Rights groups want Latino media to end gay pranks, on-air ridicule

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Rights groups want Latino media to end gay pranks, on-air ridicule



Rona Marech, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, April 16, 2005

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When the call came on his cell phone, Roberto Hernandez was driving to work in San Francisco. The caller, who identified himself as Juan, said in Spanish that he had met Hernandez at a gay bar and wanted to see him again.

"Refresh my memory, there are so many Juans," said a puzzled Hernandez. The man described himself as slim with "a very nice butt." Eventually, the caller offered to give Hernandez his phone number -- then announced that the conversation was being broadcast live nationwide on the "Raul Brindis and Pepito Show," a Spanish-language morning radio program.

"Why did these people have to treat me this way?" Hernandez said of his public outing, which led the Federal Communications Commission to fine the station owner $28,000 this year. "Why the hell do they think I deserved something so brutal and humiliating?"

Such on-air mockery of gay men, lesbians and transgender people is common on Spanish-language radio and television, media watchers say, and it has raised the ire of gay rights groups.

"If I were to put on a scale the sensitivity of Spanish-language radio to gay and lesbian issues, I would have to put it at less than 1 on scale of 1 to 10," said Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. "It's ridiculous. It's seen as perfectly normal to ridicule gays and lesbians, to see them as less than human."

In a regular segment on "Los Guapos de la Mañana," a morning radio program that airs on KBUE-FM in Los Angeles, a transgender female character discusses celebrity gossip while a song about a gay man who died of AIDS is played in the background, according the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has posted recordings of the show on its Web site.

In New York, gay and lesbian activists have repeatedly protested the popular radio show "El Vacilon de la Mañana" which airs on WSKQ-FM. They have criticized hosts for such antics as making a prank call to the mother of a man they pretended had been arrested for public gay sex and airing a parody of a salsa song about a man who was raped by another man.

Calls to WSKQ were not returned. But Andrew Mars, corporate vice president at Liberman Broadcasting Corp., which owns KBUE, said, "We absolutely have no problem with our morning show. We don't attack any gender or nongender. I would categorically deny it."

The Bay Area has almost 10 television stations and dozens of Spanish- language radio stations, including KSOL, the local station that aired the conversation with Hernandez.

At the time of the 2002 incident, Hernandez, 44, was selling advertisements for the company that produced the "Raul Brindis and Pepito Show, " which is how he suspects the hosts got his cell phone number. He was so demoralized by the prank -- and the company's refusal to punish anyone after he complained -- that his performance went downhill and he eventually quit, he said.

He filed a complaint with the FCC that led to the fine and the agency's determination that the station had unlawfully failed to obtain Hernandez's consent before broadcasting the conversation. And he is suing Univision -- which bought the company from the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. after the incident -- for sexual harassment and invasion of privacy.

He contends in the suit that his work environment became so intolerable after he spoke up that he had no choice but to leave. His case went before an arbitrator this week; a decision is expected in the coming months.

"Obviously, it's very hard to be gay in Latin countries," said Hernandez, who grew up in Mexico but has lived in San Francisco since 1991. "I moved away to a place that would welcome me -- and to find this is very traumatic."

A Univision representative declined to comment because of the pending litigation. However, FCC documents show that Univision officials argued they weren't obliged to notify Hernandez that the conversation would be broadcast because he was an employee.

Univision's lawyers also said the company shouldn't be held responsible because it wasn't the corporate parent at the time and described the prank as an "isolated event" that didn't meet its programming standards.

The incident prompted Univision to send its radio stations a list of words DJs aren't supposed to say on air, said Monica Taher of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. A Univision representative wouldn't confirm that but said, "Univision, like most broadcasters, especially now is very sensitive to indecency, and policies are in place to make sure the talent abides by the rules."

Gay rights advocates say vulgar language, cruel hoaxes and sexual jokes are common in Spanish-language media, but they are particularly alarmed at what they consider to be rampant homophobia. Words such as joto -- a pejorative term for a gay man that Raul and Pepito used repeatedly before and after calling Hernandez -- are commonly used on some shows to encourage anti- gay violence, the advocates complain.

After pressure from gay groups, companies including Chevrolet and KFC recently withdrew advertisements from two Spanish-language television talk shows in which audience members physically attacked gay men, lesbians and transgender people. Those shows aired in key Latino markets, including San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.

But such improprieties are often undetected or ignored, and when the FCC catches violations, the fines are small, said Lisbeth Melendez Rivera of the National Latino Coalition for Justice.

"If you had an English DJ saying 'faggot' and 'fudge packers' -- don't tell me the FCC wouldn't get on their butts," Rivera said. "I guarantee you the same words in English would bring a higher fine. ... We want parity on this issue, and this is not parity."

Between 2000 and April 2004, the agency fined Spanish-language programs $44,800 for indecency or obscenity, an FCC spokeswoman said. The FCC has one Spanish speaker in the enforcement department and uses translation services, she added.

Román, of the Hispanic journalists association, said the Latino community is not more hateful than others, but perhaps "we feel more free to express our homophobia."

"Spanish-language radio and television to some extent reflects the mores and cultural values of the country of origin," he said, noting that some shows are beamed in from countries that are "way behind the curve" when it comes to fair treatment of gays and lesbians.

