Don’t you wish Gore Vidal were here? The famed — and infamous — gay author, playwright, candidate and essayist who scandalized the literary world and enraged the political world died on July 31, 2012. To honor the anniversary of his passing, and to acknowledge his indelible mark on U.S. history, we have excerpts from a 2008 interview with Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman.
 
Ready and willing to answer all questions, or “It’s not my job to educate you”? OutCasting Overtime queer youth commentator Declan sees both sides of the issue of being the go-to “expert” on LGBTQ+ issues for friends and family, but sometimes would like to just have dinner (produced by Marc Sophos).

And in NewsWrap: Sexual Minorities Uganda is shut down despite its pending appeal for NGO status, Florida denies gender-affirming care coverage under Medicaid, an eight-year-old trans girl’s family challenges Tennessee’s “bathroom bill,” hundreds march through Montreal to celebrate Pride after the official parade is abruptly cancelled, a Louisiana orphan’s pre-school blocks her advance to kindergarten when she’s adopted by her married lesbian aunt, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the August 15, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

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Remembering Gore Vidal & Don’t Ask Me!

Once upon a time a Drag Queen Story Hour meant family fun, not a potentially violent protest. The U.S. national organization’s Executive Director Jonathan Hamilt tells the heartwarming tale of how it all began and what it’s mission really is (interviewed by KOOP-Austin’s Liz Ross).

Radclyffe Hall’s “The Well of Loneliness” is known for being depressing, but another look at the lesbian classic of 1928 discovers new meaning (a 2002 essay by Queer Life and Literature correspondent Janet Mason).

And in NewsWrap: Singapore will repeal its ban on male gay sex while maintaining marriage inequality, Hong Kong appeals court refuses to recognize an activist’s U.S. marriage to his husband, Vietnam’s government declares that being LGBTQ is not a “disease,” New Zealand offers formal apologies to conversion therapy survivors, Texas Christian church pays the price for its homophobic “Hamilton,” and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and MR Raquel (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the August 29, 2022 edition of This Way Out!

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Drag Story Hour Story & The Deeper “Well”

The celebration is on for World Pride in Sydney, Australia starting February 12th, but ACON’s Director of HIV and Sexual Health Matt Vaughan advises getting vaccinated for monkeypox and COVID-19 well before the event (interviewed by Barry McKay).

The diversity-challenged Hollywood Foreign Press Association put its queer foot forward for the 80th Golden Globes, honoring gay television producer Ryan Murphy with the Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award.

And in NewsWrap: Delhi’s first Pride Parade after a three-year COVID shut down supports current marriage equality cases in India’s Supreme Court, authorities in Algeria clamp down on anything featuring rainbow colors, Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated legislature blocks a ban on conversion therapy, a U.S. federal judge finds West Virginia’s trans sports ban constitutional, a Christian “Karen” douses a gay couple with holy water in front of a Mexican church, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Elena Botkin-Levy and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the January 16, 2023 edition of This Way Out!

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World Pride Vax Alert!

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) goes viral by exposing U.S. House Republicans’ gender hypocrisy while questioning National Women’s Law Center president and CEO Fatima Goss Graves in a subcommittee hearing.

Trans jazz band leader Billy Tipton’s career spanned from the 1930s to the 70s, and the music continues with The Tiptons Sax Quartet (produced by Steve Sims).

And in NewsWrap: the European Court of Human Rights finds that Poland’s refusal to legally recognize lesbian and gay couples violates the European Convention on Human Rights, the United States Supreme Court rejects an appeal to review Washington state legislation that bans “conversion therapy” for minors, loopholes in a proposed conversion therapy ban in the Australian state of Tasmania get a “thumbs down” from activists, Argentina’s newly inaugurated right-wing President Javier Milei pulls the plug on the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, police in Yekateringburg raid a popular queer venue while Russian censors coral “My Little Pony," plus Pope Francis okays same-gender blessings and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

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

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AOC Fights Transphobia & Tipton Double-Time

Award-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman talk about finding the stories of those who were swept up when Germany went from being a homosexual haven to a horrific Nazi hell (interviewed by Steve Pride). Contains material some listeners may find disturbing.

Passionate voices filled the Nebraska Capitol building over a second attempt to sideline trans student athletes, and most persuasive argument against the ban came from married gay dad and state Senator John Fredrickson.

And in NewsWrap: England’s National Health Service calls the medical evidence supporting pediatric gender-affirming healthcare “remarkably weak” in The Cass Review, Uganda activists will appeal the Constitutional Court’s ruling that upheld the “Anti-Homosexuality Act” to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court allows Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans young people to take effect, West Virginia’s law excluding transgender athletes from competing in school sports is struck down by a federal appeals court, bills to restrict the rights of transgender people are vetoed by the governors of Kansas and Arizona, the cartoon character Bluey has a friend with two mommies, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the April 22, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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Paragraph 175 — The Movie

Forty-five years ago the shocking verdict in the murder of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and ally Mayor George Moscone sent the queer community and its journalists into the streets, where they were destined for a historic confrontation with police.

