This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

Brian DeShazor talks with author Josh Trujillo about The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben- Washington’s Gay General. The rainbow rewinds to James Baldwin and Randy Shilts and in the news, a deadly vehicle attack targets Berlin’s Christopher Street Day celebration, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal blocks recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere in the European Union, Pennsylvania repeals HIV-specific criminal penalties, and a British court allows a controversial puberty-blocker study to proceed. Finally, the U.S. State Department apologizes for displaying an AI-generated map that scrambled Africa’s geography, while the consequences of Trump administration cuts to global HIV programs continue to mount.

Featured speakers: Alfonso Pantisano, Winnie Byanyima, Dr. Atul Gawande, James Baldwin, Randy Shilts, Josh Trujillo

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, rainbow rewind written by Sheri Lunn and Brian DeShazor, feature producer Brian DeShazor, NewsWrap reporters Joe Boehnlein, Michael LeBeau music: Kronos ft. Nathalie Merchant and Kim Wilson

We mark our 2000th episode. Pete Hegseth gets trolled by U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, The Rainbow Rewinds to Judy Grahn, Vito Russo and Reverend Troy Perry and Lucia Chappelle gives advice from a 2000 episode old lesbian. In newswrap France's new rights watchdog is no friend to queer people or women, while the trans position of the U.K.'s new government is questionable and a gay German politician falls to surrogacy hypocrisy. In the U.S., the House declines to make Trump's transgender military ban permanent, but advances other anti-trans measures, and a Seattle judge keeps a historic LGBTQ+ beach nude, but curbs the bad behavior.

Featured speakers: Major Erica Vandal, Jesse Miranda, Pete Hegseth, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, Judy Grahn, Vito Russo, Rev. Troy Perry, Lucia Chappelle

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producers, Lucia Chappellle, NewsWrap reporters Ret and Melanie Keller music: Stan Freberg, Ludwig Goransson and Kim Wilson

Lambda Legal’s non-binary and transgender rights project director Sasha Buchert helped fashion Becky Pepper-Jackson’s Title IX and Equal Protection arguments for the U.S. Supreme Court. She explains how the case evolved from the legislative process to litigation, the broader political environment that led to the recent trans sports bans, and how this ruling will impact the future (interviewed by Jeb Backe).

And in NewsWrap: LGBTQ+ foster children in the U.S. won’t be protected from unsupportive families anymore, trans-positive soccer star Megan Rapinoe cries foul after being ejected from a World Cup ad, there’s a flag on a play by Reform UK, a lesbian couple in Botswana is fighting for marriage equality and Madison Square Garden is WIRED for “risky” guests (reported this week by Chris Wilson and Joe Boehnlein).

Featured Speakers: Botswana marriage equality plaintiff Bonolo Selelo, Lambda Legal’s Sasha Buchert.

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, News writer/Feature producer Jeb Backe, NewsWrap reporters Chris Wilson and Joe Boehnlein. Music: Against Me! and Kim Wilson

All this on the July 20, 2026 Edition of This Way Out!

Lambda Legal’s non-binary and transgender rights project director Sasha Buchert helped fashion Becky Pepper-Jackson’s Title IX and Equal Protection arguments for the U.S. Supreme Court. She explains how the case evolved from the legislative process to litigation, the broader political environment that led to the recent trans sports bans, and how this ruling will impact the future (interviewed by Jeb Backe).

And in NewsWrap: LGBTQ+ foster children in the U.S. won’t be protected from unsupportive families anymore, trans-positive soccer star Megan Rapinoe cries foul after being ejected from a World Cup ad, there’s a flag on a play by Reform UK, a lesbian couple in Botswana is fighting for marriage equality and Madison Square Garden is WIRED for “risky” guests (reported this week by Chris Wilson and Joe Boehnlein).

Featured Speakers: Botswana marriage equality plaintiff Bonolo Selelo, Lambda Legal’s Sasha Buchert.

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, News writer/Feature producer Jeb Backe, NewsWrap reporters Chris Wilson and Joe Boehnlein. Music: Against Me! and Kim Wilson

Hear amazing tales of the binary-defying civil rights activist, labor organizer, lawyer, author and first Black woman Episcopal priest the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. In the news, marriage equality is outlawed in Senegal, there’s no port for the gay Scarlet Lady cruise ship in Egypt either, and New Hampshire and California adopt different attitudes about transgender youth while Trans and Intersex Pride Marchers in Dublin target the One Percent.

Featured speakers: Trans and Intersex Pride Co-Founder Ollie Bell, Sara Canning, Associate Professor of History at Antioch College Dr. Kevin McGruder, Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary Dr. Sarah Azaransky, Cathedral of St. John the Divine Rev. Canon Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, News writer Jeb Backe, NewsWrap reporters Marcos Najera and Tanya Kane-Parry Music: Rev. Delores Berry and Kim Wilson

Special thanks to the American LGBTQ+ Museum and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for their permission to air the Celebration of Pauli Murray.

