6/3/09

Demand that KRXQ Radio Hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States Apologize for Encouraging Violence Against Transgender Children



June 4 UPDATE: Snapple, Sonic & Chipotle Pull Advertising From KRXQ

June 5 UPDATE: Verison Wireless has no plans for any advertising and Carl’s Jr.®, Hardee’s®, Green Burrito® and Red Burrito® restaurants pull sponsorship from KEXQ. (see link at botom of post)

UPDATE June 5 Wells Fargo removes logo from KRXQ website and affirms its commitment to diversity. More at bottom of post.

Update June 5 AP Reports Bank of America, Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., Nissan Motor Co Pull Advertising From KRXQ

TAKE ACTION: Demand that KRXQ Radio Hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States Apologize for Encouraging Violence Against Transgender Children

Contact:Cindi Creager
Director of National News
(646) 871-8019

Richard Ferraro
Director of Public Relations
(646) 871-8011

June 2, 2009— In a lengthy May 28 tirade on the Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning radio show heard in Sacramento, California on KRXQ 98.5 FM and Reno, Nevada on KDOT 104.5 FM, hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States verbally attacked transgender children. While discussing a recent story about a transgender child in Omaha, Nebraska and her parents’ decision to support her transition, the two hosts spent more than 30 minutes explicitly promoting child abuse of and making cruel, dehumanizing and defamatory comments toward transgender children.
You can listen to the entire segment beginning at 4:48 by clicking this link:http://robarnieanddawn.com/newsite/audiofiles/05.28.09%20Transgender%20Children%20In%20America.mp3
Among the comments made by the hosts:
ROB WILLIAMS [11:12]: This is a weird person who is demanding attention. And when it’s a child, all it takes is a hug, maybe some tough love or anything in between. When your little boy said, ‘Mommy, I want to walk around in a dress.’ You tell them no cause that’s not what boys do. But that’s not what we’re doing in this culture.

ARNIE STATES [13:27]: If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him. Because you know what? Boys don’t wear high heels. And in my house, they definitely don’t wear high heels.

ROB WILLIAMS [17:45]: Dawn, they are freaks. They are abnormal. Not because they’re girls trapped in boys bodies but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them. That’s where therapy could help them.

ROB WILLIAMS [18:15]: Or because they were molested. You know a lot of times these transgenders were molested. And you need to work with them on that. The point is you don’t allow the behavior. You cure the cause!ARNIE STATES [21:30]: You got a boy saying, ‘I wanna wear dresses.’ I’m going to look at him and go, ‘You know what? You’re a little idiot! You little dumbass! Look, you are a boy! Boys don’t wear dresses.

ARNIE STATES [29:22]: You know, my favorite part about hearing these stories about the kids in high school, who the entire high school caters around, lets the boy wear the dress. I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down. And they end up in therapy.

To her credit, co-host Dawn Rossi stood up to Williams and States during the segment.
Despite her apparent lack of familiarity with transgender issues, Rossi repeatedly defended transgender people and made an on-air apology for her colleagues’ defamatory remarks.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Please contact KRXQ management in Sacramento, California, where the show is produced and demand that radio show hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States publicly apologize. Call on KRXQ to hold Williams and States accountable for their remarks and establish clear standards to ensure their media platform will not be used to condone or promote violence against any parts of the communities they serve.

John Geary
Vice President & General -FM
(916) 339-4209jgeary@entercom.com
Arnie States
On Air PersonalityKRXQ-FM

(916) 334-7777
Air PersonalityKRXQ-FM


Please email the station advertisers. Please feel free to copy and paste this email~

pr@ckr.com, trcigar@aol.com, christine.wilcox@albertsonsllc.com, enewswire@fypower.org, info@fypower.org, Darryll.harrison@nissan-usa.com, john.britton@att.com, Debra.Lewis@VerizonWireless.com, walt.riker@us.mcd.com, heidi.barker@us.mcd.com, rmckenney@barkleyus.com, corpcsf@wellsfargo.com, info@LASIKworld.com, procity@procitymortgage.com

To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing today to request that you pull your advertising from KRXQ radio station.
On May 28th two radio personalities Rob Williams and Arnie States launched into a half hour long tirade where they spoke repeated hate speech and defamation against transgendered men, women, and youth.
They spent over half an hour calling transgendered people “freaks” and “weirdos”. On that particular show they appeared to advocate for bashing, both verbally and physically, transgendered people.
This bashing was either an attempt to “knock some sense into them” or “let them know that it isn’t right to be that way”.
Since that first show the two men have gone back onto the air to address the issue after receiving 100s of mails and phone calls from people and organizations all over the world.
In the follow up, they made it abundantly clear that they did not advocate for abusing or hurting children for any reason. They were joking. It was a joke made in poor taste, but a joke none the less.
What they did not do, was make an apology for calling transgendered people, of all ages, names. Saying it was their right to do so.
People saying that it is ok to use hate speech is what continues to allow it to happen. People like this are what makes people all over the world think that it is ok to bash, whether verbally or physically, someone who is different.
And it is not!
I am requesting that you pull your advertising if Rob and Arnie do not make a sincere apology, or the station does not fire them.
I will be forced to discontinue use of your product and encourage everyone I know to not use your product if you do not send them this message.
Thank you for your time.

