The Rob, Arnie and Dawn radio we posted about earlier this week has come under fire for disparaging remarks made against the transgender community, encouraging the beating of transgender/questioning youth. A Call to Action by GLAAD has been successful in getting sponsors to pull ads from their show. From GLAADblog:

At 1:33pm, I received an email from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. The company is responsible for well, Dr. Pepper and Snapple along with 40+ brands including 7UP, Country Time, Crush, Hawaiian Punch, Mott’s, Orangina, Welch’s and Yoo-hoo.

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc gave us the following statement to share with our supporters:

“We found the segment to be offensive and as a result, we are pulling our Snapple advertising from the station. Thanks again for bringing this to our attention.”

As far as we know, the beverage company now becomes the second business to pull its advertising from KRXQ as a result of last week’s defamatory and dehumanizing comments against transgender children made by radio hosts Rob and Arnie.

The popular restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill was the first to announce pulling their advertising contract from the station.

Please continue to check back for updates on this developing story.
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UPDATE:

At 4:00pm EST, GLAAD spoke with SONIC Corp, the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in the country. SONIC confirmed they pulled all of their advertising from KRXQ as a result of the offensive comments made on the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show during their May 28 radio segment.

SONIC provided GLAAD with the following statement at 4:45pm EST:

“Sonic wants to assure you that the views of this station are in no way related to the views of Sonic. Sonic was alerted to the May 28th segment only yesterday and immediately began researching the segment, show and Sonic’s planned advertising on the station. SONIC in no way condones violence toward children and does not wish to be associated with media content that condones or promotes such activity in any way.  We have decided to immediately withdraw advertising from this station and have notified the station of our decision.”

SONIC now joins Snapple and Chipotle in their removal of advertising on KRXQ.

And it gets better… as of today Bank of America is pulling their ads…

In response to your inquiry, I would like to express our thoughts to you regarding Bank of America’s decision to discontinue advertising on the station and show in question.

Bank of America is proud to be a leader in supporting diversity and continues to be widely recognized for our progressive workplace practices and initiatives to promote inclusion. This commitment to equality and diversity informs every aspect of our enterprise, including our approach to advertising. As a result, we adhere to a set of media buying guidelines for syndicated programming and for local stations that promote inclusion and help our company reach a broad range of diverse customers.Bank of America prides itself on fostering a corporate culture that is inclusive of all the communities we serve. Our customers, clients and associates speak different languages; support different family structures and life situations; and have unique and personal financial requirements. In order to meet the diverse needs of our customers, we require a variety of products and services, marketing and a diverse workforce that demonstrate and reflect our awareness and appreciation of who our clients and customers are.

We hope the immediate actions that we have taken demonstrate our longstanding support of diversity, and we hope you inform members of your organization of the steps that we have taken to address your concerns.

Thank you for your inquiry and bringing this to our attention.

It’s been heartening to watch how quickly our community has come together to take the radio show to task and affect change, and in matter of just a few days. Please continue to support GLAAD in their efforts fight discrimination in all its forms.

Update: You can now add Verizon, Carl’s Jr. and Nissan to the list…

A Fresno hospital denied Teresa Rowe access to her partner Kristin Orbin who suffered a seizure and collapsed after Meet in the Middle 4 Equality march on May 30th.

The discrimination began shortly after the paramedics arrived. Orbin described her ordeal on Examiner.com.

“By that time, I was going in and out of consciousness.  The paramedics wanted nothing to do with Teresa and she had to practically fight them to be allowed to ride in the ambulance.  I remember one of them was very nice and agreed to let her ride with me in the back.  Once we got to the hospital, they wheeled me into a hallway and left me, refusing to allow Teresa to be with me.”

Orbin said the paramedic told the nurse on duty that she had collapsed after marching 14 miles for civil rights, and the nurse gave her a dirty look and said “ooooh.”  She continued, “I asked if Teresa could come back with me, but the nurse told me I was in a no visitor zone. When I asked her why everyone else had visitors, she said ‘those people are different’.”

They refused to take my medical cards from her.  They refused Teresa’s offer to have my advance directive and power of attorney faxed over from UCSF.”

Orbin said she asked the nurses several times if Rowe could join her, but each time they refused.

“They just kept looking at my Marriage Equality shirt and giving me dirty looks,” she said.

Orbin and Rowe were not reunited until a doctor intervened a few hours later.

As a result of the incident the couple is considering legal action and has contacted the ACLU for advice.

There are laws on books here in California that protect not just gays and lesbians from this kind of discrimination, but everyone. Except apparently, in Fresno.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler, sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the House of Representatives, makes the case for the legislation with Lou Dobbs. David Seminara from the Center from Immigration Studies presents the opposing view. Watch:

Say it ain’t so Dorothy. Say it ain’t so!