Olympus, Dreamland and High School!

The novelized history of Vanda’s Olympus Nights on the Square and the rhythmic revolutions of Jennifer Maidman’s "Dreamland" CD capture the heart of Queer Life & Lit commentator Janet Mason.

Outcasting's queer teens Alex and Callie confront the complications that arise from careless outing (introduced by Dhruv and produced by Marc Sophos).

Plus Dumbledore’s love interest? The Wizard Gets Outed in a Rainbow Minute (produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns, read by Gracie Golden)!

And in NewsWrap: Bermuda backtracks on marriage equality, Hong Kong digs in against spousal rights, Trump’s military trans ban delegitimized in federal court, a Kenyan official blames gay tourists for lambda lions, and more international LGBT news reported this week by John Dyer V and Frances O’Brien (produced by Steve Pride, written by Greg Gordon).

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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.

Out in Oz Country!

As the “Yes” campaign works to save the rural children from Australia’s marriage plebiscite, country-bred, 24-year-old activist Russell Nankervis chats with our Barry McKay* about growing up away from big city lights, and what the plebiscite means to young people like him!

And in NewsWrap: Belarus jumps on the global homophobic repression bandwagon, Egypt expands its queer crackdown with an “anti-perversion” proposal, Trump’s DOJ backs his trans troops ban and a biased Colorado cake baker, Missouri appeals court equates gender stereotyping with unlawful sex bias, a high-profile Georgia state lawmaker suggests quarantining people with AIDS, and more international LGBT news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Michael LeBeau (produced by Steve Pride, written by Greg Gordon).

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*See the video of Barry’s complete interview with Russell Nankervis at thiswayout.org!

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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.

GLAAD Tidings & Carolina Con!

Patricia Arquette and Troye Sivan bring GLAAD tidings to the L.A. awards gala with their inspiring remarks!

The state’s HB2 head fake makes the cash cows come back to North Carolina (Pacifica’s Mark Mericle reports), and Gay USA's Andy Humm and Ann Northrop critique the cave-ins!

And in NewsWrap: hundreds are caught up in an apparent purge of gay men in Chechnya, a U.S. appeals court equates anti-LGB bias with sex discrimination, Mississippi pleads for the ”religious freedom" to be biased, a "unique" Colorado family wins a landmark Fair Housing case, the U.S. Senate goes nuclear to make Gorsuch Supreme, and more international LGBT news reported this week by John Dyer V and Carole Meyers (produced by Steve Pride, written by Greg Gordon).

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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 August 23, 2014

SUMMARY

Policy Transition - The U.S. Department of Labor issues guidelines to officially ban bias against transgender workers by federal contractors …

Arrested Development - imprisoned Wikileaker Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning says she's still waiting for the gender transition treatment she's been promised …

Picture This - Russian thug Maxim Martsinkevich, notorious for leading an anti-gay vigilante group called Operation Pedophelia that tortured and outed young gay men in web-posted videos, gets five years behind bars for "extremism," but not for his anti-gay crimes …

Lifted Offering - a major multi-faith Ugandan religious group loses U.S. funding for endorsing the country's horrific Anti-Homosexuality Law …

Brighter Sunshine - a U.S. federal judge joins four state courts that had already declared Florida's ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples unconstitutional …

Hoosier Justice - another federal judge orders Indiana to recognize the marriages of lesbian and gay couples legally performed elsewhere …

Staying Power - an appeals court ruling overturning Virginia's ban is stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court …

Steep Incline - a federal appeals court extends an indefinite stay on a lower court ruling striking down Colorado's ban …

Summer Sci Fi Hate-Buster - Irish marriage equality group LGBT Noise web-posts "Armagayddon," an over-the-top video satire lampooning people who believe opening civil marriage to same-gender couples marks the end of the world ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... download the podcast … or listen on Stitcher!

Christopher and His "Kitty"

Week of July 21, 2014
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Portrait artist Don Bachardy talks about The Animals, a collection of love letters from his 33-year relationship with literary giant Christopher Isherwood (part 1 of 2, with Charlie Bauer, PhD).

Queer Life and Literature Commentator Janet Mason discovers a lesbian truth in the fiction of S. Renee Bess (The Rules) and the essays of Judith K. Witherow (Strong Enough to Bend).

Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) signals another homophobic U.S. presidential run in a Right Wing Watch-flagged conversation with conservative radio talk show host Dave Garrison.

And in NewsWrap: Russia plays spy games with LGBT activists, Turkey's top court slams "p" word, Kenyan trans group wins NGO status, U.S. federal court blasts Colorado's civil marriage ban, Stonestreet snubs Santorum, and more news reported this week by Chrisanne Eastwood and Michael Allan (produced by Steve Pride).

