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.”
