This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

Biracial, binational, queer human right activist Jason Jones began his lawsuit against Trinidad and Tobago’s British colonial ban on same-gender sex in 2017. It was struck down in 2018, but an appeals court recently overturned that ruling and reinstated the law. Jones has one more chance to appeal that decision (interviewed by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: transgender professional player Harriet Haynes sues the English Blackball Pool Federation to let her compete in the appropriate gender category, Redmond Sullivan is no longer a member of the Wagner College Iconic Fencing Club after a cisgender opponent refuses to play her, the Trump administration freezes Maine’s federal education funding because of the state’s trans-inclusive policies, queer-themed titles top the American Library Association’s list of most banned books for the fourth consecutive year, the White House refuses to respond to journalists who use preferred pronouns, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ret and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the April 14, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Even at the National Historic Landmark dedicated to a queer civil rights activist, legal scholar, author and Episcopal priest, the Trump administration is rewriting U.S. history. Executive Director Angela Thorpe Mason of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina is fighting to keep the legacy alive (produced by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: Greek men whether gay or straight won’t be able to access surrogacy services under a law being proposed to parliament, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declares The Elton John AIDS Foundation “undesirable” because of its support for queer rights, a new law goes into effect making “conversion therapy” against the law in New South Wales, anti-queer hate speech is now illegal in the Australian state of Victoria, an injunction puts a law forcing Montana trans people to use sex-segregated facilities according to their birth certificate gender on temporary hold, Utah is the first U.S. state to ban LGBTQ Pride flags at all public schools and government buildings, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the April 7, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Infamous U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) didn’t know what she was getting into when she defamed the drag artist with a doctorate Professor Lil Miss Hot Mess, but gay Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) had the skillful sarcasm to shut her down (Lauren Schmitt reports).

lIllinois Governor JB Pritzker’s fiery address lights up the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Los Angeles dinner with a call to move the movement into the streets.

And in NewsWrap: same-gender sex is outlawed again by Trinidad and Tobago’s Court of Appeal, six European countries warn their transgender and nonbinary citizens to beware of traveling to a Trump-ruled United States, U.S. officials pull the funding for research projects from seven Australian universities as the Trump administration’s war on “wokeness” spreads, a preliminary injunction by District of Columbia Court Judge Ana Reyes continues to halt the Trump administration’s ban on transgender military service, Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the Western District of Washington state adds his injunction to Judge Reyes’ while New Jersey’s District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn saves two more trans airmen from expulsion, Texas A&M University’s embattled “Draggieland” show takes the prize for persistence, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Ret (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the March 31, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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While transgender members of the U.S. military wait on tinder hooks for the courts to rule on President Donald Trump’s order to expel them, Col. Bree Fram of the Space Force refuses to give up her frontline post. The courageous trans soldier, a descendant of a family with a history of valiant service, shares her story. Note: Fram spoke in her personal capacity and her views do not necessarily reflect those of the Defense Department or the United States Government. (interviewed by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: thousands of Hungarians hit the streets of Budapest in protest after Parliament passes a ban on LGBTQ Pride marches, a pause in the Trump administration’s plan to expel all transgender service members remains in effect as the war rages in the courtroom, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is phasing out treatment for gender dysphoria, shareholders of the Walt Disney Company vote against a proposal to eliminate DEI policies, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Sarah Montague and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the March 24, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Transgender philosophy professor Talia Mae Bettcher (“Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy”) confronts a world that oppression has turned upside down, and has some bold suggestions for radical, liberating action to stop trans erasure (interviewed by Tanya Kane-Parry).

And in NewsWrap: the U.S. Department of the Navy puts its plans to expel Navy and Marine Corps personnel with a history of gender dysphoria into high gear, transgender Representative Zooey Zephyr eloquently convinces the Montana state House that drag performances are not inherently sexual, a licensed Colorado counselor’s free speech complaint against the state ban on conversion therapy goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, a new poll commissioned by a queer advocacy group shows that Australians highly oppose transgender people being scapegoated for political purposes, an insult to transgender U.S. Congressmember Sarah McBride and her ally’s defense blow up a House Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by David Hunt and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the March 17, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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In the cycle between LGBTQ+ inclusion and exile, you can see the same signposts in either direction. Whether the queer community is on the rise or whether rights are being extinguished step by step, three bellwether issues are “no promo homo” laws, military service and marriage equality. Current news and archival reports from March 2000 illustrate the point.

