Last week several blogs, including Alas, posted about the vicious, bigoted on-air attack on trans kids by some DJs at KRXQ. The blogging was part of a wave of revulsion, which included nine advertisers — really huge advertisers, like AT&T — either pulling their ads from KRXQ, or deciding not to renew their advertising when the current ad contract runs out.
Now it appears that the DJs are preparing to apologize and make amends. The KRXQ homepage currently contains a statement from Rob Williams, of the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn” show, which says:
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.
According to the statement, the show is on hiatus until Thursday’s episode:
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.
This is certainly promising (I’ve posted the full statement below the fold). I hope they really have been reaching out to trans advocacy groups to discuss making amends — hopefully they’re planning more than just a one-off public apology (although the public apology is important too). I know in the past the RAD show has done fundraising for children’s causes; maybe they can start doing fundraising for groups that help trans kids.
We’ll see on Thursday, I guess. Curtsy to The Queer Youth Mental Health Blog.
Here’s the full statement. I’ve copied it from the KRXQ homepage, but I’ve changed it from the original all-caps to standard capitalization, because I’m fussy that way.
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
Oh, poor babies they want their sponsors back. Well I hope they don’t get them. This broke last week and their first response was basically so what. Now that it is costing them money an possibly their jobs, now they are sorry. Well I hope the show gets canceled although I do hope that Dawn is retained. She did not participate in the uglyness and she did try to contradict the other hosts
It sounds like they haven’t changed their anti-trans opinions, but only regret that they “crossed the line” in the way they expressed those opinions.
The timing certainly is suspect, but I hope they are sincere and that what changed their mind was learning about just how much violence is done to kids who are trans or non-gender conforming, to the point that some of them take their own lives but none of them actually stop being who they are.
While I wish they hadn’t said what they said and that people didn’t think like that, I do see it as positive that this type of talk is unacceptable enough in mainstream circles that it threatened the existence of their show. Now we just have to get to the point where it doesn’t even occur to people to advocate child abuse on the radio!
(ETA: I’m not accepting this as an apology on behalf of anybody, btw, because that’s not really my place. I just hope that this is sincere and not cynical. I do hope someone can follow up on what they actually say on the air.)
I do see it as positive that this type of talk is unacceptable enough in mainstream circles that it threatened the existence of their show. Now we just have to get to the point where it doesn’t even occur to people to advocate child abuse on the radio!
Yes, exactly. While it was shocking to see that kind of hatred expressed publicly and unashamedly, it’s also been really great to see the number of people who recognized it as hatred and made an effort to communicate it was unacceptable. It’s kind of a benchmark that Rob and Arnie, who I am sure fancy themselves the voices of the silent, “common sense” conservative majority, are discovering that their views are in the minority.
Dawn is a hero.
I’m in the same boat as LindaH.
They actively stuck to their guns when they thought it wasn’t costing them anything. The moment they realized how expensive their vitriol was, they jumped ship.
I despise their initial stance considerably. I despise their current stance at least as much, because it is rank hypocrisy.
They lack the courage of their convictions. And that makes their mercenary hate-speech all the more vile.
I guess my attitude is that I would obviously prefer a sincere apology, but absent that, I’ll happily stand for bullying them into an insincere one.
I mean, this is how society changes, isn’t it? It’s that first you have a generation that’s okay saying (for example) really racist things openly … then the next generation still believes it, but when they say it, everyone looks at them like they just crapped on the floor, so then the next generation learns that those sorts of things are trashy and socially unacceptable, and finally, eventually, you have a generation that stops believing it at all.
So, whether the apology is sincere or not: Yay!
—Myca
I agree that an insincere apology is better than none. Years ago I read a book by David Finkelhor (I hope I’m spelling that right) about childhood sexual abuse. What was interesting about it was that he gave 4 pre-conditions to a perpetrator being able to commit this crime: that the person wanted to, that the person thought it was ok to, that the person had access and that the person thought it could be got away with. The point being that prevention can occur by removing any of those 4 pre-conditions. I think this applies to other situations as well, hate speech being one of those. If the mainstream finds it unacceptable, that is good prevention.