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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 July 26, 2014

SUMMARY

Spy Games - A judge declares St. Petersburg-based LGBT advocacy group Coming Out Russia "foreign agents", while officials in the same city tell organizers to dump (or landfill) Pride …

The "P" Word - Turkish court rules that calling someone a "pervert" is hate speech …

Trans Advocates Upheld - Kenya's high court orders the government to accept the registration of the group Transgender Education and Advocacy as a non-governmental organization …

Rocky Climb - Colorado's is the latest U.S. state ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples to be declared unconstitutional by a federal court, while a separate court rules that Boulder County can continue to offer marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples, over the continuing objections of Republican Attorney General John Suthers …

Sun Shines In - second South Florida circuit court declares that state's civil marriage ban unconstitutional, but both rulings are stayed pending appeal …

Penguin Porn - with all copies of one title already destroyed, two of the three LGBT-positive children's books ordered to meet the same fate by Singapore's National Library Board are saved following several days of public outcry, but will now only be available in the adult literature section …

Foot in the Door - new owner steps in at the last minute to save Philadelphia's iconic LGBT bookstore Giovanni's Room from closure …

Torchwood: Osculation Day - tongues wag over out performer John Barrowman's man-on-man kiss during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow …

Cam's Rampage - otherwise affable "Modern Family" star Eric Stonestreet refuses to be photographed with one rabidly anti-gay U.S. politician ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... download the podcast … or listen on Stitcher!

NewsWrap for the week ending July 19, 2014

SUMMARY

Hope Shot Down - Renowned Dutch HIV/AIDS researcher/activist Joep Lange and at least a few fellow scientists/activists traveling to the annual International AIDS Conference in Melbourne perish in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine …

Wooing and Courting - the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Oklahoma's ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples, a circuit court judge declares Florida's ban unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court decides not to force Utah to recognize the marriages of more than a thousand lesbian and gay couples who legally wed in the state during a brief time when that was possible, and Colorado's Supreme Court orders the Denver County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples, but doesn’t stop fellow rogue clerks in Boulder and Pueblo counties from continuing to do so …

Equality-Adjacent - Croatian lawmakers overwhelmingly approve a bill to create marriage-like but less-than-equal "life partnerships" for gay and lesbian couples …

The High Price of Persecution - Malawi's Justice Minister tell a U.N. human rights panel that her government has told police to stop arresting gay people, who can be and have been punished with up to 14 years in prison at hard labor -- but financial constraints seem to have been the practical motivation …

Closing the Books - Singapore's National Library Board takes heat for ordering the removal and destruction of all copies of the true-life penguin story "And Tango Makes Three" and two other LGBT-themed children's books ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text  ... download the podcast  … or listen on Stitcher.

"Before You Know It"

Week of July 14, 2014

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Documentarian P J Raval and his subjects Tyler, Dennis, and Robert talk about their award-winning film celebrating gay seniors' gusto (interviewed by Steve Pride).

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s Peter LaBarbera and Harlem's All The Land Anointed Holy (ATLAH) church pastor James David Manning pander to gay sex paranoia with an expose of "cheap orgasms" and Obama's "obsession" with homosexuality.

And in <i><a href="http://bit.ly/1kX0G1b">NewsWrap</a></i>: Uganda's unending nightmare worsens; Kiev skinheads crash gay night spot; Rocky Mountain marriage mash-up and other nuptials news from Utah, Indiana and Wisconsin; Ireland sets the date for marriage equality referendum; French court reunites bi-national gay couple; more news reported this week by Michelle-Marie Gilkeson and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

Subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss a show! 

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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 July 12, 2014

SUMMARY

Economical Excuse - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni blames reduced Western aid over the draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Law" for having to raise taxes, which LGBT activists fear will add even more fuel to the homophobic fire in the country …

Unending Ugandan Nightmare - a statement by the Ugandan government insists that the so-called "Jail All The Gays" law is not meant to punish gay people but only to curb "the open promotion of homosexuality," but recent actions by government agencies contradict that assertion, and five Ugandans – including 16- and 18-year old students – suffer torturous "anal probes" to supposedly confirm their homosexuality after being charged with "promoting" it "to minors" …

Not On the Guest List - a bouncer at Kiev's Pamada Club rebuffs an attempt by neo-Nazi skinheads to invade the gay nightspot in the Ukrainian capital after its mayor's cancellation of a Pride parade over safety concerns …

Mile-High Marriage Dogfight - Colorado is the latest state to have its ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples declared federally unconstitutional, while rogue county clerks led by Boulder's Hillary Hall issue licenses to lesbian and gay couples despite being ordered not to by the state Attorney General …

Straight to the Top - Utah officials announce a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court of the appeals court ruling overturning that state's ban …

Shut Your Eyes - Indiana's governor orders state officials not to recognize the legal marriages of same-gender couples …

Forward March - Wisconsin's Attorney General formally challenges a district court ruling striking down his state's ban in a federal appeals court …

Voting on Vows - Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny officially announces that a planned national referendum on marriage equality will be held within the first four months of 2015 …

Storming the Bastille - a landmark ruling by France's top administrative court clears the way for the marriage of an immigrant Senegalese man to his gay French partner ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... download the podcast … or listen on Stitcher!

