Series Podcast: This Way Out

Berlin-based writer, curator, and activist Federico Hewson has spent decades examining the intricate relationship between human beings and flowers and the symbolic interpretations of flowers. His latest initiative further explores that connection by pairing flowers with artistic renderings of queer activists around the world who were tragically murdered for their activism. Hewson shares his personal motivations, shedding light on the emotional resonance and historical importance driving his exploration of the intersection between flowers and queer activism. He also talks about Berlin’s thriving queer art scene and his ongoing efforts to commemorate, honor, and showcase the stories of diverse queer activists (Interviewed by Jason Jenn). And in NewsWrap: a lawsuit challenging Ghana’s ban on same-gender sex is dismissed by the Supreme Court, the government of Namibia is appealing a High Court decision that struck down laws criminalizing same-gender sex, Christopher Street Day Parade in Cologne, Germany is haile

All too often, companies with pro-LGBTQ public profiles pack up their Pride Month rainbow flags and pay their queer employees harsh reality. That was the experience of trans biotech engineer Alaina Kupec, and queer psychologist Dr. Jenna Brownfield talks about how to deal with the workplace battlefield. (Part 2 of 2 produced by David Hunt.) And in NewsWrap: South Korea’s Supreme Court orders the National Health Insurance Service to extend spousal coverage to same-gender partners, the cabinet of Burkina Faso’s military junta agrees on legislation to ban homosexuality, the U.S. Republican National Convention re-nominates its iconic felon for president as it attacks LGBTQ people and DEI programs, U.S. farm and garden equipment maker John Deere ends its corporate support for LGBTQ causes, California’s Chino Valley Unified School District sues Governor Gavin Newsom over a bill to protect trans students from being involuntarily outed, far-right figure Elon Musk’s social media platform deletes more than 200 profile

Recent industry studies and the personal testimonies of out queer employees reveal a disturbing trend of employers backtracking on their support for ensuring welcoming workplaces. The statistics became reality for Dr. Khôra Martel when the University of Tennessee let her go from the religious studies department after she came out as trans. (Part 1 of 2 produced by David Hunt.) And in NewsWrap: a Dutch citizen and a local trans woman lose their challenges to Malawi’s criminalization of same-gender relationships, Aruba and Curaçao must immediately allow same-gender couples to marry by order of the Dutch Supreme Court, British LGBTQ activists are “cautiously optimistic” about their prospects under the newly-elected Labour government, French voters hand the burgeoning far-right and anti-queer National Rally Party a humiliating defeat in national elections, the Hiroshima High Court allows a trans woman to change her legal gender without having to undergo gender-reassignment surgery for the first time in Japan, a

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger talks about the perspective to be gained by blowing up masculine and feminine identities, and how he’s creating an Oasis for the art form (Part 2 of a two-part interview with Eric Jansen of “Out In The Bay”). And in NewsWrap: more than a hundred people skirt the governor’s ban on Istanbul LGBTQ Pride by crossing to the Asian side of the city, Santiago’s peaceful Pride Parade is assaulted by a mob of hooded thugs, Romania’s largest celebration of LGBTQ Pride brings thousands to the streets of Bucharest and spreads to several other cities, pro-Palestinian protests impact Pride events in the U.S. and Canada, the daughter of Cameroon President Paul Biya comes out and becomes an outlaw in her country, the Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Company beats its former progressive policies down with a shovel, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the July 8, 2024 edition of This Way O

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger sashays through those Golden Gates with a message of fabulousness in times of “drag panic” and performance bans (Part 1 of a two-part interview with Eric Jansen of “Out In The Bay”). Families of trans kids are fleeing the U.S. south, but founder and president of GRACE: Gender Research Advisory Council and Education Alaina Kupec is using their stories to inspire change (reported by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: Budapest’s successful LGBTQ Pride Parade highlights the conflict between gay U.S. Ambassador David Pressman and far right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, ten queer Hong Kong couples celebrate a legal mass wedding through a registered officiant in Utah, U.S. President Joe Biden pardons thousands of queer veterans discharged under previous discriminatory regulations, Texas’ ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare is upheld by the state Supreme Court, Arkansas’ Supreme Court decides to deprive driver’s license applicants the right to choose X as their gende

