This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard, we rebroadcast our coverage of the 1998 hate crime that sparked an international outcry. The report features University of Wyoming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Association President Jim Osborne, Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer and state Representative Michael Massey, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center Executive Director Lorri Jean, Human Rights Campaign legal counselor Tony Varona, gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, comedian Ellen DeGeneres, Shepard’s friend Walter Bouden and parents Dennis and Judy Shepard, plus music by Melissa Etheridge and Blackberri.

And in NewsWrap: a Mauritian activist wins his Supreme Court challenge to the colonial-era law against sex between men, the organization Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities says the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade still refuses to grant it legal recognition, fanatical Christian bikers try to blockade a peaceful pro-LGBTQ march in Beirut, 14 supposedly queer-positive U.S. schools receive bomb threats within a week of being targeted by the far-right Libs of TikTok account, Tennessee gets its first out transgender elected official as Olivia Hill is sworn in as a member of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, black lesbian Laphonza Butler takes the seat of the late California Senator Diane Feinstein, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Ava Davis and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the October 9, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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Skott Freedman’s 2003 anthology “Bi the People” boosted the audibility of bisexual musicians, including Jill Sobule and Leigh Fischer (interviewed by JD Doyle).

Irish folksinger Brian Kennedy turned being outed into an opportunity to be a model of transparency (interviewed by John Frame).

And in NewsWrap: Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” law sparks vigilante violence, cross-dressing Iraqi social media star Noor BM is shot dead, the U.S. Congress ignores Boebert’s pointless anti-trans bile, Trump’s desperate Republican rivals play anti-trans cards, an appeals court unblocks Kentucky and Tennessee pediatric gender-affirming healthcare bans, a Florida school district won’t let students “read gay,” and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Allan Tijamo and Elena Botkin-Levy (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the October 2, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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Twenty years ago this month, the marriage equality storyline in Canada was poised at a frustrating turning point (reported by Heather Kitching).

The world’s largest folk festival has for two decades included queer events, including Gay Sunday (reported by Agnes Kruger).

And in NewsWrap: U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the U.N. General Assembly on the Universal Convention on Human Rights, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes an embarrassing mistake confusing U.N. development summit banners with LGBTQ rainbow flags, “The Nigerian 69” who were arrested for a “same-sex wedding” are released on bail, a Hong Kong court orders the legal recognition of both lesbian moms on their baby’s birth certificate, Kim Kyu-jin is hailed as South Korea’s first open lesbian to give birth, the U.S. military announces an initiative to upgrade the status of queer service members who were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. federal judge who tried to ban the abortion pill launches an unhinged attack on family-friendly drag shows, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Maarcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the September 25, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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Today we have “don’t say gay,” but in the late 1980s the British coined the expression “no promo homo” for Section 28, a law that restricted discussion of LGBTQ issues — even beyond the classroom! The 15-year struggle to bring it down ended on September 18, 2003.

Actor JM J (Jim) Bullock talks about life as the voice of “Queer Duck.”

And in NewsWrap: Canada’s Conservative Party pledges to ban pediatric transgender healthcare if they regain control of the federal government, hundreds march in Belgrade Pride despite Serbian church and government opposition, Andorra’s Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora says he’s never been in the closet, California’s Democratic Party-controlled legislature votes to penalize school boards for banning books, a U.S. federal judge allows enforcement of Florida’s adult gender-affirming healthcare ban, a U.S. judge in Texas extends a hold on a drag show ban, seven are arrested at a sit-in for PEPFAR while U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remains silent, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the September 18, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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The works of Emily Dickinson and Audre Lorde were standard classroom fare twenty years ago, but these days the right wing is clearing them off the shelves. Janet Mason revisited Dickinson and Kathy Sanchez profiled Lorde in September 2003.

And in NewsWrap: a “historic” ruling by Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal calls on the government to legally recognize same-gender couples, a Bulgarian lesbian couple gets the European Court of Human Rights to order a framework for certifying same-gender relationships, the Texas Supreme Court allows the enforcement of the state’s pediatric trans healthcare ban, a Georgia federal judge gets out of the way of another ban on trans healthcare for children, California Attorney General Rob Bonta wins a temporary injunction against the Chino Valley Unified School District’s new trans-outing policy, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the September 11, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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LGBTQA+ representation was proud and loud when activists returned to the Lincoln Memorial on August 26th for the 60th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Highlights include Hope Giselle (National Black Justice Coalition), Kierra Johnson (National LGBTQ Task Force), Stacey Stevenson (Family Equality), Sheila Loretta Emerson (P-FLAG/Philadelphia) and Peppermint (GLAAD).