Dr. Tanya D. Zuk of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas reflects on the significance of White Night.

And in NewsWrap: the death of transgender Argentinian Sofia Fernández in police custody originally called a suicide is now a case of murder by asphyxiation with 10 officers under arrest, the U.S. Supreme Court declines the case of religious parents who object to their Maryland school district’s support for trans and gender-nonconforming students, Colorado’s Republican Party accuses Democrats of attempting “to turn more kids trans” and urges parents to take their children out of public school, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is expected to sign a “don’t say gay” bill, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signs a ban on banning books for ideological reasons, Asher HaVon becomes the first queer winner on "The Voice,” and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Kalyn Hardman and Marco Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the May 27, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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San Francisco’s White Night Uprising

Author and journalist Nico Lang’s new book “American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era” tells the stories of eight trans and nonbinary teenagers from across the United States, highlighting their triumphs and struggles (interviewed by Daniel Huecias).

And in NewsWrap: about one in 20 Kiwis came out in New Zealand’s first Census to count LGBTQIA+ people, the Toyota Motor Corporation is latest company in the U.S. backpedaling on its DEI policies and withdrawing support from queer events, Colorado rightwing Christian baker Jack Phillips loses a state Supreme Court appeal in another Masterpiece Cakeshop anti-LGBTQ bias lawsuit, Arkansas Christian nationalist Republican politician Jason Rupert says the queer movement is “of the devil,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris touts her pro-queer credentials and warns about the tenuous status of LGBTQ rights on a presidential campaign visit with Howard Stern, and more international LGBTQ news reported  by John Dyer V and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the October 14, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: Beginning in October, 2024, the weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information,  contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

Nico Lang's "American Teenager"

How does your first time at a gay bar compare with the experiences of others? Come cruising with curator Art Smith through his growing online collection of those stories — and you can add yours to thousands of others, like the one told by Daniel M. Jaffe (produced by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: going abroad to have a surrogacy baby is now a crime in Italy, Moscow police raid two downtown clubs popular with the queer community and arrest 50 on Coming Out Day, a groundbreaking New South Wales law establishes rights for transgender people and strengthens existing protections for sexual minority communities, the dishonorable discharges of 820 U.S. veterans kicked out of the military for being queer under Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell and other policies are being upgraded, Dr. May Lau of Dallas, Texas is being sued by anti-queer state Attorney General Ken Paxton for providing hormones to her pediatric transgender patients, U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris handily handles heckler, and more international LGBTQ news reported  by Joe Boehnlein and Michael LeBeau (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the October 21, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: Beginning in October, 2024, the weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information,  contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

GayBarchives = Gay + Bar + Archives

There’s a reason why October is LGBTQ History Month. The community historically laid claim to it with a 1979 event in the U.S. capitol. Just ten years after Stonewall and long before the age of acronyms, the massive October 1979 march and rally for LGBTQ rights surpassed all expectations — for good and for ill. Excerpts from an hour-long radio documentary that you can stream at thiswayout.org.

And in NewsWrap: Poland’s coalition government introduces civil unions legislation, Saskatchewan’s Parliament votes to require parental consent “when a student requests that their preferred name, gender identity, and/or gender expression to be used” at school, 97 percent of transgender and nonbinary young people receiving gender-affirming health care in a JAMA Pediatrics study are “highly satisfied,” U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign ads deride Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ support for transgender rights, and more international LGBTQ news reported  by Melanie Keller and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the October 28, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights Radio Documentary

This “audio scrapbook” of the first national LGBT march and rally in the U.S. capital on October 14, 1979, produced by “This Way Out” Coordinating Producer Greg Gordon and Associate Producer Lucia Chappelle, illuminates the problems and the passion of the first demonstration of its kind. As rich with the music and culture of the period as it is with the politics, the hour traces the event from the initial planning conference and some activists’ heartfelt and sometimes humorous cross-country trip to D.C. on a “Freedom Train” to the big day itself, and its coverage (or lack thereof) in the conventional media.

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Produced by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle. 

Music by Blue Dot Sessions (Jazzberry).

