Poison Arrow

Beefy, bellicose Kevin Dorsey has long been an FM radio fixture in Houston, first on KLOL and now on its sister station KKRW, 93.7 The Arrow. When he isn’t producing the Dean and Rog morning drive-time show, he gets behind the mike to air idiosyncratic rants about any subject that strays into the gray matter of “Kevin’s World.”

Two weeks ago the subject of Kevin’s ire was a proposal to deny the Westheimer Street Festival city permits for the biannual arts event, and the target was Councilwoman Annise Parker, the only openly gay elected city official in Houston.

According to listeners of the January 21 broadcast, in the course of denouncing Parker’s position supporting the denial, Dorsey described the councilwoman as “a carpet muncher” and “that dyke.” One audience member, Ed Lane, e-mailed the station to complain about Dorsey’s comments.

“Personally, I found his whole rant to be hateful, intolerant, bigoted and full of incorrect information. [Annise] Parker is only one voting member of the City Council … yet she was singled out … because she was a lesbian for this homophobe’s rant.”

Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus President Sean Carter says his phone began ringing shortly after Dorsey’s show with complaints from members of the gay community. “To me, that is beyond uncalled-for,” says Carter. “Annise is a very respected city councilperson who has worked very hard to get where she is. I’ve had a lot of people calling to ask, ‘What are we going to do?'”

Neither Dorsey nor KKRW-KLOL Director of Operations Michael Hughes returned Press inquiries concerning the on-air references to the councilwoman. Before the controversy, KKRW’s Web page displayed a picture of Dorsey giving the finger, but after calls began coming in about the Parker comment, the photo was changed to an innocuous picture of the producer.

Parker aide Cicely Wynne says the councilwoman first learned of the remarks from a city employee who was listening to KKRW. She called the station to try to get a transcript of the show and was told by Hughes that station management would get back with her office the following week. When Hughes did not call back, Councilwoman Parker unsuccessfully attempted to contact the station’s general manager, Brian Purdy, to get a response.

By that time, a number of listeners had contacted Parker’s office to complain about Dorsey’s comments and other antigay remarks made on KKRW programs. Last week Hughes contacted Wynne to explain that the station management was looking into the complaints.

After receiving no further response from KKRW, Parker sent a letter to Purdy complaining about the slurs and warning about their consequences.

“As a public official, I do not mind criticism,” she wrote. “As a human being and a lesbian, I am outraged (not surprised) that your station would use homophobic slurs to make that criticism a personal attack.” Parker pointed out that complaints about the station were circulating in the gay and lesbian community and could involve KKRW’s sister stations and advertisers. “At the very least,” noted the councilwoman, “your FCC letter file will have some additions.”

Parker says she initially approached KKRW management as a professional trying to deal with professionals. “But a radio station that will allow that kind of crap to go on, well, I can see why they wouldn’t want to acknowledge it and are battening down the hatches.”

Given the continuing violence against gay men and women, Parker contends that KKRW’s slurs are more than just a personal affront to her. “There would be universal community outrage if similar comments [were made] about someone of a different racial or ethnic group,” says the councilwoman. “It was inflammatory speech, hate speech that leads ultimately to hate crime.”

HGLPC President Carter hopes the controversy over Dorsey’s comments does more than give KKRW a quick ratings boost. “They’re getting a lot of free publicity at the expense of the gay and lesbian community,” he says. “But they are perpetuating feelings that people have who dislike our community for whatever reason. They are fueling that fire.”

After complaints intensified and other news media began calling KKRW, station officials ran up the white flag and promised a written apology to Parker from The Arrow and an on-air mea culpa from Dorsey. The prospect of hearing a repentent Dorsey munch on crow probably guarantees “Kevin’s World” a sizable — if brief — boost in its gay and lesbian listening audience.

E-mail Tim Fleck at tim.fleck@houstonpress.com.