That show makes fun of EVERYBODY and has done so for years. I heard that episode and anyone who is intellectually honest with themselves would know it was a joke, just like they do every other day. If you took them literally on every other joke then that would mean they really want us attacked by terrorists, they really hate kids and thus the millions they raise for them is actually a lie, and so on and so on. Clearly the offend people. That’s what they do for entertainment and clearly the public likes it because they have been the #1 show for a decade. But they never, in all seriousness, advocate child abuse.
But GLAAD comes along and uses the media and alleges that the show does indeed, advocates child abuse then follows up by contacting the shows sponsors pointing a finger and asking, “Do you want to sponsor a show that advocates child abuse?”….OMG!!!! GLAAD is bullying the show which is exactly what they stand against. You people on this blog don’t appear to see the irony and irresponsible nature of this.
All I can say is, Wow!
Enrique,
If this was a joke, and Rob’s and Arnie’s true feelings toward trans children are actually the exact opposite of what they declared on the show, perhaps you could provide some documentation of their being supportive of such children in “real life” (i.e. off the show)? Otherwise, it sounds like a weak excuse for spewing hatred.
Enrique – as if joking about committing child abuse, instead of seriously advocating it, exonerates them. Please. The excuse of every person who tells a racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, abelist, and/or fat-hating joke.
It is sad thing where offensive is thought to be entertaining. It is not. But not just offensive, which can be subjective. Rob Arnie and Dawn (mostly Rob and Arnie) have proven themselves ignorant, vitriolic, biased, sexist, childish, patronistic, chauvenistic, and boorish, on almost every level, just to name a few things wrong with their “show”. Do what I do, don’t listen.
I agree with what Myca said.
If you don’t like freedom of speach then TURN THE STATION! Oh my god! I do not agree with most of Rob or Arnie’s mentality but I do agree that they have the freedom to say what they feel. And if you are a true listener of the show, you know that they would never advocate child abuse. It’s absurd and I’m extremely frustrated that everyone having an issue with this is so stupid to just change the channel if what they say upsets you so much. It’s YOUR choice to listen to what you want to on the radio. No one is forcing you to listen to them. All these posts have so much disdain for them. If you hate them so much, why are you listening. Its people like you who make our men fighting this devastating war we’ve been in for years, feel like they are doing it for nothing. Our freedom of speach is one of the many things they are fighting for. I have many gay and lesbian friends and I feel that transgenders are born the way they are and support them 100% in their choices – but this vigilanty actions towards two radio dj’s who most of the time make jokes on air – it’s ridiculous. And they have made fun of things that I stand for or represent – but I don’t take it personally – I just change that channel.
I’m late on this topic but I just wanted to say I think Rob took the wimpy way out. Of course it is easier to hide under the guise of regrouping but in actuality it is smart of him to stay out of the public eye for the 4 days as things cool off and people go about focusing on something else.
It would have been more sincere if they stayed on the air and took their beatings (No pun intended, really) I quit listening them a couple of years ago and do feel they deserved being taken down many pegs. Rob believes he’s untouchable in this market and is not ashamed to brag. I guess he knows better now. I hope they get pulled.
Its people like you who make our men fighting this devastating war we’ve been in for years, feel like they are doing it for nothing. Our freedom of speach is one of the many things they are fighting for.
Except, clearly, you don’t actually understand how the freedom of speech actually works.
You realize that being allowed to say anything you want* doesn’t protect you from the consequences of that right? Sure, they’re allowed to joke about abusing kids. And we’re allowed to be pissed off about it and do something about being pissed off. And sponsors are allowed to go “hey, you know what, we don’t want to be associated with that” and ditch them. You see how that works?
They’re still allowed to say stupid, offensive shit. And we’re allowed to say, hey, that’s stupid offensive shit that’s piling on top a group that already has to deal with a massive amount of suck. Here’s why we don’t agree, think you’re making things friggin worse and here’s what we’re going to do about it.
The gov isn’t leveling the consequences, so it doesn’t fall under the first amendment anyway.
*That’s not exactly what the first amendment does, but I’ll admit it’s a bit tricky with the FCC being gov run and all. Plus, hate speech, plus incident to riot/violence, plus fire in a crowded theater…
Alright, I’ve been trying to write this for about a half hour and can’t find the link I had that argued all this with much greater clarity and eloquence then I. I’ll try to find it tomorrow.
