has been actively mobilizing its supporters to take action against a highly offensive segment of the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show, which aired on May 28th. For the past 10 days we have been working collaboratively with like minded organizations and community members on this issue. You can about this joint effort here.
Today, the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show returned to airwaves with a special broadcast that included two transgender advocates. I was updating my Twitter feed live throughout the entire show.
After the broadcast, GLAAD released a statement on the show, which you can find here.
In our statement, we include quotes from Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen and Trans Youth Familiy Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson who were featured on the 2.5 hour radio broadcast, without any commercial breaks.
In our statement, Autumn relayed:
I think this is the way we make change – and we don’t mean as individuals, but as a community. Humanity won the day. I think that’s what worked – we all became humans in the same room instead of stereotypes.
Kim also shared the following statement:
It’s not up to me to grant forgiveness or absolution, and people are going to hold their feet to the fire. I think this was a good thing, it was a good forum, it was productive, it was good for everyone listening – but time will tell. It was a good first step, but actions speak louder than words.
After the show, the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” website provided an update with links to both Pam’s House Blend and Trans Youth Family Allies. The broadcast is available for listeners to download here.
Local media outlets in Sacramento have consistently reported on the developments surrounding KRXQ with the most recent stories on today’s show featured in FOX40, The Sacramento Press and The Sacramento Bee.
GLAAD would like to thank new media reporters Autumn Sandeen and Michael Rowe for their crucial coverage on KRXQ, which brought the situation to new audiences and helped it become an educational moment for many.
A larger recap will be prepared tomorrow so please check back later for more updates on this story and others followed by GLAAD.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
KRXQ UPDATE: Tomorrow’s Show and More Advertiser Statements
June 10, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
As many know already from reading our previous update, the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show will begin re-airing on Thursday, June 11. GLAAD will be listening to the show that begins at 10:30AM EST/7:30AM PST. We will be paying close attention to the broadcast.
We have a few more breaking updates to share with you about what to expect tomorrow morning and the ongoing developments with advertisers pulling from the radio station.
People can tune in here to listen to tomorrow’s show featuring Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen and Trans Youth Families Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson.
Please note the following information:
- The live broadcast will last for 2.5 hours
- There will be no commercial breaks whatsoever during the radio show
- People may call in during the show at the following number: 916-766-1044
- You can follow GLAAD Senior Media Strategist Andy Marra on Twitter during the broadcast @Andy_Marra
- GLAAD will be releasing our statement on GLAADblog.org and GLAAD.org soon after the show
GLAAD reminds its readers to be respectful and civil when calling into the radio station and expressing your views.
In anticipation of tomorrow’s show, GLAAD spoke with its sister organization, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The national organization advocating for safer schools recently released a report titled Harsh Realities that documented the experiences of transgender students in the classroom.
GLSEN wanted us to share their statement that reads:
GLSEN is horrified and outraged by the hateful comments directed at transgender youth made on the ‘Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning Show.’ Such comments are even more reprehensible in light of the fact that more than half of transgender students experience physical harassment in school based on their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression and more than a quarter experience physical assault. We can only hope that Thursday’s show will shed light on the need to make sure that transgender youth are safe in every school.
The Transgender Law Center also issued a statement about tomorrow’s morning that you can find here.
Earlier this afternoon, a GLAAD supporter also provided a tip about UC Davis Health Systems ending their relationship with the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show. The university’s medical institution released a statement that you can find here and here.
In the statement, UC Davis announced their decision to pull all advertising from the station. They also ended their partnership with the station that annually raises charitable dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network. The Sacramento Bee reported on the latest development immediately following the announcement.
GLAAD also received a statement from Home Depot clarifying their involvement with KRXQ. 
The statement reads:
The Home Depot is neither a sponsor nor has it committed advertising to this program. However, our ads are occasionally heard on KRXQ as part of a national radio buy. We have shared your feedback about the morning program with the network and the station directly, and have asked them to look more closely at where our ads are running to ensure they are in accordance with our standards.