Drag King Mo B. Dick

Week of July 7, 2014
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Entertainer Mo B. Dick (aka Maureen Fischer) drags in a different direction, taking correspondent Michelle-Marie Gilkeson into the world of male impersonators.

Plus: queer life and literature commentator Janet Mason bids a fond arrivederci to Philadelphia LGBT/feminist bookstore Giovanni’s Room.

And in NewsWrap: U.N. equalizes spousal benefits, federal court finds marriage equality not harmful to Kentucky heterosexuals, SCOTUS nixes conversion and contraception, freed Zambian gays face fuzzy future, Dorothy's friend unveils homophobe housing plan, and more news reported this week by Wenzel Jones and Gary Shaw (produced by Wenzel Jones and Steve Pride).

Subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss a show! 

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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 July 5, 2014

SUMMARY

Peace and Security - The United Nations extends spousal benefits to its legally married lesbian and gay workers equal to those given to married heterosexual employees …

Big Fish Worth Fishing - a Finnish parliamentary committee again rejects a marriage equality proposal …

War of Weddings - Kentucky's state ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples is the latest in the U.S. to be declared unconstitutional, an appeals court stops gay and lesbian marriages in Indiana, and Colorado's Attorney General squares off against a marriage license-distributing Boulder County Clerk …

Conversion & Contraception - the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling upholding California's ban on so-called "reparative therapy" for minors, but sides with closely-held businesses like Hobby Lobby that want to deny birth control options for its female workers based on religious belief – which could open the door to religious-based bias against LGBT people …

Freed to Fuzzy Future - Zambia frees two young men charged with engaging in illegal homosexual acts due to lack of evidence …

Marching Backwards - an estimated 25,000 Jamaicans rally against LGBT rights in Kingston …

Homophobe Housing Plan - Seattle, Washington drag queen "Mama Tits" warns homophobic religious protesters at the Emerald City's annual Pride parade to watch out for falling houses ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted July 8, 2014.

"Test" & Divergent Christians

Week of June 30, 2014
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Writer/director Chris Mason Johnson's film Test brings the AIDS dance to the big screen (preview and interview with Steve Pride).

Christian conniptions and kudos conflict over LGBT rites: the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer and novice movie mogul Rick Santorum fantasize about "re-education camps" for faith-based homophobes, Episcopal priest Cameron Partridge is the first transgender preacher at the U.S. National Cathedral, and United Methodist Church minister Frank Schaefer is "re-frocked" after his same-gender wedding conviction is overturned.

And in NewsWrap: appealing wins advance U.S. marriage equality in Utah and Colorado, Mexican Supremes okay one Baja California gay wedding, most U.S. citizens believe ENDA already exists, South Carolina town saves lesbian police chief,  and more news reported this week by Michelle Marie-Gilkeson and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

Subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss a show! 

Get CDs of the regular show and specials from our archives at our website, thiswayout.org!

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This Way Out was funded this week by the Kicking Assets Fund of the Tides Foundation, the Yavanna Foundation, the estate of Christopher David Trentham, 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 June 28, 2014

SUMMARY

Industry Takes the Lead - In a case involving Utah's ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples, the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals becomes the first appeals court since last year's Supreme Court DOMA ruling to affirm a district court decision striking down a state's constitutional ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples as federally unconstitutional …

Ahead of the Curve - Boulder, Colorado County Clerk Hillary Hall, citing the 10th Circuit ruling that also affects her state, starts handing out marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples …

Ding, Ding, Ding - St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Francis Slay marries four same-gender couples in defiance of the state's ban on marriage equality …

Crossroads of History - a federal district court overturns Indiana's marriage ban, and with no immediate stay, hundreds of couples reportedly exchange vows before an appeals court stops them …

First Drop - Mexico's Supreme Court grants a civil marriage license to a gay couple from Baja California – but the ruling only affects that couple …

Fantasy Fairness - according to a YouGov/Huffington Post poll, 69% of the U.S. population falsely believes that federal law protects LGBT people from workplace discrimination …

Restoring the Peace - the "nightmare that will not stop" for "unprotected" openly lesbian Latta, South Carolina Police Chief Crystal Moore appears to finally be over ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... download the podcast … or listen on Stitcher!