And in NewsWrap: Ghana’s horrific anti-queer bill is being reintroduced by ten member of Parliament, Germany’s government is cautioning its transgender and nonbinary citizens about traveling to the United States, Lesotho’s government and leading queer advocacy group deny U.S, President Donald Trump’s accusation that they received $8 million in LGBTQ+ aid, Trump’s State of The Union address goes on to condemn nonexistent transgender mice and “wokeness,” a bill to ban trans women and girls from competing in federally funded school and college female sports fails in the U.S. Senate, more than 11,000 people took over Oxford Street in Sydney’s queer Darlinghurst neighborhood for the Australian city’s 47th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by David Hunt and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the March 10, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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As the Trump administration erases the T and Q in LGBTQ from government websites and publications — even the signage outside the Stonewall National Monument — New York college student Eli Butler seeks to counter the hate of far-right politicians and media outlets by exploring the hidden history and the joy of transmasculine community building (interviewed by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: two young men in the Indonesian province of Aceh are publicly beaten with a cane for having gay sex, British law does not recognize “nonbinary” as a gender according to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal, Iowa’s transgender people are no longer protected from discrimination, a federal judge rules that key provisions of Trump’s executive order targeting federal agencies and federally funded DEI programs in higher education and the private sector are “impermissibly vague,” a second Trump order to move transgender women in U.S. women’s prisons to men’s prisons is blocked, the U.S. Supreme Court lets Tennessee’s virtual ban on drag performances stand, the “reverse discrimination” case of a straight, white, cisgender woman is heard by the U.S. top court, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the March 3, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Sixty years ago this month, days before the assassination of Malcolm X and weeks ahead of “Bloody Sunday” on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the University of Cambridge’s historic debate society hosted a face-off between Black gay author, activist and public intellectual James Baldwin and conservative founder of The National Review William F. Buckley, Jr. Baldwin’s presentation is read by multidisciplinary performing artist Paul Outlaw (produced by Brian DeShazor).

And in NewsWrap: the world’s first out gay imam is killed in broad daylight on the streets of the South African city of Gqeberha, 30 young children and adults are traumatized after the invasion into an Auckland, New Zealand drag king story time by some 50 far-right Christians, a federal judge says the claim that trans pronoun use undermines U.S. troop effectiveness is “frankly ridiculous,” the Republican majority in the Kansas legislature overrides the veto of a ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, Maine Governor Janet Mills and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker stand up to Trump’s anti-trans trolling, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts postpones a WorldPride show featuring the Washington. D.C. Gay Men’s Chorus before Trump takes over, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the February 24, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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The Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles had a brief, shining romance with progressive candidates that began in the 70s, but in the 90s AIDS brought about the demise of the first LGBTQ political action committee in the United States (Part 2 of 2 produced by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: Indonesian authorities arrest 56 men during a raid at a private gathering they label a “gay sex party” in a Jakarta hotel, Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei signs a decree banning gender-affirming healthcare for trans and nonbinary patients under 18, U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban transgender treatments for young patients by decree is blocked by two court rulings, transgender and nonbinary people sue the U.S. State Department to demand it continue offering the “X” gender marker for passports and other federal government documents, hundreds protest the National Park Service’s removal of the “T,” “Q” and plus sign from LGBTQ+ on the official website of the Stonewall National Monument, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Elena Botkin-Levy and Michael Taylor Gray (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the February 17, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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The first major confrontation between queer and conservative powerhouses in the U.S. launched the country’s first official LGBTQ political action committee, the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles. This Way Out’s David Hunt looks for strategy lessons from the early days of “checkbook activism” (Part 1 of 2).

And in NewsWrap: U.S. President Donald Trump bans trans girls and women from competing in female sports at federally funded schools and universities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announces that it will comply with the executive ordered trans sports ban, all references to transgender people are disappearing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the Trump regime has ordered all federal employees to remove the pronouns from their email signatures, seven families with transgender or nonbinary children are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the executive order ban on gender affirming healthcare for patients younger than 19, quite a few openly LGBTQ performers and several outspoken allies took home trophies at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ava Davis and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the February 10, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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