Pingback: Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » Freedom of speech isn’t freedom from criticism. And it’s not freedom from consequences.
I think this “Open Letter to Arnie States” makes it harder to think of their comments as “just a joke.”
It continues onward thusly.
Enrique is completely right. This is standard for the show and if some advocacy group wants to get involved with this and push their agenda then I say how is their voice stronger than the listening audience?
Now in regards to their sponsors, they completely have a right to pull out whenever they deem necessary. If they don’t want to be related to a show that does have a more in your face sense of humor then so be it. But now RAD feels like they need to apologize? Why? Because what they said made various groups react? What did they think would happen? By having his public apology shows they are weak and they aren’t as big and bad as they might seem.
Some years back when Howard Stern got pulled from all clear channel affiliates for show content. I can recall tuning into the RAD show thinking they’d talk about it and be sympathetic to Howard’s plight being fellow broadcasters walking that razor thin line of censorship. But instead, they were all for it and thought his removal was justified. One of the quotes was: “This is a job, when you go to work you can’t just do whatever you want and expect to get away with it. There are rules and guidelines in place that you have to follow or you’re going to lose your job.”
Well son of a bitch, just look at them now. Now they’re the ones crying free speech. It’s a very satisfying feeling knowing that they’re gonna have to eat those words. High and mighty Rob’s fake apology on the “please don’t hurt us” show tomarrow is gonna make for some entertaining radio. I love it when arrogant pricks sell out everything they’ve preached about for years just to save their sorry ass.
Free speech isn’t the issue. Transgender kids aren’t the issue. People forcing others to be sympathetic to themselves is the issue. While I don’t agree with some of the things (sometimes alot of the things) Rob and Arnie say, I am intelligent enough to know that I can always change the channel. Some of the things they poke fun of shouldn’t be poked fun of but that doesn’t give anyone the right to get so angry. It’s a radio show, thats it. This country, in general, has gotten too stuck on political correctness. Life is too short to take ourselves or the comments of others too seriously. I am quite certain that some parents treat their children badly if they don’t conform to what they consider normal, such as the father in that letter, but that doesn’t mean that an off color remark by a radio show host has anything to do with it. Associating bad humor on the radio to an act of violence by a parent that obviously doesn’t have love for their child is comparing apples to oranges.
For those thinking Dawn is a hero for sticking up for the child in the story. Consider this: Dawn has made many assertions that people should be certified by the government before being able to have kids. So basically, to have a child you would have to get a license and be able to meet certain criteria, such as the means to raise a child and be married for a certain amount of time. Dawn isn’t the hero, or angel. She just didn’t get caught up in this particular tangent.
I didn’t hear the “jokes” they made because I listen to the show irregularly due to commute hours and when they go off on stupid subjects i’d rather listen to music than inane chatter. I suggest those choosing to be so offended it makes you angry learn how to change the radio channel. And for those that don’t actually listen to the show, listen to the show before you judge the show on one topic that is getting more attention than it deserves. Half the time the people giving these things so much attention do so to push their own agenda.
Some of the things they poke fun of shouldn’t be poked fun of but that doesn’t give anyone the right to get so angry.
I don’t have a right to get angry? Jesus, now you’re going to tell me how I’m allowed to feel?
I really wish GLAAD would have chosen someone else to pick on. I have been listening to Rob, Arnie and Dawn every morning for years. Their words were completely blown out of proportion. I can’t wait till this all blows over and I can just listen to RAD on the way to work again!
Kristen,
Could you explain the correct proportion for words that advocate violence against children as a way to “cure” them of being transgender? or why you’re more worried about an advocacy group “picking on” grown men with a radio show than you are about those grown men “picking on” defenseless children?
Jesus fuck, I just can’t stand it any more. “Oh, I can’t believe how mean people are to them, just because they said that transgendered children should be beaten!”
They said some stupid, hateful shit. They got called on it. They deserved it.
I love that saying, “wow. That was some stupid, hateful shit you said,” is apparently ‘picking on,’ but saying in in the first place is somehow not a big deal.
