A student radio show at the University of Minnesota-Morris was suspended from the air after university officials accused one of the co-hosts of violating FCC rules by using the word "tranny."
What happened?
● Brandon Albrecht, co-host of the weekly KUMM radio show "Deplorable Radio," told The College Fix that he was discussing the likelihood of antifa violence on campus with co-host Taylor Lehmann when he made a remark about a transgender individual who was known in the community.
● "You know, you can definitely, you see one tranny that’s trying to punch someone,” Albrecht said on the air. “You know it’s automatically that one guy that you know I’m talking about. I bet you know. I’m not going to dox anybody and name them on air. But you two know if I say the tranny who looks like he’s going to punch someone. Yep."
● Several minutes later, the station manager brought a campus police officer to the studio and told the pair they needed to leave the premises, insisting they had broken FCC rules by using the word "tranny."
● A week later, the co-hosts were told by the executive board that they were permanently suspended from the air because of the incident, and that the station had received threats to file a complaint with the FCC. While the board openly admitted that use of the word "tranny" was not against FCC rules, they claimed the complaints alleged that that radio hosts "sounded like [they] were under the influence, which is an FCC violation.” Albrecht and Lehmann vehemently denied the allegations.
● After Albrecht and Lehmann pushed back on the issue, the university yet again changed the charges against them. While the station manager admitted in an email that they had not violated FCC rules, they cited a new violation of "not playing at least 2 new songs per hour."
● When asked if the show was suspended because of the word "tranny," university spokeswoman Melissa Vangsness replied to The Fix that the "situation is more factually complicated than what is described in your request.” No further details were given.
What now?
Although the board requested that Albrecht and Lehmann resign or face a board member vote in which they might be officially kicked out of the club, Albrecht said they don't plan on caving to the demands.
“[We want to] go out with a bang and make the executive staff hold a ridiculous vote for the whole station to kick us out for saying ‘tranny,’” Albrecht told The Fix. “It is a shame that our freedom of speech is being curtailed today in the very place it should be most free, on college campuses.”
