US: Radio DJs advocate transphobic murder
Two radio presenters in the US have been criticised for advocating the murder of transgender women.
Shock jocks Lex Staley and Terry Jaymes joked about the shooting of Coco McDonald, a transgender woman in Tampa, Florida.
She was lured into an abandoned house and shot twice in May.
Tavares Spencer, 16, has been charged in connection with the shooting.
Referring to the incident, Lex Staley and Terry Jaymes, of Sirius XM’s ‘Lex and Terry Show’, broadcast from Dallas, said: “There’s a teen that shot a tranny after finding out that it was a man after they had a little sexual encounter”.
A co-host responded: “I don’t blame him. I would have shot his ass too.”
The Transadvocate website has urged Sirius XM to issue a public apology.
In a statement, Patrick Reilly, senior vice president of communications at Sirius XM, said: “We apologise for this programming and don’t in any way condone it. The Extreme Talk channel and the Lex and Terry show are programming providing to us by Clear Channel. The channel and all the shows on it are under the control of Clear Channel. We are required to carry the channel based on pre-existing agreement with Clear Channel. We have made Clear Channel aware of this issue and the complaints from listeners.”
A Change.org petition requesting a public apology has so received 636 signatures.
