Supreme Expectations & Juno Turns a Page

Week of February 24, 2014
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New York University law professor Kenji Yoshino discusses the various U.S. marriage equality cases being considered in the states and prospects for an ultimate Supreme Court ruling with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

Juno star Ellen Page comes out at the Human Rights Campaign’s "Time to Thrive" conference and encourages their work with LGBTQI youth.

Plus: Dallas TV sportscaster Dale Hansen celebrates out National Football League prospect Michael Sam.

And in NewsWrap: homophobic hysteria spreads on the African continent, Germany's top court evades an adoptions rights question on a technicality, Arizona's governor ponders a "license to discriminate," and more news reported by Tanya Kane-Parry and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 22, 2014

SUMMARY

St. Valentine's Day Massacre - A mob of 40 viciously attacks more than a dozen perceived to be gay young men in Nigeria's capital of Abuja in the early morning hours of February 14th as violence against LGBT people escalates following enactment of the so-called "Jail the Gays" law …

Exodus - LGBT people are reportedly fleeing equally inhospitable Uganda, as government leaders defy possible reduced foreign aid over the country's equally draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Act"….

Human Rights Repellent - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh calls gay people "vermin" during a nationally televised speech …

Love the Motherland - members of the pro-gay Russian punk band Pussy Riot are horsewhipped and doused with pepper spray under an Olympics promotional sign in Sochi as they try to perform an anti-Putin protest song …

In Full Regalia - transgender former Italian M.P. Vladimir Luxuria is arrested at least once outside an Olympic venue for wearing a rainbow-colorful headdress and outfit and carrying a sign saying "It's okay to be gay" …

If He Won, Who Lost? - President Putin hands out a "humanitarian" award to a popular newscaster who said the hearts of deceased gay people need to be burned or buried to avoid accidental transplantation …

Safe on a Technicality - Germany's top court evades a request to rule on the rights of civilly partnered same-gender couples to adopt non-biological children …

In Sight of the Finnish Line - Finland's parliament begins a process that activists hope will lead to marriage equality in the only Nordic country without it …

Resistance Is Futile - Oregon's Attorney General declines to defend her state's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality …

Rocking the Rockies - nine couples in Colorado challenge their state's ban in federal court …

Off the Back Burner - a federal court says that same-gender couples in Cook County don't have to wait for the June 1st implementation date of the Illinois marriage equality law to tie the knot …

Brewer Brews on Bias - will Arizona become the first U.S. state to enact a bill that allows discrimination against LGBT people by individuals and businesses if providing services would "substantially burden" the exercise of their sincerely held religious beliefs? ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted February 25, 2014.

Whither Russia & NFL Pro-mophobia

Week of February 17, 2014
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Russian lesbian author Masha Gessen (The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin) and Dartmouth College professor Jeff Sharlet (who wrote the GQ article "Inside the Iron Closet: What It's Like to Be Gay in Putin's Russia") share their concerns about a post-Olympics apocalypse for Russia's LGBTs with MSNBC's Chris Hayes.

University of Missouri Tiger Michael Sam intercepted the possibility of being outed for a proud first down, but can the award-winning defensive end sack the shower sensitivities in the National Football League to score high in the upcoming draft?

And in NewsWrap: science fiction fuels Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality law, El Salvador saved from marriage inequality amendment, U.S. Justice Dept. reaffirms federal rights for same-gender marrieds, three up and one down for U.S. wedlock parity, Kansas considers bias loophole law, and more news reported by Michael Allan and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Yavanna Foundation and by our generous listeners. Donate today to help support our work -- and the free distribution of the show to non-commercial radio stations -- at thiswayout.org!

NewsWrap for the week ending February 15, 2014

SUMMARY

Science Fiction - The Ugandan government announces the signature of President Yoweri Museveni on the draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" after lawmakers with medical backgrounds from his ruling political party assure him that it's a "social behavior" and not a genetic predisposition …

Saved Again - El Salvador lawmakers reject a constitutional amendment defining civil marriage as exclusively heterosexual …

Justice Deployed - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder orders his Justice Department to defend all the rights, responsibilities and benefits of marriage currently available to legally married same-gender couples …

Several Shoes Dropping - a U.S. federal court overturns Virginia's constitutional ban on marriage equality, Nevada's Attorney General decides that defending her state's ban in a federal appeals court is a losing proposition, a federal court in Kentucky rules that that state's law banning the recognition of same-gender couples legally married elsewhere violates the U.S. Constitution, and a Kentucky gay couple files suit demanding marriage equality within the state …

Tie Game - the Wyoming House of Representatives soundly defeats a marriage equality proposal but also votes down a separate bill to ban legal recognition of same-gender couples legally hitched elsewhere …

Word Count - Indiana lawmakers stumble over language in a proposed constitutional amendment defining civil marriage in the state as the union of one man and one woman …

Bias Bailout - the Kansas state House approves a bill to allow businesses and government agencies to deny service to same-gender couples based on "their sincerely held religious beliefs" -- described by opponents as a "license to discriminate" ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted February 18, 2014.

