WHAT'S NEXT

Tell KLIF: Shock Jocks Shouldn't Joke About LGBT Suicide
  1. Signatures
    200 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. Operations Director, KLIF (Jeff Catlin)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter
How We Won

Nov 17, 2010

A radio host in Texas took to the airwaves and belittled LGBT people who were bullied and/or contemplated suicide. After receiving upwards of 200 emails from Change.org members, the radio host issued an apology, promising to be more sensitive in the future when discussing issues like LGBT bullying and suicide.

Fort Worth, Texas City Councilman Joel Burns made history last month, when he used a city council meeting to tell his own story of growing up gay, contemplating suicide, but hanging on and building a life that made him both happy and proud. It was the type of spontaneous moment in politics that is, unfortunately, all too rare and all too human. And the world was touched.

Well, everybody but Texas radio host Chris Krok. The KLIF radio personality took to the airwaves to blast Burns for his open talk about homosexuality, and for sharing his experience about the difficulty of growing up a gay youth. Krok even donned his best lisp to imitate the gay lawmaker.

"Look at me! I Thuffered!" Krok said on the radio, pretending to be Burns. He added that Burns ought to just shut up and stop talking about gay bullying, and stop promoting the gay agenda at city council meetings.

Send KLIF a message that Krok's belittling of gay suicide, and of the story shared by Councilman Burns at the City Council meeting, is both offensive and crude. KLIF should expect better of its radio hosts. It's one thing to debate issues, but it's an entirely different thing to mock gay people and suggest that talking about LGBT suicide is promoting the gay agenda.

Recent Signatures

Apologize for offensive segment on gay suicide

Dear Mr. Catlin,

In the wake of some moving testimony by Forth Worth City Councilman Joel Burns, talking about his own thoughts of suicide as a young gay youth, one of the radio hosts at KLIF, Chris Krok, went on a lengthy rant that suggested homosexuality was being taught to kids, and taking to task Burns for promoting the gay agenda.

While I understand that your radio hosts may have divergent views on issues related to gay Americans, I'm deeply offended that one of your hosts would attack a politician trying to talk about the recent wave of suicide among gay youth in this country. We should all be doing our part to fight a culture that allows suicide to prosper. Instead, your radio host contributed to that culture by demonizing Burns, and by suggesting that homosexuality was aberrant.

Krok should apologize. Debate the issues? Sure. But target one individual with an offensive impression (Krok tried to impersonate Burns with a stereotypical gay lisp), and suggest that talking about gay suicide is somehow promoting something evil? That's just crude. I'm disappointed in KLIF. And as other outlets have pointed out (http://talkaboutequality.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/bigoted-radio-host-attacks-joel-burns-message-to-gay-teens/) we're willing to let this disappointment be known to your station's advertisers unless corrective action is taken.

Thanks for your time.

[Your name]

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