Still, those concerned about portrayals of gay men and lesbians in the media say they see signs of progress. Hernandez's case is setting a precedent, said Taher of the anti-defamation group.

"This will allow us now to keep pushing for more accuracy and objectivity when it comes to LGBT issues on the radio," she said.

Hernandez, for his part, is working for another Spanish-language media company now. Speaking out is difficult, he said, but "I guess for the first time I've faced one of my fears in life -- to be open and tell my story, to tell people how bad it can be to treat people this way."

E-mail Rona Marech at rmarech@sfchronicle.com. Page A - 1

 

That vulgar language and blatantly anti-gay talk on Spanish-language radio and television stations goes on almost with impunity doesn't surprise me. In fact, it speaks more volumes about Americans' linguistic illiteracy when it comes to languages other than English than about the homophobia in the Latino community.

It's hard to draw attention to the issue when most English-speaking Americans -- including four of the five FCC commisioners -- can't understand a word that's being said on Spanish-language radio and TV. As pointed out in the San Francisco Chronicle article, no English-language radio host could get away it -- a point that Howard Stern repeatedly makes in his own battle with the FCC.

-- Skeeter

 

Poor Hernandez, he got butt hurt after getting a prank phone call... That wasn't harassment if you ask me; you just gotta learn to accept some humiliation and stop being so sensitive about other people's views of your sexuality.

 

^^ except those hosts might not be as keen if the tables were turned and their secret affairs were aired and ended up ruinning their marriages, family life, and career...

 

Wow, this is old but I felt compelled to reply anyhow.

I suppose the reason people would get upset is the lack of understanding with Latino humor, especially Mexican humor. I'm also not surprised by the response to this, but it is unjust. I suppose the FCC was not aware that terms like "joto" are hardly gay-bashing -- despite it almost equating to "faggot" in English. If one ever lives or even associates with Latino people, one would quickly learn how much you are teased. However, this is not meant to be negative by any means. If you happen to be an American visting Mexico, for example, you'd undoubtedly be called "gringo" the whole time by countless people with ensuing laughter and giggles. Although this can be an insult in a given context, it's mostly just our habit of "labelling" people based on our first impressions of you (often physical ones). I'm always called "juedo" by all of my family because of how Caucasion I appear (blonde hair, hazel eyes, pale skin, and so forth). Loosely, "juedo" means someone who has "light" features or blonde hair. These tendencies are just the same with everyone else. If you're skinny, we'll call you skinny. If you're fat, we'll call you fat. If you're gay, we'll call you gay. It's mostly just innocent bantering that's supposed to make light of eveything. Humilliation isn't exactly humillation with Latinos, it's all just meant for a laugh. If you ever watch Mexican game shows you'll know what I mean.

Also, this sense of humor is drastically less common with Latinos born in America. Like myself. I come from a Mexican heritage and basically live knee deep in the culture, but I never find that humor funny. Nor do many others with similar backgrounds. It's mostly people who are actually from Mexico or where have you that get a real hoot out of that sort of thing.

Although, we all still tend to give such nicknames to people...

 

What? The broadcast didn't mess up his personal affairs... his lack of humility did. His career wasn't ruined, he was; because he was so sensitive about the workplace's etiquette. If he'd just played along too after finding out it was a prank, he never would have had to quit because of an "intolerable work environment." What's worse is the radio host was fined for it... you'd think we all lived in seperate bubbles or something from the sensitivity we express towards petty issues, sheesh.

 

That's easy for YOU to say, Gringo. You don't speak, read or write a word of Spanish. As I said in my earlier post, it's hard to get worked up about homophobic remarks on Spanish-language radio and TV if you don't know Spanish.

On the other hand, Spanish is Hernandez' native language. And homophobia in Latino culture is downright brutal compared to Anglo culture. In fact, Brazil -- the most racially and ethnically diverse country in Latin America and where the dominant language and culture is Portugese, not Spanish -- is just about the only country in Latin America where GLBT people enjoy a degree of freedom and dignity comparable to North America and Europe.

Would you hold that same view if Hernandez was the recipient of a racist prank phone call? I don't think so.

-- Skeeter

 

Wait a second, was the call adressed to Roberto Hernandez a random prank call OR was he targeted because he was gay / or suspected gay ?

[At the time of the 2002 incident, Hernandez, 44, was selling advertisements for the company that produced the "Raul Brindis and Pepito Show, " which is how he suspects the hosts got his cell phone number. He was so demoralized by the prank -- and the company's refusal to punish anyone after he complained -- that his performance went downhill and he eventually quit, he said.]

As you see it sounds more like bullying disguised as a prank call...A prank call to me would be calling a random person and subject them to the joke of the day, not preselect a guy that is believed to be gay and frame them on the air because hosts think it's going to be funny to hear them "bite" at a guy making a pass at him, and then have to sort out the consequences of his public outing, even if they were not ready to be out of the closet.

But if Hernandez had been straight (and he decided to gun down the hosts like it happened on Jenny Jones show) the hosts would have been blamed for daring to accuse a guy of something so disgusting and traumatizing.