Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck -- hosts of Rochester, N.Y.'s Breakfast Buzz radio show on 98.9 The Buzz -- took to the air to discuss last week's announcement that the city of Rochester would now be offering trans-inclusive insurance policies to all city employees. What followed was an extraordinarily transphobic 12-minute segment.
Ray made a statement reinforcing the idea that transgender individuals are mentally ill, saying, "The service that will be paid for under the new coverage -- gender reassignment surgery, psychological counseling -- because you're probably a nutjob to begin with!"
The hosts went on to mock transgender women, saying, "The dude can look like a lady and the city is going to pay for it!" They followed this by playing a clip from Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady," making the same insensitive joke Fox News made last year.
The hosts then discussed an unconfirmed report that there is a transgender girl playing softball at a nearby school, repeatedly misgendering her, making jokes about genitals, and pushing debunked theories about whether or not trans athletes have a competitive advantage.
A woman called in to the show in an effort to correct the insensitivity of the segment, only to be repeatedly cut off and called "sir" as the radio team laughed along. They then ended the segment by again playing "Dude Looks Like a Lady."
Ray later doubled down on her statements via Twitter.
Freedom of Speech includes the freedom to offend others. You aren't granted a right to not be offended in this life #getoverit #ROC
-- Kimberly (@Kimberly989buzz) May 21, 2014Listen to the segment below, courtesy of Towleroad.
