Series Podcast: This Way Out

Memories of the havoc created and the massive response engendered by the recently deceased “orange juice queen” Anita Bryant can inspire a new generation to meet vicious attacks with creative resistance (produced by Brian DeShazor with This Way Out reports preserved in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting). And in NewsWrap: Ghana’s in-coming President John Mahama announces that the anti-queer “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values” bill is “effectively dead,” a decades-long struggle to bring marriage equality to Thailand ends with wedding bells for more than a thousand gay and lesbian couples who registered their marriages the first day the law took effect, United States President Donald Trump’s inaugural salvo against human and civil rights puts transgender people near the top of his target list, Trump then rescinds President Joe Biden’s support for trans rights in federal agencies and the military, former senator from “Don’t Say Gay” Florida Marco Rubio is sworn in as Se

Filmmaker-writer-activist Marlon Riggs challenged popular — even progressive — culture when his video documentary depicting Black gay men with their “Tongues Untied” was banned by television stations across the U.S. (interviewed by Joey Flyer and Mike Alcolay). Lakhiyia means “home,” and Lakhiyia’s work in revolutionary creativity offers an opportunity for listeners to bring out their own “sermons you wish you’d heard,” like “Duckwalk to Freedom” — and you can participate @lakhiyia on Instagram, HOMEplxce.com and thiswayout.org! (interviewed by Lucia Chappelle). And in NewsWrap: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares 2025 “The Year of the Family” that doesn’t include queers, more U.S.-based trans-national companies are obeying in advance to restrict or totally abandon workplace diversity programs, the Boards of Apple and Costco are bucking the anti-DEI trend, U.S. federal protections from bias in education based on sexual orientation or gender identity are struck down by a federal court in Kentu

Before the dawn of the computer age brought Alan Turing’s work its rightful recognition, before the honors that were to come, we recognized his legacy and his tragic life in November of 1988. There are memorials and movies now, but then his World War II code-breaking triumph and his contributions to the development of of artificial intelligence was all but unknown (produced by Hugh Young and presented by Barry Empson). And in NewsWrap: Liechtenstein rings in 2025 with its first legal gay and lesbian marriages, Lithuania’s Constitutional Court strikes down its “no promo homo” law, the government of China jails three writers of the online “danmei” genre of gay male romance and sex stories, travel agent arrested in raids on Moscow gay nightspots found dead in prison, veterans booted from the U.S. military under anti-queer policies win a class action lawsuit against the Defense Department to get their discharges upgraded, , and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Ava Davis (p

The world’s first Drag Laureate, appointed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, talks about drag culture and onslaught of persecution in the U.S. and around the world. Included are excerpts from Drollinger’s stand-up routine at his trans-friendly nightspot Oasis, and inspirational words from “Sexitude,” the self-affirming dance class he leads. Interviewed by Eric Jansen of “Out in the Bay” (outinthebay.org). NewsWrap returns next week. All this on the January 6, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/ NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

Some of the people making LGBTQ news in 2024 including Taiwan’s LGBTQ-supportive incoming president Lai Ching-te, trans-supportive Missouri Rabbi Daniel Bogard, anti-LGBTQ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Philadelphia’s Guinness World Record-breaking Drag Queen Story Time, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s pro-insurrectionist wife Martha Ann, Thailand’s pro-marriage equality lawmakers, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, predictably hostile national convention Republicans, Democrats nominating Kamala Harris for president, Australian officials on sexual orientation and gender identity questions in the 2026 Census, U.S. Supreme Court hearing on Tennessee’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming health care, and the “queenly” Sir Elton John. NewsWrap returns next week. All this on the December 30, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/ NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for Thi

Lies about transgender and nonbinary youth are the basis for the fountain of new laws making it increasingly difficult to access lifesaving pediatric gender-affirming healthcare. While the lies and the laws get most of the attention, TransFamily Support Services founder Kathie Moehlig helps the targeted kids and their families navigate the nightmare (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: Ghana’s version of a “no promo homo” law withstands Supreme Court challenges on grounds that they are premature, third Japanese appellate court rules that denying same-gender couples’ access to civil marriage is unconstitutional, the Australian Bureau of Statistics gleans initial estimates about the LGBTQ+ community from the results of four recent health surveys, the U.S. Senate approves a bill that bans access to gender-affirming healthcare for the children of military families, a policy that would prevent Montana trans people from changing the gender marker on their government documents is blocked by a judge pending

Experienced analysts like former Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund legal director David Brown (interviewed by David Hunt) are praising progressive U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ketanji Brown-Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan for their questioning of Tennessee Solicitor General Matthew Rice about his state’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, but the trans man of the hour is the American Civil Liberties Union’s Chase Strangio, who became the first transgender attorney to argue a case before the nation’s top court. And in NewsWrap: the United Kingdom’s temporary ban on puberty blockers for transgender young people will remain in force “indefinitely,” U.K. military veterans who were booted from the armed forces for being queer are now eligible for compensation, the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear a challenge to a Wisconsin school district’s pro-trans policies, Montana’s Supreme Court backs a temporary injunction blocking the enforcement of a state ban on pediatric gender-affirming

