By Elissa Heller, Membership Specialist
A group of NOW activists and allies protested today outside a Washington, D.C., radio station that airs The Rush Limbaugh Show, and the local community demonstrated its enthusiastic support. This action is part of NOW’s Enough Rush campaign, which aims to end Limbaugh’s hateful presence on the airwaves by targeting local radio stations that broadcast his show and local businesses that continue to advertise on it.
Limbaugh has a decades-long history of saying offensive things about women, people of color, poor people, immigrants and the LGBT community. But he finally went too far when he attacked Sandra Fluke personally on his show, calling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” for expressing her support for birth control coverage, and refusing to back down on his hate speech for three days.
Today, NOW activists, supporters, and staffers (including myself) spent the lunch hour protesting outside of WMAL 630 AM, the D.C. radio station that carries Limbaugh’s show. At the sight of our homemade signs reading “No More Hate Speech” and “Enough Rush,” passersby cheered and honked their car horns. These were women and men, teens and older adults, people driving mini-vans or delivery trucks or just out on a stroll. Countless numbers paused to give us a thumbs-up, tell us to keep up the good work, and shout their support. We were thrilled to find that not one casual observer made a negative comment toward us or expressed support of Limbaugh. Only a representative from a conservative media organization was confrontational. Could Rush’s comrades be worried?!
One thing was clear: D.C. agrees that Rush is a bully. Let’s keep up the momentum to get him off the air for good!
Local NOW chapters in New York City, West Palm Beach, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz., also held actions at local stations today. View more photos