This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

In more than three decades as a proud transgender activist, Jamison Green has moved from making history to writing it as one of the authors and editors of a new book, “A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States, From Margins to Mainstream” — an important contribution to the discussion during these times of growing intolerance (interviewed by David Hunt). Belgium’s DJ Mistiek brings out “I Became Me,” a new queer anthem honoring the trans experience. And in NewsWrap: the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court rules the laws prohibiting same-gender sex in Saint Lucia unconstitutional, Cuba’s trans people can now legally change their gender on official government documents without the previously required surgery, close to 100,000 people fill the streets of London to stand for “Existence and Resistance” at the Trans+ Pride March, Berlin’s Christopher Street Day Parade brings out thousands of dancing celebrants, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony is questioned by police as a suspected organizer of the banned LGBTQ Pride Parade, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the August 4, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

A special Podcast Extended Edition of Episode 1948 | homo-centric: BANNED Camp. PEN America teams up with queer Los Angeles writers for readings from some of the most targeted works threatened by the rise in book bans (correspondent /participant Jason Jenn interviews organizer Hank Henderson and author Abdi Nazemian). Followed by readings from the event by poet Steven Reigns reading from Maya Angelou's ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ and Jason Jenn reading from ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ by Jesse Andrews.

PEN America (see last week’s This Way Out) teams up with queer Los Angeles writers for readings from some of the most targeted works threatened by the rise in book bans (correspondent/participant Jason Jenn interviews organizer Hank Henderson and author Abdi Nazemian). And in NewsWrap: police in the Malaysian state of Kelantan are investigating themselves after raiding an official HIV/AIDS prevention event they thought was a “gay sex party,” a ruling striking down two statutes that criminalize Hong Kong’s trans people for using sex-segregated public facilities is suspended for a year to allow for the government to respond, a nonbinary U.S. citizen can temporarily stay in Canada after a judge delays their removal proceedings, gay Venezuelan makeup artist Andry José Hernández Romero is back in his hometown while his advocates continue to seek a safe place, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis tries to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn marriage equality in her ongoing appeal of the court-ordered damages from a lawsuit by the gay couple whose marriage license she denied, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Michael LeBeau (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the July 28, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Banned books across the USA have risen dramatically in the past three years. We present here an extended interview with Allison Lee, Managing Director of PEN American Los Angeles from This Way Out Radio Episode 1947 (interviewed by Jason Jenn). This is part one of two reports about banned books inspired by a special reading event called homo-centric: BANNED CAMP that took place during West Hollywood's 2025 WeHo Arts Pride Festival.

Just how far is it from book bans to bonfires? PEN America’s Los Angeles Director Allison Lee tracks the alarming censorship trend across the U.S. and how to stand up against it (interviewed by Jason Jenn). And in NewsWrap: a gay male Ukrainian couple wins recognition as a legal family in a Kyiv district court, the Church of England votes to stop teaching prospective clergy that so-called “homosexual practice” is “especially dishonourable,” Puerto Rico now bans hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for trans patients under the age of 21 and criminalizes medical providers, New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte vetoes two specifically anti-queer measures and three more culture war bills, a federal judge forces the Trump administration to restore 6.2 million dollars in federal funding to nine queer and HIV organizations, lesbian comedian and former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell refuses to be cowed by Trump’s empty threat to revoke her citizenship, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlien and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the July 21, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

While Harvard University faces off with the Trump administration over its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, director Diego Garcia Blum of its John F. Kennedy School of Government Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program counts its first year accomplishments (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: same-gender couples in Hong Kong who have legal recognition from abroad could get health-related spousal rights under a new government proposal, Pope Leo XIV is expected to maintain his predecessor’s policy of allowing priests to bless same-gender couples, more than 100 transgender inmates in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison are missing and presumed dead following Israeli airstrikes, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein vetoes bills targeting the rights of transgender people and DEI programs, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court narrowly votes to affirm the state’s ban on conversion therapy, the erasure of bisexuals follows the disappearance of trans people from the Stonewall National Monument and other queer-related U.S. National Park Service websites, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Nathalie Munoz (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the July 14, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

