New York: Radio hosts fired for calling trans people ‘nut jobs’ return to airwaves

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A pair of radio hosts who were fired for making transphobic comments have been given a new show just four months later.

In the controversial May segment of their WBZA breakfast show in Rochester, New York, Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck had labelled transgender people “nut jobs”.

The pair continued to mock transgender healthcare, and played Aerosmith’s Dude Looks Like A Lady.

When a female listener phoned in complain about their remarks, the pair called her “sir”.

The pair were eventually fired for their comments – but have announced a return to airwaves, just four months later, on rival station Radio 95.1.

Beck said: “It’ll be the same show. It’ll be real, it’ll be raw, we’ll be having fun, we’ll be laughing, we’ll be talking about local issues, it’ll be the same show. A little bit of music and a whole lot of us.”

Ray added: “It was very heartwarming after we were fired and the fourth man, our Rochester listeners, started a Facebook page and Twitter pages and they were very rabid about getting us back on the radio, so we owe a lot to Rochester listeners and we’re very grateful.”

A spokesperson for Empire State Pride Agenda said: “We’re hopeful that Kimberly and Beck and their former and new employers, Entercom and Clear Channel, respectively, have learned from the mistakes of their past and have used the opportunity to educate on issues of relevance to transgender New Yorkers, including how inflammatory language only further marginalizes a community that faces an uphill battle when it comes to full equality.”