Veteran radio host Dori Monson has been suspended indefinitely by the Seattle Seahawks and Bonneville International’s KIRO Radio for a transphobic tweet.
The tweet occurred last Wednesday night, when Monson mocked transgender people while commenting on the Washington gubernatorial debate between the incumbent, Governor Jay Inslee and his opponent Loren Culp.
“Inslee: we follow science in WA,” Monson wrote on Twitter before deleting the comment. “The state where I could go to Olympia tomorrow and change my birth cert to say I was a girl on 10/2/61 HAHAHAHAHA.”
Monson hosts weekdays from noon – 3pm on Bonneville’s Seattle news/talk station KIRO Radio. Every Friday he conducts a weekly interview with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and he also serves as the team’s pre and postgame show host. Monson first brought his politically focused show to KIRO a quarter-century ago, later joining the Seahawks radio coverage in 2002.
According to The Athletic, Monson was on-air for his Thursday show and claimed the tweet was taken out of context because his intent was to poke fun at the governor, not transgender people. Monson did not appear on his Friday program.
Seattle Pride, an organization devoted to promoting diversity and inclusivity released a statement demanding Monson offer a sincere apology and take steps to better understand the trans community otherwise they will call for his contract to be terminated.
The organization added the following:
Dori Monson’s blatant transphobic remarks in his Tweet during the gubernatorial debate mocking the very real issue of gender identity are insensitive, irresponsible and unacceptable for anyone – and especially inappropriate for the public face of KIRO 97.3 FM and the Seattle Seahawks, whose own value statements herald “integrity in word & action” as well as “weaving diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of everything we do.”
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
There was nothing transphobic about what was said, that idea was read into it by people struggling in life, but themselves full of hate for Dori. Shame on Bonneville, the only people on air eventually will be those playing the victimhood head-games as their path to success. The message from Bonneville is, you must be 24/7 cowering in fear, never relaxed. Monson loves everyone but Bonneville (Mormon) is siding with the principle of fear here (a principle entirely of and about evil) instead of love.
If you weren’t so busy posing as supposedly righteous and had any love yourselves, you would not have had to listen to Dori for very long to know that’s a false characterization of who he is, it’s a flat-out disgusting false accusation.
You at Bonneville should know your scriptures, read them for in them ye think ye have eternal life, they say satan is the accuser. You are siding with Satan. I’m not even religious and have to lecture you on what you should be experts in?
#Boycott Bonneville. Just realized that Dorie isn’t coming back will notwatch
#Boycot Bonneville for putting a racist homophobe/transphobe back on the air during his regular showtime. He’s been blatantly racist for well over a decade. Bout time the Hawks finally took out the trash.
The LGBTQ community is the most racist anti-inclusive organization of all time. Look at the hate and harm they have done to so many people that have never harmed a sole. What was done to him by Bonneville and the community hurt him, his children, wife, and family more than anyone was ever hurt by a comment he made. Your community has become evil. Too many cooperate talking heads kowtow to the wrong group and no longer know what is right or wrong. They are afraid of their own shadow.