Please use the share page functionality at the top of this page to alert any of your friends and others who may also wish to take action. When contacting KRXQ, please ensure that your emails and phone calls are civil and respectful and do not engage in the kind of name-calling or abusive behavior.
About GLAADThe Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org.
About GLAADThe Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit http://www.glaad.org/.

###


Update June 4 2009

GLAAD Blog "KRXQ Radio Hosts Rob and Arnie Sweep Anti-Trans Namecalling Under the Rug"
"KRXQ Radio Hosts Rob and Arnie Sweep Anti-Trans Namecalling Under the Rug"

Huffington Post

UPDATE: Snapple, Sonic & Chipotle Pull Advertising From KRXQ

UPDATE: Carl’s Jr.®, Hardee’s®, Green Burrito® and Red Burrito® restaurants pull sponsorship from KEXQ.
email I received on June 5, 2009;

Dear Concerned Reader,Thank you for your email. We have pulled all of our ads from KXRQ. Wedid this as soon as the matter was brought to our attention. We appreciate your concern and thank you for contacting CKE Restaurantson this matter.

Regards,CKE, Public Relations
Guest Response Line: (877) 799-7827

@@@@@@@
From the CKE web page

http://www.ckr.com/about.html

CKE Restaurants, Inc. (CKE), through its subsidiaries, franchisees and licensees, operates some of the most popular U.S. regional brands in quick-service and fast-casual dining, including the Carl’s Jr.®, Hardee’s®, Green Burrito® and Red Burrito® restaurant brands. The CKE system includes more than 3,000 locations in 43 states and in 13 countries. CKE is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR” and is headquartered in Carpinteria, California.

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Wells Fargo email received on June 5 2009

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.

Julie Campbell
Wells Fargo Communications


The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act (H.R. 2200) this week. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has proposed an amendment to the bill which would prohibit using Whole Body Imaging as the sole or primary method of screening at airport security checkpoints, and would allow passengers the opportunity to choose a full pat down as an alternative to Whole Body Imaging. This is particularly important for transgender people because Whole Body Imaging scanners produce a three-dimensional image of the passenger's nude body, including breasts, genitals, buttocks, prosthetics, binding materials, and any objects on the person's body, in an attempt to identify contraband. These scanners may out transgender people to TSA staff and potentially subject transgender people to further screening at the airports.Call your Member of Congress TODAY and ask that they support the Chaffetz amendment to the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. Contact the Capital Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be directly connected to your Representative. (Find your representative at US House of Representatives website or on our Take Action page.)
LEARN MORE
Need to know more about Whole Body Imaging? NCTE has put together an
FAQ on Whole Body Imaging with more information on the program, how it works, what TSA staff sees through the scanners, and what you can do to avoid airport problems. Thank you to our summer Law Fellow, Patrick Paschall, for his research and writing of this resource.

New Hampshire | Gov. Lynch Signs Marriage Equality Legislation


New Hampshire Becomes 6th State to Legalize Marriage for Gay and Lesbian Couples

Governor Lynch signs bill only hours after legislative approval

CONCORD — Governor John Lynch signed legislation that will give the legal protections of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in New Hampshire . Acting swiftly and decisively, Governor Lynch signed the legislation only hours after the legislature took the final vote on the issue.
“Today is a historic day for all Granite Staters,” said Mo Baxley, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition. “We applaud Governor Lynch, Speaker Norelli and President Larsen and the leadership of the General Court for making sure that all loving, committed couples have the freedom to marry. Today, our shared values of individual liberty, freedom, and fairness have been upheld.”
New Hampshire is now the 6th state in the United States that extends the freedom to marry to gay and lesbian couples. This new law will go into effect on January 1, 2010.

