Series Podcast: This Way Out

The celebration is on for World Pride in Sydney, Australia starting February 12th, but ACON’s Director of HIV and Sexual Health Matt Vaughan advises getting vaccinated for monkeypox and COVID-19 well before the event (interviewed by Barry McKay). The diversity-challenged Hollywood Foreign Press Association put its queer foot forward for the 80th Golden Globes, honoring gay television producer Ryan Murphy with the Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award. And in NewsWrap: Delhi’s first Pride Parade after a three-year COVID shut down supports current marriage equality cases in India’s Supreme Court, authorities in Algeria clamp down on anything featuring rainbow colors, Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated legislature blocks a ban on conversion therapy, a U.S. federal judge finds West Virginia’s trans sports ban constitutional, a Christian “Karen” douses a gay couple with holy water in front of a Mexican church, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Elena Botkin-Levy and David Hunt (produced by

There were high-profile coming-outs and outstanding achievements for queer people, allies — even the animated! Our year-end review concludes with a sample of the interesting array of unique individuals in politics, sports and entertainment who characterized the queerest news of 2022. And in NewsWrap: Peru’s legislature freezes marriage equality, a Taipei court reinstates a Taiwan-Hong Kong lesbian couple’s marriage registration, Israel’s parliament gets an out gay Speaker in a right-wing coalition, a Trump-style insurrection follows Lula’s inauguration in Brazil, Spain and Scotland approve transgender rights bills, a U.S. appeals court upholds a Florida school district’s bathroom bias, Islamic police in Nigeria arrest 19 at a gay wedding, a gay California congressman gets sworn in with “Superman’s” help, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the January 9, 2023 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-do

On the plus side there were legislative and electoral wins in the U.S. and Australia, and conversion therapy bans in Israel and New Zealand. On the scary side rights were challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court and trampled at the World Cup, and the flames of religious bigotry burned pro-LGBTQ books and immolate queer students. Part 2 of our 2022 news review recalls these events, crowned by the Golden Globe triumph of MJ Rodriguez. (NewsWrap returns the week of January 9th.) All this on the January 2, 2023 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

With attacks on LGBTQ (especially transgender) youth by Republican-controlled U.S. state legislatures, the war in Ukraine, and WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner’s captivity in Russia, it’s been a year of living dangerously for the queer community. Part 1 of our 2022 news review covers these major stories, easing the pain with satire by John Oliver and Jon Stewart, and a salute to the Bondian spy-adversary homoeroticism between “Skyfall” stars Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem. (NewsWrap returns the week of January 9th.) All this on the December 26, 2022 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The marriage equality decade in the U.S. has come full-circle from the December 2012 Supreme Court hearings on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act to the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act on December 13. A flashback to the Supreme Court’s first foray into LGBTQ marriage equality sets the stage for signing the bill that spells DOMA’s demise. Plus: lesbian activist singing duo Emma’s Revolution builds coalitions — and that’s what they’ve done with a cheery multi-culti holiday track from their Rooted CD. And in NewsWrap: Barbados high court overturns colonial-era sodomy laws, U.S. Congressional committee hearing links anti-queer rhetoric to hate violence, Ohio anti-trans sports ban withers as legislative session ends, Connecticut’s inclusive athletics policy upheld in federal court, Brittney Griner vows to play ball despite Russian trauma, "Hawai'i's Last Princess" leaves a lesbian legacy, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and David Hunt

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a complaint about the right to refuse services for same-gender weddings, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Katanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan examine the dangerous implications, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch conjure false equivalencies in questioning Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson and plaintiff attorney Kristen Waggoner; analysis of the case provided by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and GayUSA’s Ann Northrop and Andy Humm. Just in time to cure your queer holiday blues, Seattle gay pop duo The Scarlet Coast debuts a new album with a lead single that takes on seasonal depression with a smile (interviewer, Matty McLaughlin). And in NewsWrap: Biden trades Russian arms dealer for Brittney Griner, Indonesia criminalizes unmarried sex, trans and non-binary athletes score with Sport New Zealand, Aruba and Curacao get court-ordered marriage equality, U.S. Respect For Marriage Act buries DOMA, Florida ”Don't Say Gay" sponsor quits after federal fraud indictm