NewsWrap for the week ending December 7, 2013

SUMMARY

Ironclad Bias - Russia's highest court rules that laws criminalizing the dissemination of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors" do not violate the national constitution, while a court in Murmansk is believed to be the first to convict violators of the federal "no promo homo" law …

Who's Gaming Now - representatives of several Russian LGBT advocacy groups have an unsatisfying meeting with new IOC President Thomas Bach in Paris about Russian President Putin's vague assurances that LGBT athletes and spectators will be safe at the Winter Games in Sochi …

Bench Warmers - major corporate sponsors of those Games are being pressured to overtly oppose Russia's repressive attacks on gay rights …

Heart on Your Sleeve - American Apparel teams up with two LGBT advocacy groups for a "Principle 6" clothing line …

Homophobia in Hrvatska - to no one's surprise, heavily Roman Catholic Croatians overwhelmingly vote a ban on marriage equality into their national constitution …

Greeced Pig - the Greek government caves to conservative and religious pressure by scrapping a proposal to open the country's civil unions to same-gender couples …

Wedding Window - gay and lesbian couples start legally marrying in the Australian Capital Territory on December 7th, but they could all be annulled by a High Court ruling on December 12th …

Happy Homomoon - researchers estimate a 217 million dollar tourism bonanza for Hawai'i over the next three years with the advent of marriage equality in the "Aloha State" on December 2nd …

Madiba's Rainbow - LGBT people join the world in mourning the death of iconic South African human rights advocate Nelson Mandela, who created a "Rainbow Nation" with the help of the late gay anti-apartheid and AIDS activist Simon Nkoli …

Glad to Accommodate -a court in the U.S. state of Colorado and the U.K. Supreme Court each decide that gay and lesbian couples deserve to be treated equally under the law ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted December 10, 2013.

Urvashi Vaid & "Straight to Vegas"

The veteran rights advocate questions the LGBT movement's status quo in Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics (interviewed by Chris Thomas of WBAI's OUT FM).

Gay "beard" Wenzel Jones deals deceptive fun in "the marriage capital of the world."

And in NewsWrap: New Zealand one vote away from marriage equality, Michigan's Odawa Indians okay same-gender weddings, civil unions law peaks in Colorado, Elizabeth's Commonwealth speech disappoints activists on "other grounds," there's nothing really new at the Vatican, and more news reported by Natalie Peoples and Johnnie Torres (produced by Brian DeShazor and Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending March 16, 2013

SUMMARY

Chill the Champagne - The second time is one charm away from marriage equality in New Zealand …

Like Before The Others Came - upstate Michigan Native American tribe becomes the third in America to marry same-gender couples …

Nearing the Summit - civil unions for lesbian and gay couples are all but a done deal in Colorado …

Tossing the Leftovers - federal appeals court overturns Virginia's sodomy statute citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision ruling that state's law to be unconstitutional …

Nonprofit Orientation Cured - U.S. Internal Revenue Service revokes the tax-exempt status of the gay "cure"-peddling National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) because the group had failed to submit required tax forms for three years …

Half-Hearted Wave - much anticipated speech on human rights by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II that activists expected to be LGBT-inclusive buries them instead in "other grounds" …

Keep It Down - holy landlords! Italy's biggest gay sauna shares space with priestly housing …

Two Peas in a Priory - "meet the new Pope, same as the old Pope" ….

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

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.

NewsWrap for the week ending January 26, 2013

SUMMARY

From Russia, With Hate - LGBT rights activists are assaulted and arrested in Moscow and at least one other Russian city protesting the proposed law to outlaw so-called "homosexual propaganda," which the country's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approves in its first reading, while Kaliningrad becomes the tenth Russian region to enact a similar law, and Russia's Defense Ministry says the buttocks and genital areas of all new recruits should be closely examined for tattoos, which it says are strong indications of homosexuality …

Political Pre-Nup - U.K. government formally publishes legislation to open civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples in England and Wales …

Broad Agreement, Long Engagement - both major political parties in Malta express support for some form of legal recognition for same-gender couples …

Because It's Good For You - a select committee of the New Zealand Parliament hears testimony about the benefits of marriage equality as part of the legislative process to make it legal …

Three Strikes - Polish lawmakers reject civil unions for lesbian and gay couples …

Judicial Discouragement - the gay couple in Taiwan that had sued for marriage equality announces that they're dropping their case …

As If It Never Even Happened - a court in Beijing rules that women in unhappy marriages with gay men can end them through more socially-acceptable annulment rather than divorce …

Hope Springs Eternal - Rhode Island House overwhelmingly passes a bi-partisan marriage equality bill …

Rock Mountain Pass - Colorado Senate committee passes a civil unions bill along party lines …

LGBTailgate Parties - gay American football fans can root for either team in the upcoming Super Bowl, which features Baltimore Ravens linebacker and outspoken equality ally Brendon Ayanbadejo, and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, who says he'd welcome a gay player on this team ….

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