Pivotal street actions that have fueled the march toward LGBTQ liberation are included in a newly-accessible collection of This Way Out programs at americanarchive.org: Section 28 protesters converged on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Downing Street, a Stop AIDS Now barricade blocked the Golden Gate Bridge, and a “rice-toss” in San Francisco expressed anger over the Defense of Marriage Act. Generation Z activism has been influenced by the protest culture of the past — now on digital “streets” and across intersectional lines. Pacific Pride Foundation Community Outreach Manager Levin Fetzer talks about the struggle to remain hopeful and the importance of learning from movement predecessors. (Part Four of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.) And in NewsWrap: Namibia’s High Court finds the colonial-era laws against sex between men unconstitutional, Thailand is poised to become the first Southeast Asian country to open civil marriage to same-gender couples, a federal judge allows six m

It’s the soundtrack that keeps a movement moving! Hear our playlist of essential pride anthems from past and present, and meet emerging queer musician and artist Caroline Kingsbury. She talks about the resurgence of LGBTQ+ music and drops her new single about chosen family and home, "Our House." (Part Three of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.) And in NewsWrap: gay Pakistani Preetam Giani’s application to start a queer nightspot in Abbottabad gets him sent to a psychiatric hospital, gay Taiwanese photojournalist Lin Jai-hang is arrested by Chinese police for displaying portraits of gay men at a Nanjing City book fair, Florida’s cruel restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare are struck down by a federal judge, a temporary injunction blocks the Biden administration’s guidance that federal anti-bias education laws cover sexual orientation and gender expression or identity, an appeals court says a Massachusetts public school can stop a student from wearing a “There are only two gender

Laws are being passed — and thugs are being deployed — attempting to shut down drag shows around the world. That’s the news making the headlines, but the backstage news is that drag performers are organizing in protest to protect their art. Qommittee Board President Blaq Dinamyte also talks about being a king in a predominantly drag queen world. (Part Two of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.) And in NewsWrap: Sao Paulo, Brazil’s LGBTQ Pride celebration brings hundreds of thousands of people to downtown for what may be the largest of its kind in the world, the 25th Seoul Queer Culture Festival is capped by a Parade despite government obstruction, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wears a rainbow shirt to join more than 200,000 celebrating LGBTQ Pride in Bangkok, queer-supportive former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum becomes the country’s first woman and first Jewish president, a Missouri trans man wins 4.7 million dollars in damages for being denied access to school bath

One frightening mid-May night in San Diego, California, LGBTQ+ venues Pecs Bar, The Rail, Number One on Fifth Avenue and Rich’s were the targets of a pellet gun shooting spree. Rich’s employee Eddie Reynoso vividly recounts the disturbing incident that led to his being struck in the eye with a gel pellet. As publisher of the LGBTQ San Diego County News and the founder and executive director of the Equality Business Alliance, Reynono talks about queer life in San Diego and the need to remain vigilant in the aftermath of violence. (Part One of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.) And in NewsWrap: private clinics and practitioners in the United Kingdom are being added to the National Health Service ban on dispensing puberty blockers to patients under the age of 18, adults who help minors leave Tennessee to access gender-affirming care or abortions can now go to jail, a U.S. federal judge rules that New Hampshire’s restrictions on classroom discussions involving LGBTQ people or race violat

Forty-five years ago the shocking verdict in the murder of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and ally Mayor George Moscone sent the queer community and its journalists into the streets, where they were destined for a historic confrontation with police. Dr. Tanya D. Zuk of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas reflects on the significance of White Night. And in NewsWrap: the death of transgender Argentinian Sofia Fernández in police custody originally called a suicide is now a case of murder by asphyxiation with 10 officers under arrest, the U.S. Supreme Court declines the case of religious parents who object to their Maryland school district’s support for trans and gender-nonconforming students, Colorado’s Republican Party accuses Democrats of attempting “to turn more kids trans” and urges parents to take their children out of public school, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is expected to sign a “don’t say gay” bill, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signs a ban on banning books for i