The Respect for Marriage Act passes the U.S. Senate with a bipartisan majority after adopting a “religious freedom” amendment debated by Senators Tammy Baldwin, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis and Chuck Schumer (our report also features commentary by James Obergefell and GayUSA’s Andy Humm and Ann Northrop). The queer youth commentators of OutCasting Overtime reflect on living under the shadow of anti-LGBTQ hate violence (produced by Marc Sophos). And in NewsWrap: Singapore's sodomy repeal comes with a marriage poison pill, a Tokyo court rejects a marriage equality case while opening the door to change, India's top court hears two marriage equality cases, Russia's plan to ban all queer-positive information passes parliament, Belgium and Western Australia each move to outlaw conversion therapy, Australia's Northern Territory adds LGBTQ people to its anti-discrimination protections, Queensland plans to scrap its gender-affirming surgery prerequisite for birth certificate change, the U.S. relaxes blood donor rules fo

Truman Capote’s autobiographical short story of the season is read by James Gavin, author of the recently released “George Michael: A Life” (recorded for our 2020 Global Queer Read-IN). Plus: an update on the Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Our full NewsWrap segment returns after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday break.) This special program on the November 28, 2022 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The Respect for Marriage Act, introduced by lesbian Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, passes the U.S. Senate with the support of Republican Senators Susan Collins (ME) and Rob Portman (OH). The amended bill will return to the House, where Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) thinks the bipartisan bill will succeed. Following a rancorous public survey, the Australian Senate made marriage equality the law five years ago this week. Our coverage of the debate featured Senators Sarah Hansen-Young, George Brandis, Dean Smith and Penny Wong (reported by Sydney correspondent Barry McKay). Late-breaking bulletin: A mass shooting at a Colorado Springs, Colorado LGBTQ+ bar kills five before the attacker is brought down by patrons. And in NewsWrap: an Italian lesbian couple wins the right not to be listed as “mother” and “father” on their child’s identification documents, a Texas federal judge overrules a Biden administration policy that protects LGBTQ patients from biased healthc

In a highly polarized political atmosphere and democracy itself in the balance, successful LGBTQ candidates scored a record number of “firsts” as part of a progressive surprise with huge implications for the country and the movement. And in NewsWrap: Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court rules that the recognition of same-gender marriages legally performed abroad does not violate the Constitution, Qatar’s official 2022 World Cup Ambassador worries queer players and fans when he calls homosexuality “a damage in the mind,” the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wing coalition he’ll need to form a government concerns queer Israeli activists, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be the first world leader to appear on a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” show, Russia transfers lesbian WNBA star Brittney Griner to a remote hard labor penal colony, Florida’s two state medical boards deny transgender people under 18 access to gender-affirming care, a New York Marathon winner salutes Florida’s persec

The damage of living a lie — the kind of damage that’s most poignant as the holidays approach, and most keenly felt by LGBTQ+ youth — is described first-hand by OutCaster Brianna (produced by Marc Sophos). Two years before RuPaul’s Drag Race debuted in 2009, the soon-to-be international icon stepped off the runway to tell his story in this This Way Out Rewind (interviewed by Dixie Treichel). And in NewsWrap: Kuala Lumpur Halloween party raided by religious cops, Brazilian voters reject the hateful regime of President Jair Bolsonaro, Pride overcomes obstacles in Johannesburg and Taipei, Tokyo’s queer couples get partnership certificates, a fond farewell to the original "Lavender Cowboy,” beauty queens crown each other in wedded bliss, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the November 7, 2022 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Comedic actor Leslie Jordan is gone too soon, leaving behind a legacy of humor and humanity from Will & Grace to Call Me Kat. Relive some favorite laughs, and hear his tales of the Sordid Lives he lived on screen — and some “sordid lives” in gay Hollywood then and now (interviewed by Chris Wilson, Abby Dees and Rosie Wilby). And in NewsWrap: the passage of marriage equality legislation in Guerrero and Tamaulipas completes the long process of making it law in all 31 Mexican states, an LGBTQ ally becomes Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Slovakia’s Parliament rejects a bill to create registered partnerships for lesbian and gay couples, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s new Tory Cabinet is just as anti-queer as his short-lived predecessor’s, lawmakers in Russia’s State Duma vote to expand the ban on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors to include adults, persecuted Chechen brothers and WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner each lose appeals of harsh Russian prison sentences, upcomin