And in NewsWrap: nearly 70 people arrested in an Ekpan, Nigeria raid will be prosecuted for “conducting and attending a same-sex wedding ceremony,” two Ugandan men face charges of “aggravated homosexuality” under the Anti-Homosexuality Act, Global Affairs Canada warns LGBTQ citizens about travel to the United States, hundreds protest Saskatchewan order for students to get parental permission to change their preferred name or pronouns, California’s Attorney General sues school district for anti-trans policies, a Maryland judge rejects religious parents’ bid to pull their children from classes featuring LGBTQ-related storybooks, a temporary restraining order blocks a Texas drag performance ban, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Kalyn Hardman and Wenzel Jones (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the September 4, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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The queer cross-country journals of “This Way Out” veteran producer JD Doyle capture a slice of pre-AIDS gay male culture in the U.S. (interviewed by Brian DeShazor).

And in NewsWrap: Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court rules that purveyors of anti-queer hate speech should face significant jail time, Germany’s Cabinet proposes a “Self-Determination Act” to help trans and non-binary people officially change their name and gender on government documents, a Beirut drag show is raided and a popular children’s board game is banned in Lebanon, the first four people are arrested under Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” law, Ethiopian police raid suspected queer venues in Addis Ababa, anti-transgender laws in Idaho, Alabama and Georgia receive positive and negative action in federal courts, bi sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson breaks records for the 100-meter title at the World Athletics Championships, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the August 28, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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The anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom comes again when a rightwing political backlash threatens the movement toward true democracy. The situation was similar in 2003, when we reported on the 40th anniversary (featuring Martin Luther King III and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Matt Foreman).

A nationally televised 2008 LGBTQ Democratic Presidential Forum presented by the Human Rights Campaign was one of Barack Obama’s first stops on his way to the White House.

And in NewsWrap: the International Chess Federation at least temporarily prevents transgender women from playing against cisgender women, trans social media influencer Wendy Guevara wins the first season of La Casa De Los Famosos México, vandals attack Berlin’s queer Holocaust monument, Williams Institute researchers find that many Florida parents long to escape the “don’t say gay” Parental Rights in Education Act, Baptist-run Baylor University in Texas prevails with a religious exemption case before the U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, nonpartisan judicial watchdog group Fix the Court files a misconduct petition against the Texas appeals judge who sent corporate lawyers to a certifiably anti-queer legal hate group for “religious liberty training,” and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the August 21, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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Australia’s aboriginal legacy is well-represented by the drag alter ego of Graham Simms, performer and activist Nana Miss Koori (interviewed by Barry McKay).

And in NewsWrap: the World Bank will put a pause on new loans to Uganda because its Anti-Homosexuality Act undermines inclusion and non-discrimination principles, Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission proposes a policy for a “Don’t Say Homosexuality” country, Malaysia outlaws Swiss watchmaker Swatch’s rainbow products, China’s government forbids Taiwanese pop star A-Mei’s “Rainbow” anthem at Beijing concert, Texas federal district judge selects an identified anti-queer hate group to provide “religious liberty training,” the rural Oklahoma town of Prague celebrates its first LGBTQ Pride, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Marcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the August 14, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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Twenty years ago this month, Canada’s top court had just ordered marriage equality, civil unions hit the agenda in New Zealand, the U.S. Congress took up a bill to secure rights for lesbians and gays in bi-national relationships, and the long fight for transgender rights was just getting underway. Reports from August 2003 feature U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Mary Gay Scanlon, New Zealand M.P. Tim Barnett, U.S. President George W. Bush, California State Assemblymember Mark Leno and Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. (Correspondents: Hugh Young, Jim Waters, Cathy Sanchez and Bryan Goebel)

And in NewsWrap: eight followers of an Islamic splinter group are arrested outside a Kuala Lumpur shopping center for an LGBTQ-supportive protest, a U.S. House subcommittee’s hearing on pediatric gender-affirming care turns into a platform for the Republican majority’s bigotry, U.S. federal appeals courts weigh in on trans rights and drag bans, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt executive orders transgender women out of existence, armed neo-Nazis join Gays Against Groomers to disrupt a Wisconsin town’s Pride in the Park, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Michael Taylor-Gray and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the August 7, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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