The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights Radio Documentary in FULL

The killer who stalked Los Angeles gay bars in the early 80s slipped away twice (for reasons explained by Deputy D.A. Dino Fulgoni), but investigating officer Mike Thies wouldn’t give up. Years later, lesbian policy manager Madeline Brancel rediscovered the life of her gay great-uncle, who was one of the victims (Part 2 of 2, produced by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: protections for women and the rights of queer people are among the stumbling blocks to finalizing a deal at the U.N.’s COP29 climate conference, the Parliament of Vanuatu amends its Marriage Act to bans marriage equality, a three-judge panel of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifts the barrier on implementing Indiana’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, black gay actor Jussie Smollett’s 2019 conviction for staging a racist and anti-queer hate crime attack on himself is overturned on a technicality, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appeases South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace with a policy to restrict use of sex-segregated Capitol facilities based only on birth certificate gender, encouraging words for first-time voters from comedian Wanda Sykes, and more international LGBTQ news reported  by Ava David and Michael Taylor Gray (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the November 25, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

Manhunt: Queers and Cops Catch a Killer (Part 2)

Some of the people making LGBTQ news in 2024 including Taiwan’s LGBTQ-supportive incoming president Lai Ching-te, trans-supportive Missouri Rabbi Daniel Bogard, anti-LGBTQ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Philadelphia’s Guinness World Record-breaking Drag Queen Story Time, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s pro-insurrectionist wife Martha Ann, Thailand’s pro-marriage equality lawmakers, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, predictably hostile national convention Republicans, Democrats nominating Kamala Harris for president, Australian officials on sexual orientation and gender identity questions in the 2026 Census, U.S. Supreme Court hearing on Tennessee’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming health care, and the “queenly” Sir Elton John.

NewsWrap returns next week.

All this on the December 30, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

Speaking of Queer News, 2024

The world’s first Drag Laureate, appointed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, talks about drag culture and onslaught of persecution in the U.S. and around the world. Included are excerpts from Drollinger’s stand-up routine at his trans-friendly nightspot Oasis, and inspirational words from “Sexitude,” the self-affirming dance class he leads. Interviewed by Eric Jansen of “Out in the Bay” (outinthebay.org).

NewsWrap returns next week.

All this on the January 6, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: The weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will soon include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger

Before the dawn of the computer age brought Alan Turing’s work its rightful recognition, before the honors that were to come, we recognized his legacy and his tragic life in November of 1988. There are memorials and movies now, but then his World War II code-breaking triumph and his contributions to the development of of artificial intelligence was all but unknown (produced by Hugh Young and presented by Barry Empson).

And in NewsWrap: Liechtenstein rings in 2025 with its first legal gay and lesbian marriages, Lithuania’s Constitutional Court strikes down its “no promo homo” law, the government of China jails three writers of the online “danmei” genre of gay male romance and sex stories,  travel agent arrested in raids on Moscow gay nightspots found dead in prison, veterans booted from the U.S. military under anti-queer policies win a class action lawsuit against the Defense Department to get their discharges upgraded, , and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the January 13, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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The Enigmatic Life of Alan Turing

Filmmaker-writer-activist Marlon Riggs challenged popular — even progressive — culture when his video documentary depicting Black gay men with their “Tongues Untied” was banned by television stations across the U.S. (interviewed by Joey Flyer and Mike Alcolay). 

Lakhiyia means “home,” and Lakhiyia’s work in revolutionary creativity offers an opportunity for listeners to bring out their own “sermons you wish you’d heard,” like “Duckwalk to Freedom” — and you can participate @lakhiyia on Instagram, HOMEplxce.com and thiswayout.org! (interviewed by Lucia Chappelle). 

And in NewsWrap: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares 2025 “The Year of the Family” that doesn’t include queers, more U.S.-based trans-national companies are obeying in advance to restrict or totally abandon workplace diversity programs, the Boards of Apple and Costco are bucking the anti-DEI trend, U.S. federal protections from bias in education based on sexual orientation or gender identity are struck down by a federal court in Kentucky, a bill that denies federal funding to schools that allow transgender students to compete in girls’ and women’s sports was passed by the U.S. House, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Sarah Montague and Marcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the January 20, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Riggs Untied & Lakhiyia at Home

Memories of the havoc created and the massive response engendered by the recently deceased “orange juice queen” Anita Bryant can inspire a new generation to meet vicious attacks with creative resistance (produced by Brian DeShazor with This Way Out reports preserved in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting).

And in NewsWrap: Ghana’s in-coming President John Mahama announces that the anti-queer “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values” bill is “effectively dead,” a decades-long struggle to bring marriage equality to Thailand ends with wedding bells for more than a thousand gay and lesbian couples who registered their marriages the first day the law took effect, United States President Donald Trump’s inaugural salvo against human and civil rights puts transgender people near the top of his target list, Trump then rescinds President Joe Biden’s support for trans rights in federal agencies and the military, former senator from “Don’t Say Gay” Florida Marco Rubio is sworn in as Secretary of State and bans U.S. embassies from displaying LGBTQ Pride or Black Lives Matter flags, LGBTQ youth crisis hotlines report a dramatic rise in calls since Trump’s election, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C. the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde makes Donald Trump squirm at the traditional inaugural prayer service in the National Cathedral, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Wendy Natividad and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the January 27, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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The Late Anita Bryant’s Lost Cause

Transgender journalist Erin Reed is a respected independent voice with a large following on social media. She met with a group trans people and allies to review the growing list of anti-trans executive orders coming out of the Trump White House (produced by David Hunt).