One bite from the Buttigieg bug, and author Paul Mason Barnes turned into “Paul for Pete: Politics. Theatre. Life. One Man’s Adventures (Or, How I Became A Septuagenarian Fanboy) — and his election activism didn’t stop there (interviewed by Eric Jansen of Out in the Bay Radio and Podcast). And in NewsWrap: Tabasco and Endomex bring Mexico one state shy of nationwide marriage equality, British queer activists glad to see short-lived P.M. Liz Truss go, Russian lawmakers consider expanding the ban on “LGBTQ propaganda” to include adults, Brittney Griner's release stalls as U.S. officials bust the son of one of Putin pals, Byron Perkins scores as the first out HBCU football player, U.S. House Republicans propose nationalizing ”Don't Say Gay,” Florida adds harsh penalties to its Parental Rights in Education law, Idaho right-wingers pitch a ban on drag shows, satirist John Oliver takes on transphobes, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Wendy Natividad (produced by Brian DeShazo

As the actual courtroom videotapes are finally unsealed, we rebroadcast excerpts from Oscar-winning gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black’s play based on the transcripts of the 2010 trial that overturned California’s Proposition 8, the initiative that banned marriage equality in the state. Featured in the Los Angeles Theater Works production are John C. Reilly as David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, George Takei as Dr. William Tam of the Traditional Family Coalition, George Clooney as co-counsel for the plaintiffs David Boies, Kevin Bacon as ProtectMarriage.com attorney Charles Cooper and Brad Pitt as Judge Vaughn Walker. Plus: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shares her rainbow flare on National Coming Out Day! And in NewsWrap: two patrons of a Bratislava, Slovakia gay bar are killed and an employee injured when a terrorist teenager opens fire, Mexico's Senate passes a ban on conversion therapy, Montenegro Pride demands an end to hate speech and harassment, a U.S. gay man mar

Before Representative Liz Cheney took on Trumpism, even before her dad was playing President Bush’s Darth Vader, her novelist mom dreamed of pioneering queer “Sisters” (read by Cindy Friedman). Before Scooby-Doo’s Velma Dinkley came out of the closet, televangelistic gaydar zeroed in on the Teletubbies’ Tinky Winky (featuring Cindy Friedman and Leo Garcia). Before the Springfield, Missouri City Council was to vote on anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people in October 2012, the Brentwood Christian Church’s Reverend Phil Snider gave a shocking testimony. Plus lesbian-feminist poet-activist Pat Parker performs “For the Straight Folks Who Don’t Mind Gays (But Wish They Wouldn’t Be So Blatant).” And in NewsWrap: Slovenia’s Parliament passes marriage equality legislation that includes the right to adopt children, Brazil’s federal elections deliver wins to two trans candidates and a run-off between leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the homophobic President Jair Bolsonaro, scandal-pl

