Free speech VS. Hate speech

[Colonel Skot Phrea]

I live in the small town of Ingram Texas. Due to the topography of the area , radio reception is very limited. The only station that I recieve is 1230 AM broadcasting from Kerrville Texas. There is a show on the air from 9 till 11 central time Monday through Friday. The name of the program is News and Views with host James Williamson.There is not a day that goes by that he is not ranting about Sodomites, and he often calls for the quaranteening of A.I.D.S. patients.( I am a PWA ). He is constantly going on about how homosexuality is an abomination and he has stated on numerous occaisions that Speaker of the House Pelosi Marched with N.A.M.B.L.A. He is always quoting from Focus On The Family and accuses illegal aliens of bringing Tuberculosis and A.I.D.S. I could go on and on but I am sure you know the story by now. He claims that he welcomes alternative viewpoints and invites people to call in to his program regardless of your beliefs. The Station Belongs to a company called Revolution Broadcasting corp. of the West. THE TOLL FREE PHONE # 1-877-274-8916. I should probably just turn off my radio and think how great free speech is, but can we yell fire in the theatre. I can only assume that the management agrees with his positions as that he still has a job.He was defending that basketball player that said he hates gay people the other day.The N.B.A. made it clear that there are ramifications for hatespeech in thier establishment. I don,t think it would upset me so much if I did not think that his opinions are most likely shared by the majority of this community. ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE REQUESTED AS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. Skot

[BruceChris]

Any possibility that you can afford Sirus satellite radio?

http://www.950airamerica.com/ Online radio is always great, unless you are using a dial-up modem.

http://www.npr.org/ -- Public Radio is truly a voice of sanity in the kind of place that Zerbie describes.

Good Luck, Bruce Chris

[Rick336]

Skot,

It's hard to hear some of the paranoid hate speech out there on the airwaves. Sometimes it appears it's everywhere. But keep in mind that even with all the anti-gay opinions there are on talk radio, the national attititude towards gay people is actually changing for the better. Statistics show that gay acceptance is on the rise in America despite all the hate rhetoric coming from the religious right.

Gay Americans are coming out of the closet like never before. More and more families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives of openly gay people are discovering that we are not to be feared. They are finding out for themselves that we can be loving, productive, responsible people.

Also keep in mind that more and more TV shows and movies have LGBT characters that are likeable and portray a positive image of gay people.

From where you are in Texas, it may appear that things are getting worse for LGBT people in America. But in reality, they're getting much better.

If I were you, I'd turn off the radio.

Rick

[Zerbie]

Skot,

Turn. The. Radio. Off.

Rick is correct, things have been getting steadily better. From over there in Kerrville, I can well imagine how you might not see that!!! Texas is an attitude unto itself. Of all the anti-gay incidents I've witnessed or experienced, ya know, ALL of 'em happened in Texas.

Do you have connections to any other part of the country where there is not such a pervasive anti-gay attitude? Of course, anti-gay bias is everywhere, but nowhere is it as openly and virulently expressed as in Texas (in my experience.) Ultimately, I had to quit a job because I was working with gay bashers on a daily basis and I got really tired of hearing "Burn the fags" as a chant, and "Hey dude, Matt and I are gonna go to Montrose and stomp some fags tonight, wanna come?" Yep, that was in Texas.

Or, perhaps you could move to Austin? There are a lot of Soulforcers there! And it's the one part of TX that voted NO on the marriage amendment. It's a really different environment there.

That stuff about quarantining PWAs, sorry but that's over-the-top RIDICULOUS, remnants of Falwell circa 1982. Bullshit! Never gonna happen. Seriously, turn your radio off.

Sorry this has gotten ya down. As my late aunt would tell ya, and pardon the foul language, "F*ck the dumb shit."

Seriously.

[Colonel Skot Phrea]

I do enjoy listening to the N.P.R. broadcasts on Texas Public Radio which in fact happens to be a private concern and not public at all. As for changing the channel I am more inclined to make a sign that says something like: K.E.R.V. Kerrville's , Evil , Racist , Voice , I think it would garner some attention to this situation. Changing the channel is the same as moving away. Apathy is one of the greatest facilitators of oppresion. Should Miss Rosa have moved away? We have a small Presbyterian college here and I believe that they have a G.L.B.T. student group that I will contact. I am also considering making a list of the stations advertisers and letting them know that intolerance is intolerable. I want to focus as much attention on this guy as I can so that he will hopefully get the message that his insensitivity has effects on people. He claims Christ but nothing but saltwater comes from his spring. He read a story on the air about a 2 year old child that was stabbed to death by its mother. He then made sarcastic comments about how we need knife control. All I could think about was what if one of the family heard these remarks? At this point I am searching for the right place to throw myself into the gears.( reference to berkeley free speech demonstration speech ) APATHY = DEATH , Love Skot

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Colonel Skot Phrea

He claims Christ but nothing but saltwater comes from his spring.

Great line!

Contacting everybody who supports the guy is a smart move. Nothing talks louder than money. And I like your idea of coordinating with a college group. Every action one takes counts for something.

I say go ahead and agitate: nonviolently- of course.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

ag·i·tate

v., -tat·ed, -tat·ing, -tates.
v.tr.
1. To cause to move with violence or sudden force.
2. To upset; disturb: was agitated by the alarming news.
3. To arouse interest in (a cause, for example) by use of the written or spoken word; debate.

[NathanATX]

Another tactic would be to publicize the fact that certain advertisers are supporting this, ahem, gentleman.

[NathanATX]

Tell us who the advertisers are!

[Colonel Skot Phrea]

I monitored the broadcast of News and Views today and as fate would have it James was out with the flu. The show was handled by his producer Jason and a guy who is a frequent caller that goes by a variety of aliases. The tone of today's program was relatively conservative but there was no verbal gay bashing or detailed descriptions of partial birth abortions and no one was referred to as a cockroach . As to a list of their advertisers one of the main sponsors is Frizell and Company . They are representatives of Germania Insurance. There is a local store that advertises on his show called Cross Cultures Worldwide Imports, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Geico Insurance, Time Warner Cable, Match.com, Office Depot, Free Credit Report.com ,Match .com, The Cowboy Store (another local), Kerr County Animal Control, Ovaltine,There are also numerous public service announcements from The National Guard, and The Texas Department of Transportation.Anyone wishing to send James an e-mail wishing for his speedy recovery is encouraged to do so : James@krvl.com