And in NewsWrap: gender-affirming healthcare for Australia’s trans and gender-diverse young people is under review, U.S. President Donald Trump “has blood on his hands” after a blitz of anti-transgender executive orders, the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal take on Trump’s new ban on service in the U.S. military by transgender and gender-diverse enlistees, the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear LGBTQ-related children’s stories that offend some Maryland parents’ religious beliefs, Minnesota’s Twin Cities Pride receives double the amount of major donor Target Stores’ contribution when it parts ways with the retailer that’s abandoning DEI policies, Costo shareholders reject a right-wing sponsored bid to dump its inclusivity initiatives, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor).

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

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Erin Reed Reports from the Trans Wars

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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The Rise and Fall of MECLA (Pt. 1)

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 Rise and Fall of MECLA (Pt. 2)

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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Paul Outlaw: Baldwin’s American Dream/American Negro

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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Eli Butler’s Transmasculine Joy

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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Signs: What You Say, How You Serve, Who You Marry

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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Beyond Identity: Bettcher’s Transgender Philosophy

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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Thank You For Trans Service, Col. Fram

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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Garcia Checks Greene & Pritzker Preaches to HRC

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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Resisting the Erasure of Pauli Murray

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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Meet Trinidad and Tobago Plaintiff Jason Jones

Decades of LGBTQ+ organizing in Australia are captured in the memoir of Peter De Waal, and the spirit of his book launching at the site of the early movement’s first meetings is captured by Sydney correspondent Barry McKay.

And in NewsWrap: the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court rejects the Scottish government’s argument that transgender women should have full access to women’s services, gender dysphoria is no longer covered by U.S. laws banning discrimination against people with disabilities, a transgender Green Party candidate for the Norwegian parliament believes her country should offer asylum to trans people from the U.S., the parliament dominated by Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán bans LGBTQ Pride events, the authoritarian-leaning administration of would-be U.S. President Donald Trump defunds the museum devoted to Black queer rights activist Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Lucia Chappelle (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the April 21, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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De Waal: “It Wasn’t Dutch Courage”

Oppressive governments like the Trump administration may try to erase queer identities and histories, but California Naturalist and educator Jason “Journeyman” Wise reveals how science is recognizing that the rigid, patriarchal, binary view of the natural world is no match for the true fluid, diverse and interdependent reality (interviewed by Jason Jenn).

And in NewsWrap:  hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets of London and other cities to denounce the U.K. Supreme Court‘s trans-exclusive definition of “woman,” the deceased Roman Catholic Pope Francis changed the tenor of the Church’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, the Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its ban on transgender military service to continue while its constitutionality is being challenged, federal judge enjoins Trump administration order demanding that passport and visa applicants be limited to only male or female gender markers, the Mississippi Supreme Court tells a transgender teenage boy he must wait until he turns 21 to legally change his name to reflect his gender identity, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Nathalie Munoz (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the April 28, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Jason “Journeyman’s” Queer Ecology

Classic appearances by two giants in the world of poetry regardless of gender or orientation, reading from their work and responding to their audience, brought together by the magic of recording tape (!) and the courtesy of the Pacifica Radio Archives (produced by Brian DeShazor).

And in NewsWrap:  transgender former High Court judge Dr. Victoria McCloud will take the U.K. Supreme Court definition of the word “woman” to the European Court of Human Rights, the sports world in the U.K. feels the Supreme Court’s trans-exclusive definition of “woman” and “sex,” a phalanx of congressional Democrats introduce a new version of the Equality Act to add sexual orientation and gender identity to U.S. civil rights law, a case that could determine whether private businesses must offer coverage for PrEP in their employee insurance policies gets a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department releases a 400-page report on pediatric gender dysphoria that recommends conversion therapy under a different name, Poland says goodbye to its last remaining “LGBT Free Zone” when local authorities in the small town of Łańcut vote for repeal, a group of Maryland parents take their demand to opt their children out of LGBT-themed lessons to the U.S. Supreme Court, Jill “I Kissed a Girl” Sobule goes out with a vice presidential satirical song, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the May 5, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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Poetic Duet: Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde

For a quarter of a century, the unfettered voices of LGBT people have been broadcast around the world on "This Way Out."  The award-winning internationally is distributed weekly on over 200 local community radio and online stations around the world (carriage list at thiswayout.org), can be heard via podcast (thiswayout.org and iTunes) and direct satellite (World Radio Network) and is available on CD by subscription.

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