University of Minnesota Student Radio Hosts Suspended for Saying ‘Tranny’

The University of Minnesota-Morris has suspended a student radio show from the air after they used the word “tranny” during one of their shows.

The radio show, which goes by the name “Deplorable Radio” was yanked off in the air mid-broadcast over their use of the word “tranny.” A video recording of the moment was published online following the incident.

“You know, you can definitely, you see one tranny that’s trying to punch someone,” one student said during the broadcast. “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.”

“About fifteen minutes later,” host Brandon Albrecht told The College Fix, “the student station manager came into the studio with a UMMPD officer and told us to leave. She said we had violated FCC law by saying a word that was never allowed on air, ‘tranny.’ So we packed up and left the studio.”

“Hey guys, I am just going to have you leave. You said a couple words that break FCC violations,” the manager says in the video. “And so for today, I am going to have you stop your show. Specifically tranny. That is a hate slur it is not allowed on the radio. I need you to leave.”

“Did you really have to call the police?” one of the students asks.

“Yes,” she responds in the video clip.

“It’s a violation, you are breaking the law,” she added as the hosts packed their things to leave the station.

A week after the show, the students were told they were “permanently suspended from the radio station.”

The use of “tranny” on the air isn’t prohibited under the FCC’s “indecency” rule.“The officials are wrong,” First Amendment and media lawyer Bob Corn-Revere explained to the College Fix in an email. “Neither [saying the word ‘tranny’ nor broadcasting while under the influence] is a violation of FCC rules.”

The station’s board was forced to acknowledge that they had falsely accused the students of violating an FCC rule. In an email to the students, they admitted that the use of “tranny” did not constitute an FCC violation.“Upon further consultation with University officials, we have come to the conclusion that our language concerns have been determined to not be in violation of FCC community standards,” the email from the station’s manager read.

The student hosts claim that during a meeting the following week they were asked by the radio’s board to voluntarily resign from the organization. If they choose not to resign, they will be subject to a board vote on whether or not the show should be allowed to remain on the air.