We have strict guidelines in place to ensure the programs we support reflect the quality of our brand. Our advertising campaigns have one simple objective — to communicate with audiences in the most effective way possible. Feedback from customers like you plays a large role in helping us to maintain these standards.
Thank you for your interest in The Home Depot.
Local advertisers like Sleep Train and Guitar Center issued statements that you can find here and here. The LGBT community in Sacramento has been very active in leading efforts to contact local advertisers and urge them to pull their advertising contracts from KRXQ. The Sacramento LGBTQI Leadership Coalition, a local alliance of 15+ organizations has been coordinating on-the-ground efforts related to the radio station.
The coalition provided GLAAD with the following statement about their reasons for mobilizing the community:
The hateful remarks against transgender youth made by two primetime Sacramento radio hosts was shocking and hurtful to members of our city’s vibrant and diverse LGBT community. Gay and transgender youth are at high risk of depression, alcohol and drug abuse and suicide due to homophobic discrimination and abusive environments many face in their schools, homes and among their peers. All in our community feel a deep commitment to doing our best to shelter our LGBT youth to the greatest extent possible from these destructive societal pressures. No child should have to be afraid of being hurt or harassed for simply expressing his or her identity.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: Sleep Train and Others Clarify Record on KRXQ Advertising
June 9, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
GLAAD has received a few updates about KRXQ and their advertisers. Our extensive coverage on advertisers either pulling or not renewing contracts can be found here.
This update comes after GLAAD spoke with KRXQ yesterday, which you can read about here.
Sleep Train provided GLAAD with the following statement to share with its readers:
Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding the comments made on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show on KRXQ. Rob, Arnie and Dawn have done a good job endorsing for us for many years. However, this time they went too far. We do not condone their comments in any way and we have made it clear to KRXQ’s management, Rob, Arnie and Dawn that their conduct was unacceptable.
Sleep Train is proud of our history of diversity and the inclusion of all the communities we serve. As a result, we have pulled our ads off of KRXQ until further notice.
We have also received other statements from Red Bull, Hawaiian Airlines and State Farm.
Red Bull sent us a statement addressing their advertising relationship with KRXQ:
Red Bull is not an advertiser on KRQX. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
We also were provided with a statement from Hawaiian Airlines who reportedly received a number of emails this past weekend. The airline states:
Hawaiian Airlines is not an advertiser on the station.
State Farm had a similar statement as Red Bull and Hawaiian Airlines. The company writes:
Thank you for your comments regarding State Farm running advertisements on station KRXQ in Sacramento. We have read your concerns and those of others with similar concerns. We take very seriously each comment we receive.
State Farm has not advertised on KRXQ in 2009. Once this particular show ran, we discovered that the station had not removed our company logo from their website and that mistake has been rectified.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: GLAAD Speaks with KRXQ Management
June 8, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
For those just now learning about this issue, please go here to read more about this evolving controversy.
At 11:45am EST, Cindi Creager, GLAAD’s Director of National News, and I spoke with the station manager at KRXQ. GLAAD successfully made the case for a transgender person and a parent of a transgender child to appear on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show. We are right now in the process of securing Trans Youth Family Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson and Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen for the broadcast.
As yesterday’s statement noted, KRXQ will be airing a special show on Thursday, June 11 at 7:30am PST.
It should be noted that Autumn was one of the very first reporters to shine attention on the May 28th segment alongside Huffington Post blogger Michael Rowe.
KRXQ has assured us that the June 11th follow-up show will be conducted in a “frank and positive manner.” It was explicitly stated to us that we will hear an apology from the radio hosts and listeners will be able to call in. As always, we remind everyone to be respectful and civil when calling into the show.
GLAAD has additionally suggested a transgender media training with our community partners. KRXQ was receptive to the suggestion and we will further discuss this following Thursday’s radio broadcast.