I guess by your standard the appropriate thing would have been to advocate physically beating them, right? “Hey, it’s just a joke! I was just kidding when I said that radio show hosts who say stuff that hateful needed to be beaten with tire irons! Can’t you take a joke?”
Christ.
—Myca
Actually, if you said they should be beaten for those things in the same context as they said it, it would be okay. Anyone who listens to the show knows they would never advocate beating children for any reason. By taking things so seriously you make yourself incapable of making a rational decision about a joke you probably didn’t even hear. Do you have a right to get angry? Actually no, you don’t. There is no provision in our constitution that protects your feelings. You made a choice to be angry, based on the outrage some others felt. If you are not a regular listener of any show and pop in for a minute you can be sure that there will be other shows that offend you. I am not defending anything the Rob Arnie and Dawn show says, merely pointing out that people painting them in such a harsh light specifically because one day someone got angry about a dialogue they heard is as wrong as if they were actually urging people to hurt children, transgender or not.
Enrique, when you say GLAAD “uses the media,” are you implying this is unfair somehow? I hardly think people who produce and host a radio show lack access to “the media.”
Dennis,
I suspect you’re not thinking very carefully before you post these comments. Could you explain how you would regulate my emotions, if you decided to make anger illegal? How would you penalize me for feeling anger, for example? If you can’t come up with how you could figure out what emotions I have if all I’m doing is having them — not speaking them, not acting on them, just feeling them — this might help you understand why the Constitution doesn’t worry about the government’s trying to regulate things that the government can’t even know are happening. (The Constitution, for example, also doesn’t protect my right to have a stomach-ache.)
Anyway, since you understand this show so well, could you explain what is funny about the idea of beating children for being different? I mean, there are people in real life who do this, and I can’t say that the stories I’ve read about it ever struck me as hilarious. Perhaps you could enlighten us all about the hilarity of a parent beating his son for wanting to dress a certain way.
PG, wow. Lighten up. I mean really. I can explain the correct proportion for words that advocate violence against children as a way to “cure” them of being transgender. THERE ARE NONE. And that is not what he did. He (Arnie) was trying to express how he would feel if his fake child decided to cross dress. He made a bad joke out of it. End of story. He never said he was actually going to go around beating kids, or telling other people to do so. When he said that if his son came up to him wearing high heels, he would beat him with a shoe, I LAUGHED. Because it was a God damn JOKE. Get your panties out. We all say things in passing that we don’t intend to really do.
I want everyone to know that I do not judge people. I don’t care if you are transgendered, gay, black, white, deaf, or handicapped. I do not defend the show because I am a transphobe, homophobe, or any other phobe, because I am not. I am defending what he said because it was said to make light of a very difficult subject. If you actually listen to the show, (or if you have a half a brain), you would know that he would never advocate beating children.
Kristen, Dennis, and other Rob & Arnie defenders, a few points.
1) I wrote a long response to many of the arguments you’ve been making here, on this post.
Can you please read and respond there? You don’t have to agree with me, but I’d like you to at least bother to make the effort to read the relevant posts on this blog.
2) Rob began this morning’s show by clearly, explicitly saying that this is not an issue that has anything to do with free speech, and he believes that people were right to tell him and Arnie that they had gone too far. Did you hear that? What did you think?
3) Comments like “if you have half a brain” are not acceptable. Civil disagreement is. Our blog, our rules.
Kristen,
The fact that you’re saying “Lighten up” instead of understanding why people might be upset by Rob’s and Arnie’s words is very revealing. I suspect that the fact that you frame your view of transgender people as “not judging” (wow, so kind of you!) is a symptom of your not knowing transgender people who have actually had to deal with the attitudes that Rob and Arnie expressed, and who have been physically attacked because of those attitudes.
” I am defending what he said because it was said to make light of a very difficult subject.”
But why do you think it’s OK to say anything so long as “it was said to make light of a very difficult subject”? Why do you think that people should be excused from responsibility for their words so long as those people say, “Oh, it’s a joke”?
I’m sure there were people during the civil rights movement who made light about the then-difficult subject of miscegenation by making jokes about how they should go lynch the black guy who was dating a white girl … ha ha. Oh, you say that he actually did just get lynched? Well, I was just joking. If you listened to me regularly, you’d realize that I’d never want to lynch anyone. Not even black guys. I mean, I’m uncomfortable with miscegenation, but that doesn’t make me a racist. Sheesh, where’s your sense of humor about all the black guys getting lynched these days? It’s FUNNY!
