World Wide Wave

On Easter Sunday 40 years ago, three friends donned Nun’s habits that they happened to have around and walked through the streets of San Francisco.  So began an international order of men dressed as Nuns, dedicated to activism and supporting the LGBTI community.  They are of course the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

* What role have the Sisters played in activism around the globe?

* How has the Catholic Church reacted to the nuns over the years?

* What does it take to actually join this very special order of nuns?

To help us share in the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, we spoke with Melissa Wilcox, Professor in Religious Studies at University of California Riverside and author of the book Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody.

Broadcast: April 23, 2019

Listen to the week’s World Wide Wrap where we round up all that was in international LGBTIQ+ news for the week ending 28 April 2019.

World Wide Waves aims to promote awareness of international LGBT issues. Our program provides in-depth analysis and interviews. We focus on the challenges facing the global LGBT community as well as some of our successes.

We take pride in interviewing a wide range of international LGBT people and supporters including politicians, activists, academics, parents, authors, students, professionals and more.

We have previously looked at the Commonwealth where more than half of its member states still criminalise homosexuality.  In fact, there is a large cluster of former British outposts in the Pacific – right on Australia’s doorstep – that still retain these colonial-era laws.  Here we explore one of our Pacific neighbours – the Cook Islands.

* How do you build an LGBTI community when your sparse population is spread across many islands?

* Has Australia and New Zealand’s passage of marriage equality laws helped or hindered LGBTI rights in Cook Islands?

* What difference has training in dealing with politicians made to their efforts to decriminalise homosexuality?

Giving us all a huge dose of inspiration, we spoke with Tatryanna Eden LaCroix from Te-TiareAssociation – the only LGBTI community group in the Cook Islands (www.tetiareassociation.com)

Broadcast: April 16, 2019

Listen to the week’s World Wide Wrap where we round up all that was in international LGBTIQ+ news for the week ending 21 April 2019.

World Wide Waves aims to promote awareness of international LGBT issues. Our program provides in-depth analysis and interviews. We focus on the challenges facing the global LGBT community as well as some of our successes.

We take pride in interviewing a wide range of international LGBT people and supporters including politicians, activists, academics, parents, authors, students, professionals and more.

There has been a worldwide outcry against the harsh anti-gay laws introduced in Brunei.  Like Australia, Brunei is a member of the Commonwealth. More than half of the Commonwealth’s member states still criminalise homosexuality…and there seems to be limited signs of change.

* Why have so many Commonwealth countries retained the historic sodomy laws despite now being largely independent of the mother country?

* What power does the Commonwealth Charter have over its members?

* What is Australia’s role in bringing change to the Commonwealth?

To gaze royally across the Empire, we were joined by Professor Paula Gerber from Monash University Law Faculty, the Carstan Centre for Human Rights and President of Kaleidoscope Australia Human Rights Foundation (www.kaleidoscopeaustralia.com).

Broadcast: April 9, 2019

Listen to the week’s World Wide Wrap where we round up all that was in international LGBTIQ+ news for the week ending 14 April 2019.

World Wide Waves aims to promote awareness of international LGBT issues. Our program provides in-depth analysis and interviews. We focus on the challenges facing the global LGBT community as well as some of our successes.

We take pride in interviewing a wide range of international LGBT people and supporters including politicians, activists, academics, parents, authors, students, professionals and more.

Horrific laws passed quietly this past week have seen celebrities like Elton John and George Clooney calling for boycotts.  They are so angry as the laws allow for LGBT people to be stoned to death under Sharia Law.  It is a place you’ve likely heard of but can’t quite place. It is ruled by a Sultan and LGBTIQ rights are virtually unheard of.  We tip-toe secretly into the hidden world of gay life in Brunei.

* How does one remain true to themselves whilst observing their religion?

* What spurred an Aussie gay man to champion LGBTI rights in Brunei?

* How does Brunei respond to those who ruffle establishment feathers?

Under a cloak of secrecy, we spoke with Khairul (name changed to protect privacy) – a young Muslim gay man living in Brunei and Matthew Woolfe – an Australian who started The Brunei Project to support LGBTI people in Brunei.

Broadcast: April 2, 2019

Listen to the week’s World Wide Wrap where we round up all that was in international LGBTIQ+ news for the week ending 7 April 2019.

World Wide Waves aims to promote awareness of international LGBT issues. Our program provides in-depth analysis and interviews. We focus on the challenges facing the global LGBT community as well as some of our successes.

We take pride in interviewing a wide range of international LGBT people and supporters including politicians, activists, academics, parents, authors, students, professionals and more.

It’s fair to say that Trans people are often burdened in their daily lives with more challenges that the average person.  Sometimes transphobia, sometimes exclusion, or even violence.  But when that awful power is displayed from the highest office of President Donald Trump, it changes lives on a massive scale.  In this case, the President tweeted that Trans people would be excluded from the U.S. military.

* How are Trans men and Trans women treated differently in the military?

* After finally over-turning the ban on Trans service people under President Obama, what was the reaction to President Trump’s plan to ban Trans people again?

* What are the risks of being openly Trans in the U.S. military?

To bring real life-stories of Trans people from pre-Trump to current day America, we were joined by Gabriel Silverman & Fiona Dawson, Directors of the documentary TransMilitary (www.transmilitary.org).

Broadcast: March 26, 2019

Listen to the week’s World Wide Wrap where we round up all that was in international LGBTIQ+ news for the week ending 31 March 2019.

World Wide Waves aims to promote awareness of international LGBT issues. Our program provides in-depth analysis and interviews. We focus on the challenges facing the global LGBT community as well as some of our successes.

We take pride in interviewing a wide range of international LGBT people and supporters including politicians, activists, academics, parents, authors, students, professionals and more.