Scalia Scalped & Jordan Beardless!

The life and crimes of Justice Antonin Scalia as recalled by Gay USA hosts Ann Northrop and Andy Humm in a not-so-fond farewell to the homophobic judge.

Australia's marriage ban crosses Jordan Raskopoulos when coming out as trans means the Axis of Awesome comedian must to divorce her supportive wife in order to change the gender on her birth certificate.

And in NewsWrap: Indonesia's homophobic "moral panic" escalates, politics and piety stall Italy's civil unions, Panasonic propels Japan's queer couples, religious bias passes for freedom in Mississippi and Georgia, trans-phobic bills plague more U.S. state legislatures, a Texas Board of Education hopeful flunks presidential history, 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.

NewsWrap for the week ending March 7, 2015

Congrats In Order - Slovenia’s Parliament approves civil marriage and adoption rights for lesbian and gay couples …

Convenient Distraction - Russia tries to undo worker benefits for legally-united U.N. LGBT employees around the world …

Stung - seven gay or trans people are the latest “debauchery” arrestees in Egypt …

Slime Boomerangs - TV journalist Mona Iraqi, who engineered the televised raid of a Cairo bathhouse that led to the acquittal of all 26 men caught up in it is herself facing defamation and other charges in court …

She/Her - a U.S. Army appeals court gives transgender Wikileaker Chelsea Manning a pronoun victory …

Date Set, Lines Drawn - the U.S. Supreme Court schedules oral arguments on marriage equality for April 28th, while more than 375 corporations and employee groups join an amicus brief supporting the right of same-gender couples to civil marriage …

Cornhusker Tie - the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stays the latest federal judge ruling — this time in Nebraska — overturning a state’s marriage ban, while Nebraska officials lift a 20-year-old ban on gay & lesbian foster parenting …

Lone Ranger - Texas Tea Party state lawmaker Tony Tinderholt gets it dumbfoundingly wrong trying to overturn the marriage of a 30-years-together lesbian couple  ….

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

NewsWrap for the week ending January 10, 2015

SUMMARY

Kicked in the Apathy - At least four patrons are injured as several thugs invade a popular Russian gay nightclub, sending at least one club-goer to the hospital with critical injuries, as a Human Rights Watch report details the dramatic increase in homophobic violence since the 2013 passage of the country’s “no promo homo” law (with comments by HRW’s Russian researcher Tanya Cooper) …

No U Turn - a new Russian law bans transgender individuals from getting driver’s licenses because “mentally ill” people are more likely to be involved in serious auto accidents …

Welcoming Gesture - Vietnam repeals a ban on same-gender wedding ceremonies, although they still won’t be legally recognized, as Asia’s first out U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius takes his new post in Hanoi …

Marriage Stateside - the first conference of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 ends on January 9th with no marriage equality cases announced; the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas marriage cases, and SCOTUS decline's Louisiana District's appeal; lesbian and gay couples begin tying the knot in Florida …

Mammas Mia! - an Italian court makes history by legally recognizing a child born to a bi-national lesbian couple …

Backdown on Crackdown? - 26 men arrested during the police raid of a Cairo bathhouse go on trial -- then unexpectedly acquited (with comments by veteran global rights activist Scott Long about escalating anti-gay repression in Egypt) …

Queering the Kirk - the Church of Scotland edges closer to approving the ordination of openly gay ministers …

Going My Way - parishioners give Dublin Roman Catholic priest Martin Dolan a standing ovation for coming out ….

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

God For Gays in Ghana & Irish Marriage Broker!

Week of January 5, 2015
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"Sapphic Nomads" Maggie Young and Katie Cook meet Leonard Glover, a gay Ghanaian activist inspired by his rainbow faith.

"The Outing" founder Eddie McGuinness tells Chris Wilson about the Irish matchmaking festival that pairs gay and lesbian singles.

And in NewsWrap: Scotland and Luxembourg celebrate the New Year with marriage equality; a trans U.S. teen's suicide prompts abusive therapy charges; a Chinese court rules that there's no medical basis for claimed "cures" of homosexuality; unrelenting oppression continues in Zimbabwe, Gambia and Egypt; and more news reported this week by John Dyer V and Greg Gordon (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 January 3, 2015

SUMMARY

Bells & Flowers - Same-gender couples begin legally marrying in Scotland and Luxembourg …

Courtships & Weddings - the U.S. Supreme Court will consider one or more marriage equality cases at its first conference of 2015 on January 9th, and a federal judge clears the way for the civil marriages of lesbian and gay couples in Florida to begin on January 6th …

"My Death Needs to Mean Something" - the gruesome suicide of 17-year-old Ohio transgender teen Leelah Alcorn sparks sadness, outrage, and resolve …

Shockingly Bad Medicine - a court in China issues a landmark ruling against a counseling center that claimed to "cure" homosexuality

Not Just Thugs - thirty-five members of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe are injured as thugs invade a private holiday party …

Push Back - security forces in Gambia arrest three men on charges of homosexuality, even as the European Union and the U.S. sharply reduce financial aid because of the draconian anti-gay law signed by homophobic President Yahya Jammeh in October that prompted the arrests …

Pyramid Crackdown - more than two dozen men arrested for "perversion" and "debauchery" at an early December raid on a Cairo bathhouse purportedly orchestrated by a much-maligned TV journalist go on trial, but three-year sentences are reduced to one year for each of the eight men convicted in November of the same charges for appearing in a widely-viewed YouTube video that authorities called Egypt's first gay wedding ceremony …

Shaking the Dust Off Their Feet - Alexandria, Indiana's First United Methodist Church closes after some 80% of the congregation quits in protest of the firing of an openly gay choir director ….

