Billboard Mocking Caitlyn Jenner Just Isn’t Funny

Star 105 is a rock radio station in Toledo, and one of its DJs, Denny Schaffer, and the marketing team at the station thought that a billboard mocking a Trans person would be funny and good for their ratings.

An online media campaign that began on Facebook on August 4 is giving Star 15 radio, DJ Denny Schaffer, and parent company Cumulus Corp., fits.

They were wrong and we can educate them.

The first thing you can do is call Deb Piechocki (419-725-5763). She is the Business Manager and Equal Employment Opportunity officer. Tell her that it is inappropriate to treat Trans people, including Caitlyn Jenner, as if we are a joke. Tell her that Star 105 needs to remove these offensive billboards (see the image below). Call, 419-725-5763, and let Deb know that Trans people in the Star 105 market are discriminated against on a daily basis and and that we are at risk of losing our jobs, housing and medical care because in Ohio and most other states, Trans people have no civil rights protections. Tell her that the rate of attempted suicides among young trans people is 25 times higher than the national average, and that trans people of color are more likely to be victims of violence, including murder, than any other segment of the U.S. population.

Tell Star 105 that in November 2014, a young trans woman was so severely beaten on her way home from a local store, that it was difficult to determine if she was alive and who she was. She lived and she is beautiful.

If the folks at Star 105 won’t listen to our moral indignation, then perhaps they’ll pay attention to how this incredibly offensive is impacting their bottom line. According to Equality Toledo, just one day after the protest began, Buckeye Cable withdrew its advertising until the sign comes down. As of this writing, at least one other company will announce they are doing the same.

Star 105 is owned by Cumulus Media, which claims to have “150 million listeners via radio, digital media, targeted e-mail and on-site promotions.” The company’s advertising and marketing brands “tap into over $4 Trillion of local spending power.”

That’s a lot of marketing power. But even with all that power, Cumulus Media is the second largest operator of radio stations in the U.S, behind Clear Channel, the home of Rush Limbaugh and a slew of other bombastic personalities.

Here’s what we can do: Call Cumulus Media at 404-949-0700 and tell them that we want to help them become Number One. But before we can do that, we need them and their stations, like Star 105 (https://www.facebook.com/star105toledo?fref=ts), to be our allies, not our detractors.

People like Denny Schaffer can no longer be allowed to set the agenda for discussing issues that matter to Trans people.

It’s time Trans people speak for Trans people.