Media have been continuing to follow the story, garnering national coverage. Local media outlets in Sacramento have been especially helpful in covering this story – including The Sacramento Press, FOX40 and The Sacramento Bee. Community blogs have also been extremely effective in sharing updates on this issue and mobilizing readers to take action.
Finally, it should be noted that yet another advertiser has dropped their contract with the station. Guitar Center Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Norman Hajjar, directly reached out to GLAAD following emails from concerned community members.
Norman has provided us with this statement to share with our readers:
Last Thursday, I asked our media agency to speak to KRXQ about the outrageous comments made by their morning on-air team. I wasn’t satisfied with the station’s response. So we decided to pull our dollars from the station.
It’s simple: wrong is wrong. We don’t want our brand associated with such epic insensitivity.
Guitar Center now becomes the 11th confirmed advertiser to pull their contract from KRXQ. You can read more about the others here and here.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: KRXQ Radio Host Rob Williams Declares Failure
June 7, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
I received a tip from a GLAADblog follower about a statement posted by KRXQ radio host Rob Williams who owns the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show. At 11:50am PST, Williams issued a statement about their May 28 segment where Rob and Arnie made offensive remarks against transgender children. They refused to apologize on a follow-up show.
The statement comes after a week of turmoil for the radio station. On June 1, GLAAD issued a Call to Action that mobilized hundreds of people to contact the radion station and voice their concerns. You can read more about that here and here.
Huffington Post blogger Michael Rowe and Pam’s House Blend contributor Autumn Sandeen were key reporters regularly following the issue. Their crucial coverage and GLAAD’s Call to Action resulted in a flurry of media pick-up. Concerned community members also began to contact companies and urge them to pull their advertising contracts from KRXQ. I then ended up fielding emails and calls from companies who wanted GLAAD to post and distribute their statements to either pull or not renew advertising on the radio station due to the offensive broadcast. You can read more about that here.
GLAAD received an email on Friday, June 5 at 5:28pm EST from KRXQ station management indicating a desire to speak with us about a possible resolution for their defamatory and dehumanizing remarks. We were told that KRXQ would call us on Monday, June 8 to hear their proposal. Then radio host Rob posts a statement on the incident.
GLAAD looks forward to hearing from KRXQ management and their proposal of concrete assurances that will rectify their previous coverage on transgender children. GLAAD will continue to consult with our partners on this issue to ensure the community is well-represented when speaking to KRXQ.
Stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
Rob Williams Statement:
UPDATED JUNE 7TH, 2009, 11:50AM
TO OUR LOYAL ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN FOLLOWERS,
WE HAVE FAILED YOU. AS A SHOW, AS PEOPLE, AS BROADCASTERS, WE HAVE SIMPLY FAILED ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL.
WE PRESENTED OUR OPINIONS ON A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT IN A HATEFUL, CHILDISH AND CRUDE FASHION; AND THEN, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETRACT THOSE REMARKS, WE DEFENDED THEM.
SINCE THEN, YOU, OUR LOYAL LISTENERS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT WE WENT TOO FAR. THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. NONE OF YOU SAID THAT WE COULDN’T HAVE OPINIONS, YET SO MANY OF YOU SAID THAT THE WAY WE GAVE THEM CROSSED THE LINE. FURTHER, YOU SAID THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO MASK OUR COMMENTS AS “JOKES THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR AUDIENCE,” WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD SAY NOW THAT IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT, IT WAS COWARDLY. YOU HAVE MADE THAT CLEAR.
WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASKED FOR A CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT; TO RESPOND, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION, TO THE EDUCATION THAT OUR AUDIENCE HAS PROVIDED US. THAT OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY GRANTED THIS THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 11TH. AT 7:30 A.M.
THE WORD APOLOGY APPEARS NO WHERE IN THIS LETTER FOR A REASON. WE ALREADY HID FROM DOING THE RIGHT THING ONCE AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. APOLOGIZING IN A WRITTEN, POSTED STATEMENT IS A FORM OF COWARDICE. WE WILL SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID THIS THURSDAY.