On the eve of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s vote on whether to renew the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Fabiana Leibl of the International Service for Human Rights, trans activist Best Chitsangupong, Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights senior fellow Jessica Stern; and scholar-activist Ignacio Saiz discuss the significance of the position and its chances of passage (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: as many as 50+ are arrested in Istanbul for defying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ban on Pride events, at least 30 more women are detained during an apparent second wave in China's continuing crackdown on “danmei” gay male erotica, the U.S. Congress sends the slash-and-burn Budget Reconciliation Bill to be signed by President Donald Trump, two U.S. Supreme Court rulings threaten the rights of transgender people in four states, trans school sports bans will be on the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket next session, Australia’s National Men’s Field Hockey Kookaburras Team took to the pitch wearing rainbow socks to support a gay teammate during Pride month, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the July 7, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Extended interview with actor/astrologer/comedian Marval A Rex, the ringmaster of an all trans male comedy troupe called Big Dad Energy. The conversation is an extended version of This Way Out Radio Episode 1944 about Big Dad Energy's origins after their recent West Hollywood Pride performance at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theater - and takes a surprising “star turn” (interviewed by Jason Jenn). Please note there is the use of adult language in both interview and audio excerpts from Marval's on stage routine.

During this terrible time of queer and trans erasure, finding a moment to laugh can be another form of protest - especially when the source of the laughter is from an all trans male comedy troupe called Big Dad Energy. The ringmaster behind the group is actor/astrologer/comedian Marval A Rex, whose conversation about its origins after their recent West Hollywood Pride performance at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theater takes a surprising “star turn” (interviewed by Jason Jenn). And in NewsWrap: Hungarians turn out by the hundreds of thousands in defiance of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to march in Budapest’s LGBTQ Pride Parade, 75 men and a woman are arrested in a raid on a “gay party” in Indonesia, India’s transgender women are “legally entitled” to recognition as women according to a landmark ruling issued by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the U.S. Supreme Court allows parents to “shield” their public-school children from LGBTQ-inclusive material that does not align with their faiths, another U.S. top court ruling upholds key provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurance companies to cover the pre-exposure prophylaxis medication known as PrEP, a “guerrilla theatre” Pride Month concert organized by queer-supportive U.S. senators reoccupies the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and Nathalie Munoz (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the June 30, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on pediatric gender affirming health care with a decision that lowered the bar for establishing its constitutionality and that imperils the rights of young trans patients in the 20 other states with similar laws — all despite the opposition of every major U.S. medical association. Brad Sears, Distinguished Senior Scholar of the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, unpacks the ruling (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: most Australian gay and bisexual men and transgender women who have sex with men will finally be able to donate blood without a three-month-celibacy requirement, funding for suicide prevention programs targeting LGBTQ young people is being eliminated by the Trump administration, a federal judge continues to block the U.S. State Department from denying the option of an “X” gender marker on U.S. passports, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance breaks the record for most blocked accounts on Bluesky in only two days after a transphobic post in support of the Supreme Court’s Skrmetti ruling, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Michael LeBeau (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the June 23, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

In the aftermath of the Elon Musk chainsaw gutting the United States Agency for International Development, LGBTQ+ people around the world were robbed of more than a hundred programs geared to promote their health, safety and human rights. UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute senior fellow and director of international programs Ari Shaw worries that the days of U.S. leadership on global queer rights are over (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: the Czech Republic’s sterilization pre-requisite for a transgender or nonbinary person seeking to change their legal gender is condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, researchers find young bisexual women leading the way in the surging numbers of Australians over the age of 15 who openly identify as “L-G-B-plus,” World Pride 2025 climaxes with a joyous parade and a defiant International March on Washington for Freedom, Tel Aviv’s LGBTQ Pride is canceled in expectation of retaliation for Israel’s airstrikes against Iran, 52 U.S. Congressional Democrats demand proof of life for renditioned gay Venezuelan make-up artist Andry José Hernández Romero, U.S. Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz Jones becomes the first out LGBTQ candidate to be elected Mayor of San Antonio, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Michael Taylor Gray and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the June 16, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The U.S. Navy launched a fleet replenishment oiler in honor of assassinated San Francisco Supervisor and Navy vet Harvey Milk in 2021, but a new administration finds the gay icon not “reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities” (produced by Lucia Chappelle). And in NewsWrap: a heterosexual Ohio woman’s U.S. Supreme Court workplace discrimination win is based on the double-standard for evidence that members of majority groups need to provide rather than the merits of her case, Puerto Rico’s nonbinary and gender non-conforming people should be able to revise their birth certificates with an “X” gender marker according to the U.S. territory’s Supreme Court, anti-LGBTQ Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would ban school Gay-Straight Alliance advocacy groups, groundbreaking gay author Edmund White dies at the age of 85, the city of Missoula, Montana defies the state government by adopting the banned Pride flag as its official flag, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by David Hunt and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the June 9, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The rich history of LGBTQ+ eateries and the role they’ve played in encouraging community is served up by Erik Piepenburg in his new book, “Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights and Last Call Disco Fries at America’s Gay Restaurants” (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: more than 70 members of the European Parliament plan to defy the Orbán-backed ban on Budapest Pride, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s guidance based on a recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling allows male cops to strip-search transgender women suspects, a U.S. immigration judge dismisses the asylum case of the illegally remanded gay Venezuelan makeup artist Andry Hernández Romero, a district judge orders that a gay Guatemalan man be returned to the U.S., the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ upcoming “no more drag queens” season features plenty of men in dresses, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Marcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the June 2, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