Three short films — “Making Men” (Belgium, Zimbabwe), “Papi” (USA) and “Love Taps” (USA) — add a queer perspective as the New York African Film Festival explores the intersection of historical and contemporary people on the continent and among the diaspora, under the theme “Convergence in Time” (John Dyer V reports). We open the lesbian and gay wedding album 20 years after the first same-gender couples in the U.S. legally march down the aisle in Massachusetts, and see where some of the key players are now. And in NewsWrap: Peru’s rightwing President Dina Boluarte signs a declaration defining what it calls “transsexualism” and “other gender identity disorders” as mental illnesses, the Tory government circulates a draft document that would bar British public school teachers from discussing “the concept of gender identity,” Liechtenstein’s parliament approves a bill to open marriage to same-gender couples, warnings of potential terrorist violence at upcoming June Pride month celebrations are issued by three U.

Broadway’s 2023-24 season is full of LGBTQ-related plays and musicals. Gay USA’s Andy Humm and guest co-host Merryn Johns offer their thoughts on the hits, the misses and the queer Tony nominees; we add some examples from the shows “Suffs,” “Prayer for the French Republic,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Water for Elephants” and “Lempicka” to their astute reviews. Plus: comedian Dana Goldberg’s wise words about pronouns. And in NewsWrap: the Czech Constitutional Court overturns sex reassignment surgery and sterilization prerequisites for legal gender changes, thousands protest across France and Belgium an attempt in the French Senate to restrict pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, Tel Aviv’s renowned LGBTQ Pride Parade is canceled in favor of a hope and freedom rally due to the ongoing Gaza war, the Boy Scouts of America re-brands itself with the more inclusive name “Scouting America,” South Carolina’s Republican Governor Henry McMaster is expected to sign a bill denying puberty blockers and hormone therapies

The world’s best-known memoirist whose the long series of books about his horrible and hilarious life began with “Running with Scissors” and “Dry.” Augusten Burroughs talks about writing, living and queering the memoir form. (Interviewed by Steve Pride.) And in NewsWrap: the United Methodist Church ends its 40-year ban on queer clergy and opens its doors to same-gender weddings, a Mombassa court orders a halt to anti-queer protests and incitement to violence by groups opposed to LGBTQ equality, Queensland expands its Anti-Discrimination Act to cover gender diversity and decriminalizes sex work, a U.S. appeals court rules that state-funded healthcare plans must include coverage for gender-affirming treatments and surgeries, the Biden administration reinstates protections from the denial of care based on sexual orientation or gender identity under the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updates its regulations to better protect transgender workers from harassment and discriminatio

New Hampshire high school high jump champion Maelle Jacques’s testimony (questioned by state Senator Stephen Woodcock) helps stop a trans sports exclusion bill at the committee level in the state Senate. Australian DJ James “Breko” Brechney lit up the town with a 2020 Vivid Sydney event re-imagined for the COVID lockdown (interviewed by William Brougham). Plus: the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus each paid online tributes to first responders, frontline healthcare personnel and other essential workers. And in NewsWrap: the High Court of Dominica overturns has colonial era laws to de-criminalize same-gender sex, the Iraqi Parliament outlaws queer and trans identity, pediatric gender-affirming care in Scotland and Wales is halted by the Cass Review from England’s NHS, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott wants to purge all transgender and gender non-conforming public school teachers, Maine’s Governor Janet Mills defies far-right Christian nationalists to declare her state to be an aborti

Award-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman talk about finding the stories of those who were swept up when Germany went from being a homosexual haven to a horrific Nazi hell (interviewed by Steve Pride). Contains material some listeners may find disturbing. Passionate voices filled the Nebraska Capitol building over a second attempt to sideline trans student athletes, and most persuasive argument against the ban came from married gay dad and state Senator John Fredrickson. And in NewsWrap: England’s National Health Service calls the medical evidence supporting pediatric gender-affirming healthcare “remarkably weak” in The Cass Review, Uganda activists will appeal the Constitutional Court’s ruling that upheld the “Anti-Homosexuality Act” to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court allows Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans young people to take effect, West Virginia’s law excluding transgender athletes from competing in school sports is struck down by a federal appeals cour

