UPDATE SEPT. 19: The Heidi Harris Show is no longer on KXNT 840 AM. An email sent to a listener who wrote the station about Heidi's comments reads as follows:
Thank you for your email. We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and want to assure you that we take comments about our programming and personalities seriously.
Please note, effective immediately, The Heidi Harris Show will no longer air on KXNT.
Thank you again for reaching out to us. We very much look forward to entertaining and informing Las Vegas listeners and working with our valued partners in the community for years to come.
Sincerely,
Tony Perlongo
CBS Radio Las Vegas SVP/market Manager
A spokesperson for CBS Radio in New York confirmed that the show was not on-air this morning and would no longer be on KXNT. However, the spokesperson would not comment on whether or not it was related to the controversial post.
The spokesperson did say that the morning show would be moving in a new direction.
The Center released the following statement after hearing about the show's demise.
The Center is pleased with CBS' decision to cancel Heidi's show. Our community and allies' voices were heard. There's no place for hate, discrimination and divisiveness aimed at marginalizing LGBTQ people and their families.
Andre Wade, Executive Director, The Center
The page for her show has been removed from KXNT's website.
ORIGINAL STORY
She’s made a living off her strong opinions, now well-known Las Vegas radio host Heidi Harris is facing a firestorm of controversy after a social media post regarding same-sex couple adoptions.
If you lived in Las Vegas, you probably recognize her voice or maybe you have seen her on TV. The KXNT 840 AM radio host is heard weekdays, 6 to 9 a.m., and she has been on Las Vegas airwaves for many years.
Harris also knows exactly where she stands on the issues.
Recently, the Heidi Harris Radio Show Facebook page made a post about an ad featuring two men helping a baby walk.The post said the ad is from the Clark County Department of Family Services, which was promoting child adoptions.
The Heidi Harris Radio Show account wrote:
"Another not-so-subtle attempt to normalize something that is NOT normal. Even if this is normal for YOU, it’s not the best thing for a baby.
Babies who are eligible for adoption should go to MARRIED people of the opposite sex. That is the IDEAL situation for a baby, and political correctness, changing laws or attitudes cannot alter that REALITY.
And please don’t comment here about how 'some straight people aren’t good parents' or how 'you know gay people who are great parents' ... blah blah blah ... I am fully aware of that. I’m talking about what’s best for the CHILD, and that’s what the County should be promoting."
"She's just completely off the mark,” said Andre Wade, the executive director of The Center, which serves the LGBTQ community in Southern Nevada.
The Center posted their own feelings on the topic:
“Hello The Heidi Harris Show, it's your local LGBTQ Center here in Southern Nevada. We saw you deleted your original post and your follow up post about liberals trying to censor you.
We don't want to censor you, that's not what this country is about. We invite you to come down to The Center and sit down with us to educate yourself on what you typed about.
We invite you to speak to our President Emeritus, who with his husband, adopted a beautiful baby and is giving him an amazing life and and is one of the happiest babies we know. We invite you to come speak to the Vice President of our Board, who with his husband, adopted two preteen siblings from the foster care system who were abused and neglected by heterosexuals for over six years; the kids are now living the life they deserve. We invite you to come speak to our Executive Director, who used to work for the Clark County Department of Family Services screening foster parents and being an advocate for LGBT parents and youth. We invite you to talk to our Program Manager, who, thanks to Board Member and State Assemblyman Nelson Araujo and #AB99 is tirelessly training inclusion and love to foster parents so LGBT youth have a fair chance at love.
Again Heidi, we believe at our core that our souls all desire one thing: love. We are extending an invitation to you, come and meet people who have saved the lives of children and not just speak to those who fear what they don't understand.
Sincerely,
The Center”
Contact 13 spoke to Harris briefly by phone Monday.Harris said she was unable to respond immediately to the comments or to the post, which has since been deleted.
Contact 13 also reached out to Harris’ radio show producer, as well as the vice president of marketing for CBS Radio for comment.
Late Monday, Clark County responded:
“The Clark County Department of Family Services believes that every child deserves a loving home with caring parents who will provide unconditional love and security in a safe environment.
We do not discriminate, and there is no credible research to indicate discrimination benefits a child.
However, we do know that children benefit from being adopted into a loving and caring family, no matter what that family looks like.
Today there are more than 90 local children waiting to be adopted. Profiles of some of them can be found on our website at www.ClarkCountyNV.gov/adoption.
Anyone interested in becoming an adoptive parent may call the department at (702) 455-0800 or e-mail us at DFSAdoptions@ClarkCountyNV.gov.”
Columbia Law School looked at 79 peer-reviewed studies conducted over the last 30 years.
All but 4 of the studies found children raised by same sex couples were at no disadvantage over opposite couples. Experts conclude there is an overwhelming consensus among the research showing same sex parents does not harm children.
