Barack’s LGBT Rights Round One!

Do remember Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the day President Barack Obama repealed it in December 2010 through the voices of Obama, gay military activist Aaron Tax, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), repeal “poster soldier” Army Lt. Dan Choi, and Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.)!

Plus “Queer Life & Lit” commentator Janet Mason reads up on those thrilling days of yesterqueer in The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism by Adrian Brooks and Literary Philadelphia by Thom Nickels!

And in NewsWrap: Taiwan moves to equalize civil marriage and ban "the cure,” North Carolina lawmakers double-cross Charlotte and keep their "bathroom bill,” a U.S. federal judge says religious freedom trumps affordable care for trans people, a trans Cub Scout is sent packing, and more international LGBT news reported this week by Wenzel Jones 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.

Afghan Escape & "Mama" Missives!

Gay Afghan refugee Qais Munhazim tells his story of fleeing gender role prison to correspondents John Townsend and Dixie Treichel.

Meg Christian sings and Sir Ian McKellen remembers "Mouse's" mail to his mom (a reading from Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City).

And in NewsWrap: Malawi's High Court declares open season on gay men, Portugal's parliament rescues vetoed adoption rights, Bermuda's government unveils its civil unions proposal, Indonesia bans queer emojis, a youth group raises cash for a homophobic church conversion, Barack ditches Michelle for a date with Ellen, and more international LGBT news reported this week by Wenzel Jones and Tanya Kane-Parry (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.

Friend of Francis & Lesbian Lit Reviews!

As LGBT issues strain an already-conflicted Catholic Synod on the Family, Vatican assistant Rev. Father Thomas Rosica explains the progressive bishops' position, and Pope Francis' gay former student Yayo Grassi talks about his warm reunion audience with the pontiff.

The biography of an artistic lesbian duo (Living Large) and the release of a herstoric, censored French classic (Therese and Isabelle) are celebrated by Queer Lit Commentator Janet Mason.

And in NewsWrap: a British appeals court denies same-gender couple pensions parity, a pro-equality Obama resists endorsing the Equality Act, transgender people suffer setbacks in Malaysia and Poland, Isle of Man official and an NCAA basketball coach make coming out news, Kim Davis could be a porn star, and more international LGBT news reported this week by Kristin Mellian and John Dyer V (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.

ObamENDA & Tutu's Heaven

Week of July 21, 2014

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An executive order from U.S. President Barack Obama creates anti-bias employment protections for LGBT people in the federal workforce -- without the religious exemptions many advocates worried would be added in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed the administration’s plan if and whenever a marriage equality case reaches the high court.

Australian Olympic swimmer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe">Ian Thorpe</a> found the water in the coming out pool was just fine, and newly-minted NFL football rookie <a href="http://michaelsam.com/">Michael Sam</a> was gay visibility's most valuable player when he accepted the ESPN television network's Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

South Africa's preeminent representative of reconciliation and Nobel Prize winner <a href="http://www.tutu.org/home/">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</a> prophesizes that there is Pride beyond the pearly gates.

And in <i><a href="http://bit.ly/1nyGLvt">NewsWrap</a></i>: HIV/AIDS researchers and activists become victims of the Ukraine-Russia conflict; U.S. judges consider marriage equality in Oklahoma, Florida, Utah and Colorado; Croatian couples win almost-equality; Malawi cuts costs by ignoring same-gender sex; more news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Sarah Sweeney (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!

Rudd's Word, Rejecting Russia & Keller's Parent

To listen to the whole show, click here!

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his main reelection challenger Tony Abbott briefly debate marriage equality during their first face-to-face campaign match-up.

U.S. President Barack Obama condemns Russia's "no promo homo" law, but nixes a protest boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi … and Georgetown University Professor Charles King tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow why the Olympics controversy is fostering increased global support for gay rights.

Our Steve Pride chats with cartoonist Dan Parent at Comic-Con 2013 in San Diego about creating the popular Archie Comics gay teen character "Kevin Keller."

