This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

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 (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the December 19, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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 indictments, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Elena Botkin-Levy (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the December 12, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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 for gay and bisexual men, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Allen Tijamo (produced by Brian DeShazor).

This special program on the December 5, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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 healthcare providers, the U.S. joins several other countries in sending diversity messages to Qatar with their World Cup teams, Melbourne United’s Isaac Humphries becomes the second male pro-basketball player to come out, gay Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy dies of cancer, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the November 21, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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 persecuted trans kids, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Allan Tijamo and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the November 14, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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, upcoming U.S. midterm elections feature queer candidates in all 50 states, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Michael Taylor-Gray (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the October 31, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/