ON A FINAL, PERSONAL NOTE, AS THE LEADER AND OWNER OF THE SHOW, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT WE NEED TO REFRAIN FROM BROADCASTING NEW EPISODES UNTIL WE CAN ADDRESS THIS ON THURSDAY . WE WILL RETURN TO THE AIR AT 7:30 A.M. JUNE 11TH.
ROB WILLIAMS
ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN
UPDATE: McDonald’s Is 10th Company to Pull KRXQ Advertising
June 5, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
GLAAD just posted a recap of its activity relating to KRXQ and its offensive comments against transgender children. The summary also included a statement from AT&T announcing their decision to pull its advertising from the radio station. You can find all of that plus recent media coverage here.
Minutes after posting our recap, I received an email from McDonald’s at 9:17pm EST. Soon after I spoke with a member of the McDonald’s Public Relations team who wanted us to post and distribute their statement.
McDonald’s wrote:
McDonald’s has a proud legacy of diversity and inclusion. The views expressed by the hosts are not consistent with our core values.
As such, we are in the process of withdrawing advertising from KRXQ until further notice.
McDonald’s USA LLC, Pacific Sierra Region
The global fast food chain now becomes the tenth company to either retract or to not renew its advertising contract with KRXQ.
The entire listing of companies include:
- Chipotle
- Snapple
- Sonic
- Bank of America
- Verizon
- Carl’s Jr (CKE Restaurants)
- Wells Fargo
- Nissan North America
- AT&T
- McDonald’s
We continue urging people to voice their concerns with the radio station. Information can be found here.
Stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: KRXQ Confronted By Advertisers, Media and Community
June 5, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
On May 28, the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show aired a highly offensive segment that caused a lot of shock and disgust. GLAAD sprung into action and has been working full force on this incident. I thought a recap would be in order for those interested in the story’s evolution.
Radio hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States spent more than 30 minutes making crude and dehumanizing comments promoting child abuse against transgender children. It began when they discussed a story about an Omaha family supporting their transgender child and her transition.
Put off like we were? You can directly voice your concerns to the radio hosts by following this link.
The radio station finally called us back after we issued our first Call to Action. According to the station, hundreds of letters poured in from all throughout the country and even around the world. The station promised Rob and Arnie would respond to their offensive segment.
Dawn Rossi
GLAAD also spoke with with radio host Dawn Rossi who defended transgender people on the highly problematic segment.
On their follow-up show (scroll down on their site), Rob and Arnie failed to apologize for their remarks. GLAAD re-issued our Call to Action (which currently remains active, with constituents still writing in).
That’s when media started to take notice. Outlets like The Huffington Post, PerezHilton.com, The Sacramento Bee, FOX40, Instinct (here and here) and many more started to take a closer look at the show.
So did lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates. Constituents frustrated over the segment and the hosts’ failure to apologize took it upon themselves to make their voices heard. Social networking tools like Facebook were – and still are – being used to contact KRXQ advertisers.
Chipotle announced it had pulled its advertising contract, and Snapple and Sonic followed suit. You can read more about that here.
But today, on June 5, we fielded a massive amount of communication between advertisers and media.
First, Bank of America contacted us to announce they were withdrawing all advertising and provided us with their statement explaning their reasons why. Verizon and the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain were soon to follow – you can find their statements here.
This afternoon, we received phone calls and emails from Wells Fargo and Nissan. Both companies had statements they wanted GLAAD to distribute.
At 7:29pm EST, we received yet another statement to distribute.
This time it came from AT&T.
AT&T wrote:
The matter was brought to our attention and we have pulled our advertising from the station.
As I write this post, nine companies have now sent GLAAD statements. And all of them have either announced a decision to completely withdraw or not renew advertising contracts with KXRQ because of their offensive radio segment.
Because of GLAAD urging people to contact the station and those who have taken action by contacting advertisers, media have also extensively covered this developing story. The Associated Press, The Advocate, The Sacramento Bee, FOX 40 and others have reported on advertisers withdrawing support from the radio station.