And in NewsWrap: celebrity gay couple gets Uruguay's first same-gender marriage license, Pennsylvania county leaps to "right side of history," Pride blooms in Hanoi and Entebbe, Stockholm and Amsterdam offer surrogate Pride to Russian visitors, anti-gay suppression fails in Armenia and Lithuania, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Charlie Bauer (produced by Steve Pride).

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Manning's Plea & Obama's Brief

The possible consequences of Private Bradley Manning's truth is assessed by journalist Kevin Gosztola following the whistle-blowing Wikileaker's February 28th court martial proceedings (with Dorian Merina of Free Speech Radio News).

President Barack Obama explains the "evolutionary" embrace of equality evidenced in his administration's Prop 8 Supreme Court brief (taken from a March 1st news conference).

Plus: The U.S. Congress passes -- finally -- an inclusive Violence Against Women Act! Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, Rape Abuse Incest National Network founder Scott Berkowitz, and Wisconsin Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore speak out on the issues for LGBT people, Native Americans and undocumented women in Alice Ollstein's report for Free Speech Radio News.

And in NewsWrap: marriage equality proposal flops in Finland, three "civil partnership" tries and you're out in Poland, bills advancing marriage rites progress in the U.K. and New Zealand, Canada's Supreme Court finds an anti-gay street preacher guilty of hate speech, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Michael LeBeau (produced by Steve Pride).

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Obama Inaugurates Equality

Gay inaugural "firsts" enliven U.S. President Barack Obama's second, ably elucidated by MSNBC analysts Rachel Maddow, Jonathan Capehart, Andrea Mitchell, and Frank Rich.

Plus -- One Today delivered by gay Cuban-American inaugural poet Richard Blanco.

And in NewsWrap: Russians okay "no promo homo" law and look for gay tattoos, U.K. government formally proposes marriage equality, Maltese civility and Kiwi nuptials equality take baby steps forward, marriage-seeking gay couple drops their Taipei lawsuit, Rhode Island's House approves marital parity, gay loyalties split at the Super Bowl, and more news reported by Rick Watts and Pamela Brooks (produced by Vash Boddie and Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending December 15, 2012

SUMMARY

Equality on the Way - The Uruguay House overwhelmingly passes a marriage equality bill that most believe will be approved in the Senate and signed into law by the president in early 2013 …

Friend or Foe - pressure grows on the Obama administration to file friend of the court briefs supporting marriage equality in the two cases coming before the Supreme Court next year …

Good Money After Bad - the Republican majority in the U.S. House ups the ante to 2 million taxpayer dollars in its legal defense of the equality-banning Defense of Marriage Act …

Dominoes - Western Australia becomes the latest state or territory "Down Under" to have marriage equality on the parliamentary agenda …

Business of Love - honeymooners make tourism phones ring off the hook following the first legal marriage of a gay male couple on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba…

Proud of Prejudice - an avowedly anti-gay Ukrainian political party brags about assaulting and gassing a peaceful LGBT rights demonstration in Kyiv …

Rate Hike for Bed and Bias - a court in Chile fines a motel for sexual orientation-based discrimination in the first such case since the enactment of the country's long-languishing anti-bias law earlier this year …

Curses and Blessings - Uganda's parliament adjourns, possibly until as late as February 2013, without considering the so-called "Kill the Gays Bill," while the nation's homophobic House Speaker Rebecca Kadaga is ironically blessed by anti-LGBT Pope Benedict XVI at a so-called "human rights conference" in Rome ....

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

NewsWrap for the week ending November 17, 2012

SUMMARY

Jail Allies, Kill Gays - Nigeria and Uganda each move closer to enacting draconian anti-LGBT legislation …

Warm Winds - lawmakers in Uruguay move to make theirs the second country in South America to open civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples …

Oui and Si - French government officially proposes a marriage equality bill, and Spain's Constitutional Court upholds theirs …

Nie - Slovakia's parliament rejects a proposal to recognize same-gender partnerships …

DOMA Coma - U.S. Supreme Court postpones deciding whether or not to hear Prop 8 and/or DOMA cases until the end of November …

Bicameral Legislator - Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema narrowly wins election as the first openly bisexual member of Congress …