Jimmy and Megan have no doubt that the gender identity of one of their three kids is unfolding differently. What they’re not sure about is whether it’s safe to raise their kids in the home they love. (Produced by David Hunt in Raleigh, North Carolina) And in NewsWrap: the United States Supreme Court hears a constitutional challenge to Tennessee’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, seven are arrested in raids on three queer-welcoming Moscow nightspots “to combat LGBT propaganda,” Walmart abandons its DEI policies and will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, more than two dozen trans activists including whistleblower Chelsea Manning are busted in a U.S. Capitol bathroom protest at the same time as a Montana House committee gives Rep. Zoey Zephyr a pass, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Marcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the December 9, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listen

Called the world’s largest LGBTQ museum, Qtopia Sydney opened its Queer Centre of History and Culture in February. A tour of the new facility reveals efforts to keep history alive while respecting the feelings of the ones who lived it, its inclusion of women and how it handles the AIDS years. Featuring Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore, Qtopia CEO Greg Fisher, Director and ex-pro rugby player Ian Roberts, Senior Curator George Savoulis, Lead Curator Dr, Liz Bradshaw, Board Chair Elaine Czulkowski, underground celebrity Barry “Troughman” Charles and First Nations multi-disciplinary artist Nadeena Dixon. (Produced by Barry McKay) NewsWrap returns next week. All this on the December 2, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/ NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radi

The killer who stalked Los Angeles gay bars in the early 80s slipped away twice (for reasons explained by Deputy D.A. Dino Fulgoni), but investigating officer Mike Thies wouldn’t give up. Years later, lesbian policy manager Madeline Brancel rediscovered the life of her gay great-uncle, who was one of the victims (Part 2 of 2, produced by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: protections for women and the rights of queer people are among the stumbling blocks to finalizing a deal at the U.N.’s COP29 climate conference, the Parliament of Vanuatu amends its Marriage Act to bans marriage equality, a three-judge panel of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifts the barrier on implementing Indiana’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, black gay actor Jussie Smollett’s 2019 conviction for staging a racist and anti-queer hate crime attack on himself is overturned on a technicality, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appeases South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace with a policy to restrict use of sex-se

A series of murders centering on the Los Angeles gay men’s bar scene leads investigating officer Mike Thies to join forces with the community for an unprecedented search for the killer. (Part 1 of 2, produced by David Hunt) And in NewsWrap: Russian orphans will not be finding new homes in countries where gender transitioning is available, Uzbekistan’s ruling National Revival Party’s government is drafting a measure to outlaw the discussion of LGBTQ subjects, a bill to prevent Ohio’s transgender students from using the appropriate bathroom at school awaits Republican Governor Mike DeWine’s signature, iconic lesbian feminist “Bastard Out of Carolina” author Dorothy Allison dies at the age of 75, the first out queer contingents will march in the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and more international LGBTQ news reported by Sarah Montague and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the November 18, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thisway

The U.S. elections were a wake-up call for the “woke,” yet even though the overall results spell danger, there are a number of queer bright spots to celebrate. With commentary by Andy Humm and Ann Northrop of GayUSA, our coverage includes homophobic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, trans U.S. Congressmember-elect Sarah McBride (Delaware), lesbian Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, lesbian U.S Congressmember Angie Craig (Minnesota), Native American lesbian U.S Congressmember Sharice Davids, gay U.S Congressmember Eric Sorensen, Rocky Mountain Equality Deputy Director Bruce Parker, former U.S, Senator and MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill and U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. And in NewsWrap: Mali’s ruling military junta sends a law banning gay male sex to the president for his approval, a previously dismissed lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s transgender-supportive statutes for school sports is going forward again, diversity-equity-inclusion programs crash at global plane-

While the world waits on pins and needles to find out who will win the grand prize in the U.S. elections, there are notable queer campaigns that link to the same themes and could be significant in the big picture, such as the marriage equality Proposition 3 in California, and the Sen. Tammy Baldwin reelection campaign in the all-important state of Wisconsin. The specter of the conservative manifesto Project 2025 creates even more pressure. Psychologists S. Lee Tepper and Dr. Jonathan Mattias Lassiter help people handle the election anxiety. And in NewsWrap: Tel Aviv is taken off the list of potential hosts for a future ILGA World Conference, a second Japanese High Court has ruled that the federal government’s resistance to marriage equality is unconstitutional, more than one in 10 Australian teenagers identify as queer in a University of Sydney survey, Dr. Hector Granados is the second gender-affirming healthcare physician taken to court by rabidly anti-queer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ACLU’s AIDS/HI

This “audio scrapbook” of the first national LGBT march and rally in the U.S. capital on October 14, 1979, produced by “This Way Out” Coordinating Producer Greg Gordon and Associate Producer Lucia Chappelle, illuminates the problems and the passion of the first demonstration of its kind. As rich with the music and culture of the period as it is with the politics, the hour traces the event from the initial planning conference and some activists’ heartfelt and sometimes humorous cross-country trip to D.C. on a “Freedom Train” to the big day itself, and its coverage (or lack thereof) in the conventional media. To help us continue to pursue the stories of significance in our community, consider joining our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate. Produced by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle. Music by Blue Dot Sessions (Jazzberry).

