TVC takes Frank Kameny's bait

excerpt from The Radio Listener

By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 12, 1999; Page C02
The Washington Post

Sound Bites

The Traditional Values Coalition, a national political action group, has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission over a Dec. 23 broadcast on WZHF-AM (1390) in Arlington, charging the station was a "party to a commission of a felony" during a talk show on gay issues.

During the show -- a sponsored segment, something like an infomercial -- area activist Frank Kameny, who is seeking to repeal Virginia's sodomy law, announced: "I hereby solicit, urge, entreat and invite every person in the state of Virginia of the age of 18 years or above to engage with me in an act of sodomy of his or her choice."

"We support the sodomy statute in Virginia and we felt this was a new startling use of the media," says coalition spokesman James Lafferty. "The FCC has pretty tough standards for [Don] Imus and [Howard] Stern and this exceeds anything on the Stern show. It's still a felony in Virginia."

Richard Trodden, Arlington commonwealth's attorney, says he will not charge Kameny for soliciting sodomy.


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