New Jobs - Washington's Ed Murray becomes only the second "out" state Senate Majority Leader in U.S. history, and if the U.S. Senate confirms President Obama's nomination of William Thomas to a lifetime seat on the Court for the Southern District of Florida he'll become the country's first openly gay African-American federal court judge …

Childish Censorship - the ACLU sues a Utah school district for removing "In Our Mothers' House," a picture book featuring a family headed by two lesbian mothers, from the shelves of its elementary school libraries, and a school district in Austin, Texas cancels elementary school performances of "And Then Came Tango," a play based on two male penguins at a New York zoo who successfully adopted and nurtured an abandoned egg …

Gay Bird Dads Don't Duck - a pair of male penguins in Denmark joins similar couples in Spain, Germany and China to be given an orphaned egg to incubate and raise as their own ….

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

Perfection at the Polls

Reports from last week's U.S. elections, which featured stunning victories for marriage equality in Maine (Amy Browne for WERU - Blue Hill & Bangor), Washington (Quentin Mahoney for KAOS - Olympia), Minnesota (Michelle Alimoradi for KFAI - Minneapolis/St. Paul), and Maryland (Joel McCord for WYPR - Baltimore).

And in NewsWrap: Tammy takes the Senate, two rabid reps return to House, two Kansas cities rescind bias protections, equality affirming Iowa judge retained, Aussie "Big Brother" winner's heartwarming "en-gay-gement," and more news reported by Jason Proctor and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending November 10, 2012

SUMMARY

Chapter Two - LGBT rights supporters celebrate historic victories in this week's U.S. elections, including a second term win by "Ally in Chief" President Barack Obama …

Dyke on the Hill - Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin becomes the first open lesbian or gay person elected to the U.S. Senate …

Bad Pennies - Congressional homophobes Bachmann and Foxx are re-elected ..

Choosing to Discriminate - voters in Salina and Hutchinson, Kansas rescind anti-bias ordinances passed by their respective city councils …

Court of Public Opinion - Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins survives efforts to have him removed from the bench for supporting marriage equality …

Grand Slam - Maine voters re-open civil marriage to same-gender couples, voters in Maryland and Washington each affirm the marriage equality votes of their respective state legislatures, and Minnesotans reject a proposal to constitutionally ban same-gender marriage …

Like Wildfire - more than a hundred "out" LGBT candidates win state and local elections across the country and nearly double their number on Capitol Hill …

Empire Stakes - one of the four Republican Senators who voted for marriage equality in New York last year is re-elected, another did not seek re-election, the third lost his primary election, and the fourth loses to a Democrat …

Happy Ending - "Big Brother Australia" winner Benjamin Norris proposes to his boyfriend on national television ….

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

NewsWrap for the week ending October 27, 2012

SUMMARY

Suing for Dignity - Jamaican activists file suit at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demanding repeal of their island nation's sodomy laws …

Lawyer Contracts - phone calls and text messages from persons unknown make death threats against two legal advocates for LGBT rights and their family members in Cameroon …

Lacking Appeal - New York's highest court rejects what may be the last legal challenge to the state's marriage equality law …

Holding Noses May Not Be Enough - the gay Log Cabin Republicans give Mitt Romney their "qualified" endorsement, even as the GOP presidential candidate reiterates his support for a federal constitutional amendment to define marriage as exclusively heterosexual, and the "Boston Globe" reports on his efforts as Massachusetts governor to thwart the legal recognition of lesbian and gay parents …

Cheerleader-In-Chief - President Barack Obama formally urges votes in favor of marriage equality on state ballot measures this November in Maine, Maryland and Washington …

Marriage Scrimmage - National Football League Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo's outspoken support for Maryland marriage equality draws a state lawmaker's letter demanding that the team owners silence him, prompting Minnesota Vikings punter CHRIS KLUWE to mock the lawmaker in an open letter and appear in a radio ad against the marriage equality-banning state constitutional amendment on the November ballot in his state [you'll hear the spot] …

One-Two Punch - recently "out" Puerto Rican professional featherweight boxer Orlando Cruz wins his first fight as an openly gay man ….

