Posted by Jeremy Andrews on October 15, 2012 at 00:00:43:
In Reply to: Z104 drama posted by GG on October 14, 2012 at 12:18:46:
Few things,
1. Why would a PD leave his job because one of the staff members is gay? I'm pretty sure Hunter was given a better offer somewhere either in or out of radio. There's plenty of conservatives working at radio stations with plenty of gay people. It's not a big deal.
2. In regards to Connie & Curtis, they clearly didn't want to leave Milwaukee. They were moved to Milwaukee to host a simulcast show, and they moved their families into new places, etc. They obviously wanted to stay where they were.
3. Aaron came out on "National Coming Out Day" (11 October) and it's also "National Anti-Bullying Month." Being gay and getting bullied and harassed is a serious problem these days. Remember all the suicides?
I don't think it was a stunt. I think it was some people who had the ability to do something for their community, which they were able to do.
A non-openly gay guy on staff, 2 national awareness days and months at the same time, and a CHR radio station targeting the 18-34 demographic in a city with a major university. A lot of the people who commited suicide for being harassed for being gay were in colleges and univiersities, not just high schools.
Regardless if it was a stunt or not, I have every reason to believe it may have done some good for someone who was listening out there. We've all seen the stories, and heard about the people living in the closet, scared to be who they are, etc.
In some cases, particularly in Milwaukee (probably Madison too) there are teenagers living on the streets because their parents disowned them and threw them out of the house for coming out as gay.
This is a serious issue. You don't have to be gay to even notice this as a serious issue. You see it constantly in the news. You hear it from friends.
I seriously give them credit for taking on this issue. Some people tend to blow it off, either because they think being gay is a "choice" or because it doesn't effect them. But there is a large portion of the community that it does effect.