Arnie didn’t make light in a way that stood up for the person for whom this will be MOST difficult — the transgender child. Instead, he made light of it in a way that privileged the point-of-view of the people who are uncomfortable-to-the-point-of-violence with transgenderism. I notice that none of the people who have tried to defend these guys has pointed to a single example of their doing anything good for transgender people.
PG,
I do understand why people would take offense to what he said, and they have every right to. I am not saying that the transgendered youth have it easy. In fact, I know it is a daily struggle in so many incomprehnsible ways. I am just saying that I believe that what he said was taken out of context. It is MY right to that opinion.
I do think that some black jokes are funny (GASP!). When they are funny and said in the right way. I have the right to think they are funny. It does not make me a racist or mean that I want to harm black people. When I found out that someone I love was being beaten by her boyfriend I made a joke out of it. Wanna hear it? Of course you do, because you have a great sense of humor. “What do you say to a woman with two black eyes? … Nothing, you already told her twice!” hahahaha. You know what she did? She laughed, a lot. Because it was funny and she knows that I would never actually condone beating anyone. She took it for what it was, A JOKE.
Also, I am not suggesting that he be excused from the resposibilty from what he said because it was a joke. He said it, and will suffer the consequences. I didn’t say there was anything wrong with that. If people want to get mad and have them taken off the air, then so be it. That is YOUR right, and he will have to suffer the consequences.
Lastly, no one said Arnie had to stand up for anyone. No one will point out that they did anything good for any trangendered people because they didn’t. And guess what? They don’t have to. You can’t force people to like the same things as you or to support the same things you do. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, even if it pisses you off. And you have the right to say something about it.
*Anyone who uses violence as a way to get their point across is, to me, not acceptable and unable to have an opinionated and heated debate. This is never, NEVER OK.
Kristen,
Of course people have a right to their own opinions. People have the right to hold racist, homophobic, transphobic opinions. And I have the right to call them out for them. You seem to be claiming, based on nothing that I can discern, that because Arnie was “joking,” his words are not representative of how he actually feels about trans people. I disagree; in the absence of any other evidence regarding his feelings toward trans people, it’s perfectly reasonable to consider his purported joke. If your friend knew nothing about your sentiments regarding domestic violence, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to take your joke as a sign that you were indifferent toward or in favor of it. So why should I believe your I looked into his heart and knew he wasn’t a transphobe claims about Arnie if you cannot provide any evidence for them and believe that the most important point to make in this discussion is that he has a right to be a transphobe?
A note about the follow up “apology” show. Yes, I listened to part of it, mostly out of curiousity. My impressions: Arnie got it, and appeared sincere. Not so with Rob. He apologized for the “tone” and the “manner” of delivery, almost as if he said “sorry you got offended” as opposed to simply “I was wrong”. Tsk.
And they played “Back in Black” by AC/DC right before they went back on the air. How aggressively uncouth.
Joe, the show is syndicated. So, the music you heard was not played by the show, but by either the station, or online station you were listening to in order to fill time before the show came back on.
Now, I have listed to this show since they came to Sacramento. I’m not here to debate what they said and if it was ok or not. That show has always had the stance than your freedoms end when you trample upon the freedoms of others. Hence Robs comments that this was not about free speech.
Arnie truly did seem to feel bad. In regards Rob, honestly, after listing to the show for a decade, that was him apologizing. He is an extremely intelligent very analytical person. He often does not show much in the way of the emotional category. I get him, because I’m the same way. Often people who are on the flip side of that, and are very emotional or “feely” type of people take him to be rude, uncouth and just plain unkind. This is not the case, however. He just is not the type of person to show a lot of emotion. Also, keep in mind, this is his show. He is not an employee of the radio station. The show is owned by him, the others on the show are paid by him. The radio station contracts with him to air his show. Because of that, he has to run the entire show as well and make sure things stay on course. He has to review who’s on the phone, what they want to say and make sure he airs the right people so the conversion that needs to happen can. So, he was most likely very occupied with the running of the show. And I can say whole-heartedly, to me, he seemed apologetic. That’s pretty much as apologetic as someone like him, or I can be.