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

LGBT Action at DNC 2012

There's lots of lesbian/gay/bi/trans visibility as U.S. Democrats push for LGBT equality at their National Convention, summed up by Associate Producer Lucia Chappelle.

And in NewsWrap: Scotland proposes marriage; Poland has a partnerships plan; right-wing Christians "smoke out" Australian PM Julia Gillard; studies in Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. prove that homophobia can kill; Maine 9-year-old quits the Boy Scouts over its anti-gay policies; and more news reported by Johnnie Torres and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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The Obama Effect & Genocidal Preacher Protested

President Barack Obama's bully pulpit prompts a seismic shift in the marriage equality landscape, as NAACP President Benjamin Jealous announces the venerable civil rights organization's unequivocal commitment to "equal protection under the law," and prominent African Americans like former Secretary of State Colin Powell line up in support.

Demonstrators came from far and wide to repay the viral viciousness of Baptist minister Charles L. Worley with "Love Not Hate."

And in NewsWrap: gay American dad wins landmark Colombian adoption case, Buenos Aires welcomes marriage-minded same-gender couples, another U.S. federal court overrules DOMA, violence cancels Kiev's first Pride effort, San Diego gives street to Harvey Milk, and more news reported by Tanya Kane-Parry and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

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Obama Comes Out for Equality

President Barack Obama's long "evolution" regarding same-gender marriage finally proves the "survival of the fairest" theory. His historic statement affirming civil marriage equality receives cogent analysis by Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry; U.S. Congressman Barney Frank; Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker; and longtime North Carolina lesbian couple Lennie Gerber and Pearl Berlin.

Plus "out" singer/songwriter Sean Chapin's tribute tune, You Say You Want An Evolution.

And in NewsWrap: Tarheels stomp unmarried North Carolinians, new Socialist president pledges French family equality, Colombia's top court passes priest's pension to surviving gay partner, Chile enacts anti-bias law after high-profile bashing murder, fired lesbian den mother questions Scouts' honor, and more news reported by Wenzel Jones and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending May 12, 2012

SUMMARY

Survival of the Fairest - U.S. President Barack Obama "evolves" to support civil marriage equality …

Tarheel Tragedy - North Carolina voters constitutionally ban legal recognition of any relationship that's not heterosexual marriage …

Hand-to-Hand Combat - a civil unions bill in Colorado that appeared to have majority bipartisan support is blocked from consideration by the House's GOP leader as the legislative session ends, but the state's Democratic governor calls for a special session to decide the issue …

Plus Ca Change - it remains to be seen if France's new Socialist President Francois Hollande can deliver on his election campaign support of civil marriage equality and adoption rights …

Requiescat in Pace - Colombia's Constitutional Court rules that the longtime gay partner of a deceased Roman Catholic priest is entitled to his lover's pension …

Purchased Freedom Delivered - spurred by the high profile horrific murder of a young gay man in March, Chile's Congress breaks a seven-year logjam to approve an anti-discrimination bill that includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories …

Assassination - Honduran journalist and LGBT rights activist Erick Martinez is found strangled to death two days after being reported missing …

The Power to Name - Argentina lawmakers approve a measure allowing transgender citizens to change the gender on their government documents without first getting reassignment surgery or a judge's approval …

In the Best Interest - well-known actors and the cast of "Glee" join a "Change.org" campaign for the reinstatement of Bridgeport, Ohio Cub Scouts den mother Jennifer Tyrrell, who was fired because she's a lesbian ….

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

NewsWrap for the week ending October 8, 2011

SUMMARY

The Right Way - British P.M. David Cameron tells a Conservative Party conference that "I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a conservative" …

Parental Controls - U.K. gay and lesbian parents will soon be able to identify themselves on passport forms for their children as "parent one" and "parent two" instead of "mother" and "father" …

Dining and Dancing - U.S. President Barack Obama keynotes the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, saying that "every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law" while stopping short of endorsing civil marriage equality, but takes Republican presidential wannabes to task for staying silent when the crowd at a recent GOP candidates debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq [with an excerpt from that rebuke] …

Your Tax Dollars for Discrimination - the Republican-led House's modified contract with the D.C. law firm defending the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court triples to $1.5 million …