The pressure seems to have caused a stir at the radio station. Today at 5:28pm EST, we received an email from the General Manager promising a phone call this Monday with a possible resolution.
Until then, we continue urging people to voice their concerns with the radio station.
Stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: Nissan Won’t Renew KRXQ Advertising Contract
June 5, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
On May 28, KRXQ radio hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States spent more than 30 minutes making dehumanizing and defamatory comments against transgender children. You can listen to the original broadcast here since it appears the audio is no longer available on radio show’s website.
Seven companies have confirmed they pulled their advertising contracts with KRXQ or will not renew in the future as a result of offensive comments made by the two shock jocks. Another company has decided to step forward and release a statement on the incident.
At 5:10pm, I received a phone call from Nissan North America. I spoke with the Director of Corporate Communications who wanted to provide GLAAD with the following statement on their advertising with KRXQ.
Nissan North America’s statement reads:
Nissan does not support the views expressed during the May 28th broadcast on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning show on KRXQ.
Our advertising purchase with this show ended June 1 and we will not renew it.
Currently the list of companies no longer advertising on KRXQ includes:
- Chipotle
- Snapple
- Sonic
- Bank of America
- Verizon
- Carl’s Jr (CKE Restaurants)
- Wells Fargo
- Nissan North America
Please check back with us for more developments on this story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: Wells Fargo Stands By Transgender Community
June 5, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Today, GLAAD has received confirmations from three different companies pulling their advertising contracts from KRXQ. Bank of America, Verizon and Carl’s Jr have all publicly issued statements (here and here) that announced the pulling of their advertisements on the radio station as a result of the offensive comments made by radio hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States.
At 4:51pm EST, Wells Fargo reached out to GLAAD about KRXQ. Apparently, the radio station had placed Wells Fargo’s logo on their website leading people to believe they were current KRXQ advertisers.
Wells Fargo provided the following statement to GLAAD on the issue:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate your feedback and take such matters seriously.
We are strongly committed to equality for all and we do not tolerate discrimination. When we learned of the inappropriate comments made during the May 28th KXRQ broadcast we immediately removed our logo from the radio station’s Web site.
Wells Fargo was not an advertiser on the May 28 broadcast, is not currently advertising with KXRQ, and has not done so for more than a year.
We’re proud of our commitment of supporting many organizations that serve our diverse communities – which is consistent with our company values.
We very much appreciate your comments.
Diversity is at the core of Wells Fargo’s vision and values and Wells Fargo is honored to be on DiversityInc Magazine’s Top 50 list for 2009.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
Wells Fargo Communications
The list of companies no longer advertising on KRXQ includes:
- Chipotle
- Snapple
- Sonic
- Bank of America
- Verizon
- Carl’s Jr (CKE Restaurants)
- Wells Fargo
Please check back with us for more developments on this story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: Verizon and Carl’s Jr Pull KRXQ Advertising
June 5, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
Two more companies have pulled their advertising as a result of the offensive comments made by KRXQ radio hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States.
At 2:33pm EST, I received a statement from Verizon. The company provides phone, Internet, TV, wireless and service bundles to residential, business, government and wholesale clients.
In a one-sentence statement, Verizon wrote:
We have no plans to advertise on KRXQ.
Additionally at 3:40pm EST, I spoke with the Public Relations department at Carl’s Jr. They confirmed the restaurant chain withdrew all of their advertising.
Carl’s Jr wrote:
We have pulled all of our ads from KXRQ. We did this as soon as the matter was brought to our attention. We appreciate your concern and thank you for contacting CKE Restaurants on this matter.
Regards,
CKE, Public Relations
Guest Response Line: (877) 799-7827
The list of companies no longer advertising on KRXQ includes:
- Chipotle
- Snapple
- Sonic
- Bank of America
- Verizon
- Carl’s Jr (CKE Restaurants)
Please check back with us for more developments on this story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