New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition



http://nhftm.org/




5/31/09

Annise Parker For Houston



Please join us for lunch with out Houston City Controller Annise Parker on Satruday, June 13, 2009. Annise is the leading candidate to become the city's next mayor and the nation's first openly-LGBT elected mayor of a top 10 American city! With your support, we'll score a touchdown, hit one out of the park, secure a slam dunk win for equality and our shared progressive values in Houston this year.
CLICK HERE to join the host committee, make a contribution to help off-set the cost or provide an RSVP for this special event.
Lunch Host Committee$250 : Rock Star$100 : Gold Star$50 : Rising StarGeneral Admission: FREE
CLICK HERE to join the host committee, make a contribution to help off-set the cost or provide an RSVP for this special event.
All proceeds raised through the host committee and from event contributions will be split 50/50 between the Young Democrats of America, designated for LGBT Caucus activities, and National Stonewall Democrats. We welcome the financial support and attendance of local Stonewall Democrats members and supporters.This is an informal lunch.Annise Parker is a businesswoman and neighborhood leader. She has served the people of Houston for the last 11 years - first on the City Council, and for the last five years as City Controller. She spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry before entering public service. Annise has worked closely with Mayor Bill White and many other leaders to keep Houston moving forward - with sound economic policy, not divisive politics. And in that time the local economy has created more jobs than any other major American city.Annise and her life partner, Kathy Hubbard, have been together since 1990. They have two children. For more information about City Controller Annise Parker and her candidacy for mayor of Houston, please visit:http://www.anniseparker.com/home/
Help us promote this event. Invite your friends using our Facebook event page!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=75669155781
Jun 13 2009 - 11:45am - Jun 13 2009 - 1:00pm

5/30/09

Dallas Set To Revisit Stonewall Riots With 'Million Gay March'


By Kelli Busey, May 31, 2009, planetransgender

As my radical friend's webpage headlines "Stonewall was a riot not a candle light vigil"

What happened at the Stonewall Riot? What happened on June 28th 1969 that so incensed the transgender, lesbian and gay patrons of this small innocuous tavern to precipitate such violent social disobedience? Why is our 'Stonewall' constantly respectfully referred to worldwide in countries that are experiencing their first LGBT rebellions?

There are people among us in Dallas who were there at Stonewall that balmy night and the Dallas voice's John Wright was there to document this historic meeting some forty years latter .

The Dallas Texas GLBT community is hosting a march and gathering on June 28 2009 to commemorate and perhaps recall the spirit of defiance and sacrifice that bought our current freedoms. It will also be a time to realize civil rights are not given, they are earned. In this moment we all are pilgrims on the front line of civil rights!

I was alive in 1969, but being only 11 and living in rural Ohio, we were just hearing about a fancy new 'fast food' called 'McDonald's' and something called a four lane super highway'!

What I do remember is the highlight of a train trip with a transfer at Grand Central Station in New York NY. We arranged this unsupervised stop so I could fill my suit case with torrid R rated periodicals obstinantly to look at the briefly clad women. But in the back of those tabloids, when no none was looking, I could sneak a peek at people like me! People who were not the same as everyone else. People who said there bodies did not confirm their true selves and changed their sexual organs!!!

Now we have the Internet super highway, a wayback machine of sorts.

In 1969 gay people or 'faggots' as some of my own family and neighbors called me were the targets of unending and merciless harassment and brutality by civilian thugs and the police. As a form of intimidation police and right wing groups rountinely conducted raids of establishments that served LGBT people. Photographers were always at hand to document the stricken faces of our brothers and sisters as they were shackled and lead to paddy wagons. The fallout in 1969 of having your picture eyes downcast in shame was career ending social and marital suicide.

What were the people feeling in 1969? The same as you and I except now we have rightfully earned a communial sense of accomplishment and pride.

Thanks to the brave souls who escaped unharmed and those who stood up to tyranny we can now in our own country be gay proud and loud. We owe nonjudgmental unconditional gratitude and our very freedom to the souls who were at Stonewall tavern.

wikipedia.org

Dallas Voice article by John Wright Recalling Stonewall

Beyond Chron 21st Century Stonewall in Moscow

planetransgender Русский язык Гей Изолировано и преследовал Мировые Стенды Близко Russian Gay's Isolated and persecuted the World Stands By

Jerimaries Transpride speech

5/24/09

The Dallas Principles - Full LGBT Rights Now



"On May 15-17, 2009 in Dallas, Texas twenty-four thinkers, activists, and donors gathered to discuss the immediate need for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender people in the United States. Collectively we prepared The Dallas Principles."



Why I Support the Dallas Principles


Dr.Dana Beyer on the Dallas Principles


PDF Download The Dallas Principles

Home page and to endorse theThe Dallas Principles click here.

On the web

The Huffington Post The Dallas Principles, a New Approach to LGBT Equality