Last Call - Uganda's only "out" bar for sexual minorities is padlocked by the landlord because it attracted "strange" people …

Effective Terrorism - police officials in Belgrade, backed by the Serbian government, ban the city's second Pride march, fearing a repeat of the violence at last year's event …

Russian Recidivism - police try to separate the activists from the violent counter-demonstrators among the 40 people detained in Moscow at one of Russia's first sanctioned LGBT rights rallies …

OcQUEERpation - U.S. LGBT people across the country are a visible part of the growing street protests against corporate greed and government gridlock that began with New York's "Occupy Wall Street" ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted October 10th.

NewsWrap for the week ending September 24, 2011

SUMMARY

Final Minutes - Countdown celebrations in LGBT venues across the country culminating at the stroke of midnight on September 20th cheer the official repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the 18-year-old U.S. military policy that kept lesbian and gay service members in the closet …

Dear Dad - YouTube video of a private stationed at an Air Force base in Germany coming out to his father in Alabama on the day of repeal gets more than two million views …

He Who Waits - a gay World War II veteran wins a decades-long battle to have his discharge officially changed from "undesirable" to "honorable" …

A Few Good Queers - Marine recruiters make U.S. military history by visiting an LGBT center in Tulsa, Oklahoma to sign up new enlistees …

I Was A Male War Bride - a justice of the peace in Vermont declares a gay lieutenant "officially out" as he pronounces the Naval Academy graduate legally married to his longtime partner seconds after midnight on the day of repeal …

Now to Win the Peace - the Obama administration fights an effort to get equal separation pay for gays and lesbians honorably discharged under Don't Ask Don't Tell, another lawsuit to formally declare the policy unconstitutional …

Let's Jail the Hero - the "fierce advocate's" team also opposes a "vindictive prosecution" defense allowed by a federal judge hearing "failure to obey a lawful police order" charges against military equality advocate Lt. Dan Choi for chaining himself to the White House fence to protest Don't Ask Don't Tell before its Congressional repeal …

Best Wishes, Despite the Above - President Obama himself does issue a statement hailing the demise of the policy and briefly voices support for gays and lesbians around the world during his speech the following day at the U.N. General Assembly …

The Prop 8 Shore - a federal judge allows the release of video recordings of last year's landmark Proposition 8 trial – though his decision will almost certainly be appealed …

Equally Protected - a state judge in Alaska rules that lesbian and gay couples are entitled to the same senior citizen and disabled veteran property tax exemptions as the state's heterosexual couples …

Long Engagement - government officials in the U.K. say they're planning initial discussions on full civil marriage equality legislation in March 2012 with an enactment goal of 2015 …

Leaning on Labor - Tasmania's lower house of parliament passes a resolution urging the Australian federal government to open civil marriage to same-gender couples …

Lynch Pin - "out" Emmy winner and host of this year's telecast Jane Lynch peppers her comments with lesbian references throughout the ceremony, including the lavish opening musical number, during which she slyly discusses recent social progress and the battles yet to be won with the cast of the 1960s era-set Mad Men ….

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

NewsWrap for the week ending June 5, 2010:

Summary: A committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council rejects consultative status for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ... more than a thousand mostly young Muslims stage a first-ever march against homosexuality in Ghana ... Tiwonge Chimbalanga & Steven Monjeza, the Malawi couple pardoned from their 14 years hard labor sodomy prison sentence by President Bingu wa Mutharika last week, make their first post-release public appearance ... a 42-year-old Pakistani man and his 19-year-old transwoman friend are arrested in a raid on the teen's birthday party in Peshawar and are being charged with sodomy ... U.S. President Barack Obama issues an official LGBT Pride Month proclamation and issues a memo outlining the benefits he ordered last year for the partners and children of lesbigay federal workers ... military veterans Dan Choi and Jim Pietrangelo end their week-long hunger strike protesting the slow progress of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" repeal but say they might do it again ... Dutch airline KLM refuses the request of its gay flight attendants to not have to work on flights to queer-dangerous Iran ... Dutch researchers say they may have discovered evidence that "gaydar" actually exists.

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