During this terrible time of queer and trans erasure, finding a moment to laugh can be another form of protest - especially when the source of the laughter is from an all trans male comedy troupe called Big Dad Energy. The ringmaster behind the group is actor/astrologer/comedian Marval A Rex, whose conversation about its origins after their recent West Hollywood Pride performance at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theater takes a surprising “star turn” (interviewed by Jason Jenn).

And in NewsWrap: Hungarians turn out by the hundreds of thousands in defiance of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to march in Budapest’s LGBTQ Pride Parade, 75 men and a woman are arrested in a raid on a “gay party” in Indonesia, India’s transgender women are “legally entitled” to recognition as women according to a landmark ruling issued by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the U.S. Supreme Court allows parents to “shield” their public-school children from LGBTQ-inclusive material that does not align with their faiths, another U.S. top court ruling upholds key provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurance companies to cover the pre-exposure prophylaxis medication known as PrEP, a “guerrilla theatre” Pride Month concert organized by queer-supportive U.S. senators reoccupies the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and Nathalie Munoz (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the June 30, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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