"Struck By Lightning" & "Shakesqueer"

Glee’s Chris Colfer is the Executive Producer, Screenwriter and Star of a new movie about a hapless high-schooler zapped before his time (Entertainment Correspondent Steve Pride).

The bawdy bard gets a perfect companion in Shakesqueer: A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare (Queer Life & Literature Commentator Janet Mason).

Plus: we devote a Rainbow Minute to U.K. gay rights pioneer Allan Horsfall (Producers Judd Proctor and Brian Burns, Reader Tom Miller).

And in NewsWrap: adoption laws liberated in Austria and Germany, problems in Puerto Rico for same-gender parents, Australian federal judge sees no bias in hetero-only Marriage Act, "Associated Press" back in style with "husbands" and "wives," and more news reported by Johnnie Torres and Michelle-Marie Gilkeson (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 23, 2013

SUMMARY

Two Mothers Day - The European Court of Human Rights rules for same-gender couple second parent adoption rights in a case brought by an Austrian lesbian couple …

Kinder, Kuche, Queerche - Germany's highest court strengthens adoption rights same-gender couples already have there …

Late Adopters - Puerto Rico's Supreme Court rules that gay and lesbian couples aren't entitled to adoption rights of any kind …

Hot Sauce With That - Mexico's highest court affirms a marriage equality decision justices hinted at in December …

Equality By Extension - opponents of California's Proposition 8 argue in their brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court this week that same-gender couples are entitled to civil marriage in every state of the union, not just California …

Balance or Bias - federal judge in Australia rules that a national law denying civil marriage to same-gender couples is not bias because it discriminates equally against gay men and lesbian women …

Watch Your Language - new "Associated Press" Stylebook entry directs that legally-married gay and lesbian spouses should not generally be referred to in A.P. stories as "husband" or "wife," but revises that guideline after escalating protests from grassroots activists and major LGBT organizations ...

Equal in the Eyes of the Retailer - giant online retailer Amazon had already seen the handwriting on the AP wall, and debuted a commercial with a gendered twist ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.

Steel Mongolians pt. 2 & Bristol's LGBT Past

Mongolian LGBT activists Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel and Anaraa Nyamdorj come out and get even, as Sapphic Nomads Katie Cook and Maggie Young continue their worldwide documentary tour.

On scene in Bristol, UK at the launch of the M Shed museum's LGBT History Month observance, attended by elected mayor George Ferguson and openly gay Lord Mayor Peter Main; Cabinet Member for Children and Young People Clare Campion-Smith; prominent playwright Neil Bartlett; award-winning “out” trans writer Cheryl Morgan; and historian Catherine Littlejohns (Mary Milton, reporting).

And in NewsWrap: activism brings backlash in Belarus, wedding announcements in four U.S. states, Thailand's "Town of Love" rejects marriage-seeking same-gender couples, topless Parisian feminists praise Pope's surprise departure, and more news reported by Gary Shaw and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 16, 2013

SUMMARY

Backlash in Belarus - Police in Minsk and other cities in Belarus raid gay nightspots and hold detainees overnight, while more than 60 LGBT rights activists are summoned to police stations for interrogation about their sex lives …

Party Crashers - 22 men are arrested under the 1951 Bombay Police Act for "public indecency" at a "gay party" in a suburb of Mumbai, India's most populous city …

French Kiss - France's National Assembly, by a comfortable margin, formally passes a bill to open civil marriage and extend adoption rights to same-gender couples …

Wedding Announcements - the Illinois Senate passes a marriage equality bill – next stop the state House – while Oregon United for Marriage launches a signature-gathering campaign to qualify a November 2014 marriage equality ballot measure, but a bill to open civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples dies in the Hawai'i House …

Second Place Win - the Colorado Senate passes a civil unions bill for same-gender couples – which now heads to a predicted win in the House …

Liberty, Union and Discrimination - the North Dakota Senate rejects a bill to ban sexual orientation-based employment and housing discrimination …

Town of Ambivalence - gay and lesbian couples try to get marriage licenses in Thailand's "Town of Love," while legislative hearings in Bangkok consider a marriage-like civil partnership proposal …

Parting Glances - colorful and topless feminists chant "no more homophobe" inside Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral to celebrate Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation …

Con Game - the Boy Scouts of America bans "known or avowed homosexuals" as members and troop leaders, but it's happy to hire ex-convicts ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.