We celebrate the history and continuing activism of Dyke Marches across the U.S. with Professor Sara Angevine and voices from the streets of Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. In the news, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against transgender student athletes, a Russian court convicts the staff of an "extremist" drag club, Republicans erase Pride Month from military recognition, and Turkish authorities arrest Pride demonstrators while blocking a cruise ship's drag performance. And the Rainbow Rewind honors gay military pioneer Lt. Leonard Matlovich

Featured speakers: Camilla B. Taylor, Professor Sara Angevine

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Abigail DeRoberts, NewsWrap reporters Ava Davis and Michael Lebeau music: Isis and Kim Wilson

This week on This Way Out: Emma Schulman takes to the LAPRIDE streets to hear what folks have to say about PRIDE, plus, a Rainbow Rewind featuring playwright, activist, Larry Kramer and in the news, the Supreme Courts of Nepal and Eswatini are ordering marriage equality and queer civil rights; don’t bet on trans protections in the U.K.’s game of Prime Minister roulette, and don’t bet on the New York Times for covering trans news; say goodbye to U.S.-funded AIDS care via PEPFAR in South Africa, but say hello to animal world DEI in the documentary Second Nature.

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Emma Schulman, NewsWrap reporters Marcos Najera and Ret, music: Purrfect the way you are by Tatsu & Lyov, Two, Three, Fall by Mice Parade from Freemusicarchive License by CC BY-NC-ND, and Kim Wilson

This week on This Way Out: in the second installment of our special Pride Month collaboration with Los Angeles' Get Lit – Words Ignite, young poets respond to the voices of James Baldwin and Urvashi Vaid with original spoken-word performances that bridge generations of LGBTQ history, literature, and activism.

Plus, a Rainbow Rewind featuring Patricia Nell Warren and Harvey Fierstein, and in Newswrap: the Netherlands' ban on conversion therapy, a Trump administration lawsuit targeting the world's leading transgender health organization, cuts to LGBTQ veterans' health programs, Niger's expanding crackdown on LGBTQ people, and an openly gay referee making FIFA World Cup history.

Featured speakers:, James Baldwin, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Urvashi Vaid, Allison Leiva-Reyes and Alina Sadibekova

Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Brian DeShazor, NewsWrap reporters, Ava Davis and Nico Raquel, music by Raye and Kim Wilson

In a special Pride Month feature produced by Brian DeShazor, young poets from Los Angeles-based Get Lit – Words Ignite respond to the words of LGBTQ trailblazers across generations. After listening to archival recordings by James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Quentin Crisp, the poets James Mondares, Candi aka Vonne, and Samantha Rios created original spoken-word pieces inspired by those voices and their enduring messages.

The result is a moving intergenerational conversation that connects LGBTQ history, literature, and activism with the experiences of today's emerging writers, demonstrating how the power of queer storytelling continues to inspire new generations.

This week on This Way Out, NewsWrap reports on growing concerns over proposed cuts to LGBTQ+ health research and federal grant programs under a new Trump administration plan. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, follow protests by transgender rights activists in the United Kingdom over new public-facility restrictions, report on a neo-Nazi disruption of Pride events in Athens, Georgia, and celebrate Broadway history as Qween Jean becomes the first openly transgender Tony Award winner.

Featured speakers: Zohran Mamdani, Bruce Villanch, Brian Sonia-Wallace, James Baldwin, James Mondares, Audre Lorde, Candi aka Vonne, Quentin Crisp Samantha Rios

Credits: Associate Producer/Lucia Chappelle, Producer/Host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Brian DeShazor, NewsWrap reporters, Joe Boehnlein and Melanie Keller, music by Raye and Kim Wilson.

This Way Out celebrates Pride Month with a special look at the power of visibility, community, and resistance.

Then, This Way Out visits Los Angeles' historic Founders Metropolitan Community Church for the unveiling of the Rainbow Liberation Steps, a permanent public art installation honoring LGBTQ+ freedom and liberation. The dedication ceremony features community leaders, activists, faith leaders, and members of the congregation reflecting on the continuing struggle for equality and inclusion.

NewsWrap reports on Colorado's successful effort to restore its ban on conversion therapy, a federal appeals court ruling blocking the Trump administration's transgender military ban, Pride activists marching forward in Hungary despite government opposition, and Ghana's parliament approving a sweeping anti-LGBTQ law.

Finally, This Way Out takes to the streets of Los Angeles to ask a timely question: What would you say to someone who believes Pride is no longer relevant? The answers reveal why Pride continues to matter for LGBTQ+ people and their allies around the world.

Featured speakers: Nithya Raman, Phillip Ray De Blieck, Gerald Garth, Lucia Chappelle

Credits: Associate Producer/Lucia Chappelle, Producer/Host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Brian DeShazor and Lucia Chappelle, NewsWrap reporters, Tanya Kane-Parry and Michael Taylor Gray, music by Maggie Szabo and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, the Porland Lesbian Choir and Kim Wilson

All this on the June 8, 2026 Edition of This Way Out!