And the fact of the matter was, he was sorry not for having an opinion, but for the fact that things said on his show truly hurt people. If you got to catch the show today, they talked more and read more emails. He has recently come to the realization that there are people out there that genuinely hate that were looking to him as a sort of leader. He has never wanted to be that. They do the show to make people laugh and occasionally be outrageous and even offensive. But, when the majority of his audience stood up after he initially defended his comments (not realizing the extent of the hurt caused) and called him on it, he was big enough to admit a mistake had been made. And not only was an apology given, but efforts were made to EDUCATE themselves and the audience.
I honestly don’t think it’s about money. That guy is set and could retire tomorrow. Even one of the ladies on the show yesterday said she looked into him. She was curious if it was about money or if he was genuine, and she said on the air “you’re doing just fine”. He had actually considered pulling the plug on the show in the past. The guy doesn’t need the job or the money. So, those of you who feel it’s all about money are incorrect.
Their tone, manner of delivery, and choice of words were what put this issue over the line from offensive to hurtful. People don’t have a right to not be offended by what others say. All three members of the show, though, work very hard and believe in the positive power of what they do; when confronted with the fact that they had gone from ruffling feathers to being patently hurtful, they owned up to it.
Edit: And really? You’re going to complain about whatever song was the last to play before the show? You’re really grasping at straws.
To be clear – I am not defending the initial commentary nor the hurtful way it was presented. I myself, based on lack of knowledge about transgenderism (I apologize if I use inappropriate terminology) believed a lot of the same things. Sexuality is demonstably linked to childhood development (the abused naturally seek further abuse or abuse those they love, for example) and, operating under the assumption that gender issues were a sexuality issue, it seemed reasonable for parents to shepherd their children into generally accepted gender roles. I can say without any doubt that I have grown as a person due to Kim and Autumn’s contribution on Thursday’s show. They presented examples that I had previously been unaware of, such as Autumn’s story about her mother not being able to convince her at the age of three that she’d be a daddy when she grew up and not a mommy. The show on Thursday was not just about attoning for hurtful tone; it wasabout educating Rob, Arnie, and fans such as myself. It is very easy to default to the natural human reaction for wanting revenge. Rising above that, much as people like us must rise above the natural human reaction of fear, should be a goal of everyone hurt by what they’ve read or heard about what’s transpired over the last few weeks. Education and tolerance are the goals, not supression, and everyone must aspire to those goals, not just cisgenders, for true tolerance to become the reality. Thanks for fostering discussion and providing the means for me to defend my favorite radio show and the ability of those ignorant to grow.
Ben, comment 35: “In regards Rob, honestly, after listing to the show for a decade, that was him apologizing. ”
I can accept that. Thank you for your insight.
Kyle @ 36,
No one has claimed a right not to be offended. This is a straw-man argument on your part. But those who are offended have a right to take action, and Rob has no right for people to continue supporting his sponsors. It’s up to them, not up to you, to determine what to do next.
The song, had it been chosen by the show rather than by the radio station, is reasonable to consider in determining whether the apology was sincere. I’m reminded of Rush Limbaugh’s purported apology for referring to Chelsea Clinton as a dog (emphases added):
That’s the kind of apology that will be held up by fans as “See, he apologized, stop being so sensitive” and looked at by non-fans as “His way of apologizing is to give a backhanded insult like, ‘She can’t control the way she looks?'”
We’ll see whether the show and its fans sincerely have gained some education, or if transfolk continue to be the butt of jokes, just so long as those jokes don’t advocate beating children for being trans.
Kyle : indeed a matter of perception, colored by biases, hopes, attitude of the listener, etc. That they apologized because of listener and advertising backlash is of no surprise. Ultimately, I’d rather see the show off air, but it has nothing to do with the current controversy. Perhaps it will temper the show, but the apology itself didn’t do anything to make me want to listen.
That is how you properly apologize. Smart people trying to not apologize always manage to leave a little clue, some weasel-wording… I don’t see that here. This is the kind of thing we need more of. We need to take some actions in good-faith. This is one of them.