As Trump-phobia stokes concert homophobia across the U.S. during Pride season, RuPaul's Drag Race favorite Thorgy Thor weaves classical music into her unique performance style (interviewed by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: a lesbian couple in Italy can both be legally recognized as the mothers of a child they conceived via in vitro fertilization thanks to a historic Constitutional Court ruling, Moscow's Tagansky District Court levys heavy fines on tech giant Apple for violating laws banning the “promotion” of “non-traditional sexual relations,” a federal judge tries to sidestep a U.S. Supreme Court decision that bans workplace bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity, Iowa’s ban on the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools up to the sixth grade can only be applied to mandatory classroom education, U.S. President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will take gender-affirming healthcare from thousands of transgender people, a new monument to honor the queer victims of the Holocaust in the Paris public gardens near Bastille Plaza, a 55-by-35-foot transgender pride flag was unfurled on the famed El Capitan site in California’s Yosemite National Park, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by David Hunt and Nathalie Munoz (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the May 26, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

The Texas state House held a hearing on a bill that LGBTQ+ activists say would undermine education by eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion policies from public schools. State Representative Ron Reynolds, Equality Texas Communications Director Johnathan Gooch, Mandy Garcia of Texas AFT and a representative of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) have a plan of action (reported by Lucia Chappelle). Where is Andry Hernandez Romero? U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) is demanding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provide proof that the gay Venezuelan make-up artist abducted to a prison in El Salvador is still alive (Lucia Chappelle reports). And in NewsWrap: a nonbinary Brazilian can identify as gender neutral on their official government documents thanks to a historic decision by the Superior Court of Justice, the organizers of Pride in London, Birmingham Pride, Brighton Pride and Manchester Pride cite the lack of sufficient support for transgender people as the reason for banning political parties from participating in this year’s parades, mass discharges of transgender service members from the U.S. armed forces are underway, Tennessee’s transgender teachers and students can now be deadnamed and have their preferred pronouns ignored by school officials with no recourse, Florida’s ban on drag shows is struck down by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the May 19, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

This Way Out’s own collection of programs dating back to 1988 is already becoming a valuable tool for LGBTQ+ researchers and educators, even as the extensive process of data sorting and cataloging is getting underway. Project lead and Overnight Productions (Inc,) CEO Brian DeShazor discusses the next steps and the importance of preserving original materials with University of North Texas queer media professor Dr. Tanya D. Zuk. And in NewsWrap: most queer Catholic groups greet Pope Leo XIV with cautious optimism, the U.S. Supreme Court lifts injunctions to allow the Trump administration’s wholesale discharge of transgender service members to go forward, Governor Janet Mills stops the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s threats to de-fund school lunches due to Maine’s inclusion of trans student athletes, Pennsylvania State Police and other officers storm Pittsburgh’s venerable P Town bar during a star-studded drag show for a “compliance check,” and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the May 12, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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

Oppressive governments like the Trump administration may try to erase queer identities and histories, but California Naturalist and educator Jason “Journeyman’s” 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! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

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

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 7, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/