Starting last weekend, at least six Pittsburgh radio stations allegedly have aired a commercial that local advocates have called out as hateful and transphobic,
reports The City Paper.
The ad, which is reportedly airing in some instances with a disclaimer that it does not represent the views of the station, repeats what City Paper calls familiar 'right-wing messaging' about gender-affirming medical care for trans children, incorrectly claiming that Joe Biden and the “new left” are forcing children to transition against their will.
The commercial says the airtime was paid for by America First Legal Foundation, an organization billing itself as the conservative answer to the ACLU that was founded last year by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller.
According to LGBTQ activists, the commercial has aired on several local radio stations, including KDKA-AM, WDVE 102.5, WAMO 107.3, WISH 99.7, WKST 96.1, WLTJ 92.9, and WDSY 108.
iHeartMedia, Audacy, and Steel City Media, the owners of the radio stations, did not respond to City Paper requests for comment.
According to a partial transcript, the commercial states: "<Intro> To make it easier for boys to take estrogen to appear more feminine. They wanna make it easier for girls to take testosterone so they grow facial hair. Biden and the New Left want to let kids take puberty blockers to keep them from developing into men and women. These drugs can leave you sterile, infertile, impotent. Biden and the New left even want to make it easier for teens and young adults to get surgery to remove breast and genitals. They would allow boys in our daughter’s bathrooms and sports teams, and now the Biden administration is planning to issue new rules that will push doctors to prescribe dangerous drugs and worse, to facilitate these changes on fake charges of discrimination, tell President Biden and left wing leaders across America hands off our kids paid for by America First Legal Foundation."
According to City Paper, Tall Cathy of iHeartMedia's WKST 96.1 KISS tweeted in response to listener criticism that 96.1 is no longer running the commercial. She did not say what prompted the station's decision and has not yet responded to a request for comment, but Mikey and Bob from KISS' popular morning show stated multiple on-air personalities at their radio station called for the ads to be removed.
Pittsburgh online LGBTQ outlet QBurgh calls it “the most hateful and deliberately harmful advertisement to air in the Pittsburgh media market in years.”
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