Back in the days when we liked Ike and loved Lucy, Ann Bannon’s “Odd Girl Out” and the other pulp novels in the “Beebo Brinker Chronicles” gave pre-Stonewall lesbians some reading that mattered (interviewed by Steve Pride). And in NewsWrap: Germany passes a Self-Determination Act to make it easier for trans people to legally change gender, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith publishes a document on “Infinite Dignity” that compares gender affirmation treatment to human trafficking and war, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics establishes rules to exclude trans students from sports at smaller U.S. colleges, Idaho’s legislature ends its session with three more bills to restrict the human rights of trans people, a U.S. district court judge in Florida allows a math teacher to tell her students to use her preferred pronouns, far-right homophobes protest outdoor clothing company The North Face’s support of the Brave Trails camp for queer youth, and more international LGBTQ news report

Somewhere between Radio Hall of Famer Barry “Dr. Demento” Hansen and Billie “Glinda” Burke, queer activist and audio producer David Fradkin found “Nurse Pimento” and her pop culture novelty treasures in the late 1970s. Featuring: Carroll O’Connor, Jack Lemon and Joe E. Brown, Groucho Marx, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Noel Coward, Sandy Dennis and George Segal, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks; music by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Judy Garland, Perry Como, Edie Gorme, Tommy Smothers and Martin Mull. “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Emma’s Revolution reminds us what life “From a (Social) Distance” was like. And in NewsWrap: Uganda’s Constitutional Court declines to nullify the “Kill the Gays” Anti-Homosexuality Act in its entirety, the owner of Orenburg, Russia’s queer-friendly Pose nightclub is now in jail with two staffers being held on charges of “extremism,” the United Nations Human Rights Council specifically addresses the rights of intersex people for the first time, Wisconsin’s Democra

Sounds of the LGBTQ movement during the first six months of This Way Out’s existence — the program that debuted on April 1, 1988 — and how those historic sounds continue to echo in the issues facing queer communities today. And in NewsWrap: a landslide vote sends Thailand’s marriage equality bill from the lower House of Parliament to the Senate, nine men convicted on suspicious sodomy charges by a Houthi court in Yemen will be crucified or stoned to death, trans patients under the age of 18 in Wyoming can no longer get gender-affirming healthcare, P-FLAG’s confidential information about Texas member families with transgender children are still protected from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, Dutch trans darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven’s back-to-back victories over both men and women in the same week ignite a firestorm, a “Drag Queen Story Hour” at the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Public Library is canceled due to a bomb threat that forces a neighborhood evacuation, and more international LGBTQ news reported thi

The United Methodist Church is preparing for its first General Conference following the departure of congregations unable to accept LGBTQ equality, and an impassioned 2019 speech by now-Rev. J.J. Warren helped set the agenda for the future. Comedian and television talk-star Rosie O”Donnell eloped to the city of San Francisco 20 years ago this month, when gay and lesbian couples were getting married under a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom. Plus: Ireland’s out Prime Minister Leo Varadkar unexpectedly resigns! And in NewsWrap: Israeli lesbian co-mothers can now be listed on their children’s birth certificates, Italian lesbian moms beat the effort by Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s government to erase them from their children’s birth certificates, two staff members of a queer Russian nightspot are facing charges of “extremism” for hosting a drag show, Alabama bans diversity/equity/inclusion programs and trans people’s access to appropriate bathrooms in public schools and universities, New South Wales bans c

Texas state Representative James Talarico makes a social media name for himself in a bare-knuckled defense against Christian Nationalism, with an “other side of the Bible” style reminiscent of 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Months later there’s no news about 76 Nigerians busted at an alleged “gay wedding,” and a decade later we recall the "Global Day of Action" protesting the passage of the country’s “Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act” (Kelly Cogswell and Harriet Hirshorn report from New York City). 2014 was the last year that queer contingents were completely banned from the huge St. Patrick’s Day Parades in Boston and New York City (Kelly Cogswell reports from New York City). And in NewsWrap: England’s National Health Service cuts off access to puberty blockers for transgender minors, a Uganda appeals court upholds the denial of legal recognition for the queer advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda, two more Japanese district courts declare the denial of civil marriage to same-gender coup