Scouts/Sports Souffle & Lammy's Equality Lesson

The Boy Scouts of America and the National Football League intersect (featuring Super Bowl Champion Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo; Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe; former Eagle Scout Zach Wahls; Peter Sprigg and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ed Whalen).

Black MP Davd Lammy's "less than equal" lament helps launch U.K. marriage equality.

And in NewsWrap: Britain's House of Commons overwhelmingly approves a bill to open civil marriage to same-gender couples, French troops save two Mali men from execution for having gay sex, Uganda's Parliament reconsiders "Killing the Gays," football allies in Melbourne -- and a Mumbai fifth and Hyderabad first -- mark LGBT Pride, the rainbow flag flies over Cambridge's Guildhall, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 9, 2013

SUMMARY

Another Marriage Problem for Canterbury - Britain's House of Commons gives overwhelming approval in its second reading to the "Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill" -- opposed by the new Archbishop of Canterbury …

Intervention Within Intervention - French troops save two Malian men from Islamic execution for homosexuality …

Recurring Nightmare - Uganda's infamous "Kill the Gays Bill" is back on the parliamentary agenda …

Unprepared - the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America unexpectedly postpones a decision on the proposed repeal of its policy banning openly gay scouts and troop leaders …

Fancy Footwork - Australian Football League pros proudly march for the first time in Melbourne's annual Pride parade …

Out in Hindi - in India an estimated two thousand people attend the fifth Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride Parade, and as "The Hindu" reported, LGBT people "came out into the open" for Hyderabad's first …

History on Top of History - the rainbow flag flies during Britain's LGBT History Month over Cambridge Guildhall …

Royal Treatment - Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria is the surprise presenter of the "Gay of the Year Award" at a glitzy Stockholm gala ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.

Bent-Con & "Unprecedented Penetration"

A "super" convention celebrates the art form of queer comics (Angela Brooks reports from Burbank, CA).

Jon Stewart's Daily Show analyzes a surprisingly progressive trend in U.S. culture.

And in NewsWrap:  marriage equality "c'est bon" in France's National Assembly, U.S. Senator McCain dismisses lesbian- and gay-inclusive immigration reform, Wynne wins Ontario as Canada's first woman and first "out" premier, Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay Bill" lives again, and more news reported by Vash Boddie and Michael LeBeau (produced by Steve Pride).

To listen to the world's only syndicated weekly LGBT radio program, subscribe to our podcast at http://www.thiswayout.org ...

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 2, 2013

SUMMARY

C'est Bon - France's National Assembly says "absolument!" to a critical marriage equality bill component …

Get Off My Lawn - U.S. Senator John McCain calls inclusion of lesbian and gay bi-national couples in immigration reform discussions "a red herring" …

Accidents Don't Happen - attorneys defending the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's marriage equality-banning Proposition 8 at the Supreme Court each oddly argue that gay and lesbian couples are not entitled to civil marriage because they "don't present a threat of irresponsible procreation" …

Hers To Discover - Ontario's Kathleen Wynne becomes Canada's first female and first "out" premier …

Greener Grass - small Canadian study finds that "out" gay and bisexual men are generally happier than their heterosexual peers …

"Equal Rights" State Doesn't Want Them - Wyoming's state House rejects both marriage equality and domestic partnership proposals …

Repeat Performance - once dead "Don't Say Gay Bill" is resurrected in the Tennessee legislature …

First Bar None - San Francisco's Twin Peaks Tavern scales new heights ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.