There’s a reason why October is LGBTQ History Month. The community historically laid claim to it with a 1979 event in the U.S. capitol. Just ten years after Stonewall and long before the age of acronyms, the massive October 1979 march and rally for LGBTQ rights surpassed all expectations — for good and for ill. Excerpts from an hour-long radio documentary that you can stream at thiswayout.org. And in NewsWrap: Poland’s coalition government introduces civil unions legislation, Saskatchewan’s Parliament votes to require parental consent “when a student requests that their preferred name, gender identity, and/or gender expression to be used” at school, 97 percent of transgender and nonbinary young people receiving gender-affirming health care in a JAMA Pediatrics study are “highly satisfied,” U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign ads deride Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ support for transgender rights, and more international LGBTQ news reported by Melanie Keller and David Hunt

How does your first time at a gay bar compare with the experiences of others? Come cruising with curator Art Smith through his growing online collection of those stories — and you can add yours to thousands of others, like the one told by Daniel M. Jaffe (produced by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: going abroad to have a surrogacy baby is now a crime in Italy, Moscow police raid two downtown clubs popular with the queer community and arrest 50 on Coming Out Day, a groundbreaking New South Wales law establishes rights for transgender people and strengthens existing protections for sexual minority communities, the dishonorable discharges of 820 U.S. veterans kicked out of the military for being queer under Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell and other policies are being upgraded, Dr. May Lau of Dallas, Texas is being sued by anti-queer state Attorney General Ken Paxton for providing hormones to her pediatric transgender patients, U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris handily handles heckler, and more int

Author and journalist Nico Lang’s new book “American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era” tells the stories of eight trans and nonbinary teenagers from across the United States, highlighting their triumphs and struggles (interviewed by Daniel Huecias). And in NewsWrap: about one in 20 Kiwis came out in New Zealand’s first Census to count LGBTQIA+ people, the Toyota Motor Corporation is latest company in the U.S. backpedaling on its DEI policies and withdrawing support from queer events, Colorado rightwing Christian baker Jack Phillips loses a state Supreme Court appeal in another Masterpiece Cakeshop anti-LGBTQ bias lawsuit, Arkansas Christian nationalist Republican politician Jason Rupert says the queer movement is “of the devil,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris touts her pro-queer credentials and warns about the tenuous status of LGBTQ rights on a presidential campaign visit with Howard Stern, and more international LGBTQ news reported by John Dyer V and Ava Da

Activist-author Urvashi Vaid’s gender politics may have been ahead of her time, but her nibling, poet-comedian Alok Vaid-Menon, finds contemporary resonance in recordings of her from This Way Out’s archives (part 2 of 2, produced by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: the European Court of Justice orders all 27 E.U. states to recognize a person’s legal gender transition secured in any other member state, Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signs a “no promo homo” Protection of Family Values and Minors law after President Salome Zourabichvili refuses, detained gay Chechen men are forced to fight in Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa will not allow bishops to approve blessing same-gender couples, California Governor Gavin Newsom signs a bill to protect state-funded public libraries from book bans, families attending an LGBTQ Pride event in small town of Grove City, Ohio are unfazed by a dozen armed Nazis spewing hate, and more international LGBTQ news reported by

Internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, actor and author of “Beyond the Gender Binary” Alok Vaid-Menon critiques the LGBTQ+ movement’s myopia around intersectional politics, and, thanks to This Way Out’s archives, discovers that their perspective echoes their Aunt Urvashi Vaid’s analysis of “Virtual Equality” in the 1990s (Part 1, interviewed by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: Thailand King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s royal assent officially redefines marriage as a legal union of two individuals, the Duma gives initial approval to a ban on the adoption of Russian children to countries that allow gender-affirming healthcare and marriage equality, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues the federal government to avoid training prospective foster families to support a child’s potential LGBTQ+ identity, free expression advocate PEN America finds that the number of books banned in U.S. public schools tripled during the 2023-2024 academic year, the FBI’s annual Crime in the Nation report reveals that one-in-five of t

At the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, a keynote address by Democratic vice presidential nominee, coach and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recounts his own track record as an LGBTQ ally, which is as long and cutting-edge as that of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. And in NewsWrap: Georgia’s Parliament passes a package of bills modeled on Russia’s infamous “no promo homo law,” Kharkiv’s “auto Pride” links equality and Ukrainian victory in a motorcade through the city, Taiwan will recognize the marriages of its queer citizens to mainland Chinese spouses, one of the men convicted of murdering gay student Matthew Shepard in 1998 loses a bid to commute the rest of his two consecutive life sentences after 25 years in prison, the Denver-based Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a law banning conversion therapy for minors in the state of Colorado, Kentucky’s governor issues an Executive Order banning conversion therapy on minors, Paige Johnson becomes the first out transgender person elect