Panti's Rant & "Uprising of Love"

Week of February 10, 2014
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Irish drag queen Panti Bliss (aka Rory O'Neill) responds to RTE Television's decision to settle libel lawsuits after she named the names of LGBT-haters with a poignant lesson on just what homophobia is … and what it does to people.

Lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge sings for the right to love -- and donates the proceeds of her new single to the Russia Freedom Fund.

And in NewsWrap: Rainbow Russians qualify for Olympic arrests, Nigerian anti-LGBT law gets national bishops' blessing, Ugandan lawmakers insist there's a "cure," Scotland's Parliament pipes up for marriage equality, theater thugs disrupt Sarajevo LGBT film fest, Pride marches on in Melbourne and Mumbai, and more news reported by Sarah Sweeney and Rick Watts (produced by Steve Pride).
 

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Yavanna Foundation and by our generous listeners. Donate today to help support our work -- and the free distribution of the show to non-commercial radio stations -- at thiswayout.org!

NewsWrap for the week ending February 8, 2014

SUMMARY

Gold Medal Handcuffs - As many as two dozen LGBT rights activists are jailed in separate actions in Moscow and St. Petersburg on the eve of the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi for violating Russia's so-called "no promo homo" law …

Prison Be Unto You - Nigeria's Roman Catholic Bishops Conference praises President Goodluck Jonathan for signing what's come to be known as the "Jail All the Gays" bill …

National Resistance Doctors Agree - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is reportedly getting "scientific" assurances from lawmakers in his ruling political party with medical backgrounds that gays can be "cured" so that he can sign the oppressive "Anti-Homosexuality" bill there …

Purple Heather - Scottish lawmakers overwhelmingly make their country the 17th in the world to open civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples …

Lovers on Hold - a U.S. federal judge promises a ruling "soon" following hearings on a lawsuit challenging Virginia's state ban on marriage equality …

Forward Looking - same-gender couples file suit this week challenging Wisconsin's ban …

Cinema Verite - hooded thugs invade a movie theater in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo hosting an LGBT Film Festival injuring at least three people …

Hot-Footing Down Fitzroy - tens of thousands brave sweltering temperatures in Australia to applaud the annual LGBT Pride march in Melbourne …

Prideful Pushback - a record crowd defies India's Supreme Court with Pride in Mumbai …

Condolences - lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King bows out of the official U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics because of her mother Betty Moffitt's failing health, who died at 91 on the same day as the Opening Ceremonies in Sochi …

Torch of a Different Color - the London Gay Men's Chorus "serenades" the Russian Embassy to protest that country's "no promo homo" law during the hours that the Winter Games Opening Ceremonies are being held in Sochi ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted February 11, 2014.

Same Grammy Love

Week of February 3, 2014
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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were joined by Mary Lambert, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, and Madonna, with Queen Latifah officiating at a Same Love surprise ceremony at the music industry's Grammy Awards. 

After the big night, Ellen DeGeneres chatted with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis about their "awarding" experience.

As the religious right looked at the Grammys in horror, ersatz conservative commentator Stephen Colbert worried about "accidental gay marriages."

And finally, rising young country singer Hunter Hayes debuted his anti-bullying anthem, Invisible.
 

And in NewsWrap: human rights crisis engulfs Kyrgyzstan, Ivory Coast crackdown sends activists into hiding, India's Supreme Court lets gay sex ban stand, Singapore's PM can't tell rights from wrong, Northern Cyprus repeals sodomy law, President Musevini stalls Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill for science, Bulgarian lawmakers back down on criminalizing coming out, and more news reported by Michael LeBeau and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Yavanna Foundation and by our generous listeners. Donate today to help support our work -- and the free distribution of the show to non-commercial radio stations -- at thiswayout.org!

NewsWrap for the week ending February 1, 2014

SUMMARY

Torture, Blackmail and Intimidation - Rampant police abuse with impunity is creating "nightmarish" conditions for gay and bisexual men in Kyrgyzstan …

Wrecking Crew - a homophobic mob breaks into and overruns the office of Alternative Cote d'Ivoire, the leading LGBT advocacy group in the Ivory Coast, seriously injuring a security guard and stealing most everything they didn't vandalize …

No Second Thoughts - India's Supreme Court refuses to reconsider its two-judge panel December ruling that recriminalized private consensual adult gay sex …

Don't Look At Us - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says it's not the government's responsibility to protect gay rights …

Last Straw - lawmakers in Northern Cyprus remove the last vestige of laws that banned gay sex in Europe …

Hide the Package - Islamic courts in Nigeria will resume in secret the prosecutions of 10 men charged with belonging to a gay group – now a criminal offense thanks to sweeping anti-gay legislation signed by President Goodluck Jonathan – to avoid repeats of the stone throwing execution-demanding assault on one of the courts in Bauchi last week …

Back to the Laboratory - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni now says he wants scientific proof that being gay "is not genetic, but a behavior that is acquired" before he'll sign the draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" there …

No Armored Closets - Bulgarian lawmakers reject a bill that would have outlawed just being out, although one of the measure's backers worries about how his children would be affected by seeing what he calls "those half-naked buggers with psychotic abnormalities" ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted February 4, 2014.