A trans masculine teen from OutCasting Overtime discovers that people are a lot nicer when they think you’re a guy (a commentary by Declan, produced by Marc Sophos). Recalling former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s infamous 2007 visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly shows that the Islamic regime hasn’t changed much in the intervening 15 years. And in NewsWrap: Cuban voters resoundingly pass a new Family Code that includes marriage equality and queer couples’ right to adopt children, Italy’s right-wing shift at the polls is bad news for LGBTQ+ rights campaigners, two additional suspects in the Oslo Pride shooting spree are arrested, a Polish teen is busted for chalking a pro-LGBTQ+ message on the sidewalk in front of a church in Toruń, Virginia’s proposed anti-trans policies prompt a students to stage a statewide walkout, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s rebuke of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ refugee hoax tops Twitter, and there will be no "Bros" rom-com in the Middle East,

Our 1800th episode finds an eerie resemblance between the stories we reported the last week of September 1992 — fighting to secure state-level rights in Colorado and California … and oh, that Florida — and today’s conservative trends. And in NewsWrap: more than 10,000 opponents of queer rights march through the streets of Istanbul demanding a ban on “LGBTQ propaganda,” Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium defy the Vatican to authorize celebrations affirming same-gender couples, the U.S. Southern Baptist Convention cuts ties with two LGBTQ-welcoming congregations, the Mexican state of Durango gets marriage equality by gubernatorial decree, the U.S. state of Montana yields to an injunction blocking its ban on birth certificate gender changes, Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio come under fire because of their gender-affirming care programs for young people, a Texas judge expands her injunction to halt “child abuse” investigations into P-FLAG and other families o

Statistics show that LGBTQ youth are at greatly increased risk of self-harm — a fact that hit home for OutCasting Overtime’s Isha when tragedy struck (produced by Marc Sophos). Queer students at New York’s Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva University and Utah’s Mormon Brigham Young University are pressing for their rights, following a trail blazed at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma (a “This Way Out Rewind” from 2002 with Jeff McKissack of the LGBTQ alumni organization ORU-OUT interviewed by Lucia Chappelle). And in NewsWrap: Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe says his government would not oppose a bill to decriminalize consensual relations between queer adults, Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela promises free gender-affirming healthcare, thousands enjoy peaceful Prides in the Polish cities of Katowice and Lublin, electoral wins for the far-right Sweden Democrats alarm LGBTQ activists, Montana’s Health and Human Services Department aims to ignore an injunction against tightened rules for birth certificate

The 2021 Best Indie Book Award for an LGBTQ coming of age novel prize went to Dwayne Ratleff’s “Dancing To The Lyrics.” Is the story of a queer African American boy growing up on the tough streets of Baltimore, Maryland fiction, memoir or both? (Eric Jansen of “Out in the Bay,” interviewer) And in NewsWrap: Chiléan voters reject an inclusive new Constitution despite the widespread desire for progressive reform, Liz Truss fills her Cabinet with homophobic Tories when she takes over as the U.K.’s new Prime Minister, Iran for the first time condemns two women to death for their queer activism, a Texas federal district judge allows religious objections to block coverage for free PrEP under the Affordable Care Act, Washington state's conversion therapy ban withstands a federal appeal, activists dispatch angels to defend a Pride drag show at Brigham Young University, an Idaho librarian checks out after enduring unhinged harangues about books that were never on her shelves, and more international LGBTQ news reporte

Grammy-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo talks about his unique style and gender-bending repertoire from Phillip Glass’ Akhnaten to his collaboration with transgender singer-songwriter Justin Vivian Bond (interviewed by Brian DeShazor). Host Billy Eichner and winners Bad Bunny and Dove Cameron lead the queer contingent at the MTV Video Music Awards! And in NewsWrap: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court finds the “sodomy” and “buggery” laws of Saint Kitts and Nevis unconstitutional, India’s Supreme Court supports legal protections and social benefits for same-gender couples, Belgrade EuroPride organizers say Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had no right to cancel their upcoming event, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals favors religious healthcare professionals’ right to refuse trans patients treatment, a Kansas teacher wins compensation for a suspension incurred for refusing to use a transgender student’s correct name and pronouns, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro faces jail time on charges