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

NewsWrap for the week ending November 8, 2014

SUMMARY

Repression Walks Again - A new bill in Uganda seeks to revive the infamous "Anti-Homosexuality Act", and is being called "even more draconian" …

Many Happy Arrests - leading Nigerian LGBT rights and health advocate Ifeanyi Orazulike says he was arrested without charge on his birthday and threatened by police officials …

Hard Time for A Good Time - eight Egyptian men who appeared in a notoriously viral "gay wedding" video each get three year prison terms …

Success for Dress - Malaysian transwomen win the right to cross-dress, and the Irish government settles a 21-year legal battle with trans activist Dr. Lydia Foy …

Breaking the Wedding Ceiling - a contrary marriage equality ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals may finally force the Supreme Court to settle the issue, as state marriage equality battles continue to rage in Missouri, Kansas and Florida …

Not Laughing - Estonia becomes the region's third country to deny entry to Russian sitcom actor Ivan ("burn gays alive in ovens") Okhlobystin …

You're Out, I'm OUT - Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, who banned the aforementioned Okhlobystin from his country last week, announces that he is "proud to be gay" on his official Twitter page …

Dropped Call - Russian officials tear down a six-foot interactive iPhone tribute to late Apple founder Steve Jobs on a St. Petersburg college campus after current CEO Tim Cook comes out, explaining that the memorial has now become "a public call to sodomy" ….

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

Mushrooming Marriage Equality

Week of October 13, 2014
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As the United States Supreme Court stays mum on pending appeals, doubling the number of marriage equality states, Rachel Maddow, Bryan Fischer, Stephen Colbert, John Boehner and Whoopi Goldberg have plenty to say!

Producers Marlee Walchuk and Tully Callender, also known as the lesbian musical duo Sugarbeach, get artists and fans activated for the RightOutTV Music & Video Awards (interviewed by Len Rogers).

And in <i><a href="http://bit.ly/1tyAP9r">NewsWrap</a></i>: the U.S. Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit combine to open civil marriage to same-gender couples in almost a dozen new states, Estonia engages gender-free civil unions, Kyrgyzstan considers a Russian-style "no promo homo" law, a Kenyan trans-activist wins her landmark identity fight, opponents torch Cape Town's LGBT-welcoming Open Mosque, D.C.'s Catholic University sours on Milk, and more news reported this week by Michael Allan 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!

NewsWrap for the week ending October 11, 2014

SUMMARY

Equality Floodgates - The U.S. Supreme Court's October 6th decision opens civil marriage to same-gender couples in almost a dozen new states, and the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the following day adds five more to that burgeoning list …

Narrow Opening - a civil unions proposal for same-gender couples squeaks by Estonia's Parliament …

Copy Kyrgyz - a pending law banning "gay propaganda" in Kyrgyzstan is even worse than its Russian counterpart …

No Offense Intended - a Latvian Roman Catholic Archbishop says homosexuality is destroying humanity but claims that he’s not anti-gay …

Wrath of Bigots - Cape Town, South Africa's LGBT-welcoming Open Mosque is firebombed …

Mistaken Identities - transgender activist Audrey Mbugua wins a landmark legal battle in Kenya, but 11 girls in a Kenyan private school are suspended for "lesbianism" …

Trade Out - a Russian high school exchange student studying in the U.S. seeks American asylum because gay people are persecuted in his homeland …

Soured Screening - the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. cancels a previously-approved screening of the Oscar-winning biopic "Milk" because, among other concerns, rainbow flags on flyers promoting the event were too big ….

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

Pride -- The Movie!

Week of October 6, 2014
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The unlikely true story of the 1980s Thatcher-era pairing of striking Welsh coalminers and London LGBT activists comes to the screen in the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm award-winning Pride, written by Stephen Beresford and directed by Matthew Warchus. Mary Milton of ShoutOut Bristol chats with union organizer David "Dai" Donovan, one of the real life characters portrayed in the movie destined to become a classic!

And in NewsWrap: marriage equality advances in the U.S. but stalls in Australia, Belgrade clears the way for a thousand Serbs to parade with Pride, trade pressure gives Museveni pause on Uganda's pending Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the Philippines' Quezon City and Spain's Catalonia region block bias and hate, drag queens fight Facebook's names game, and more news reported this week by Michelle-Marie Gilkeson and Rick Watts (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 October 4, 2014

SUMMARY

Timing Troubles - A civil marriage equality bill stalls yet again in the Australian parliament …

Don't Ask Us - equality activists and opponents alike were awaiting word on whether the U.S. Supreme Court would hear one or more civil marriage cases – but the Justices take a pass …

How Many More Shoes to Drop? - a Missouri Circuit Court judge is the latest to overturn a state's ban on civil marriage for same-gender couples …

Safe, Not Silent - more than a thousand LGBT people and their supporters march in the first peaceful Pride parade in four years in the Serbian capital of Belgrade …

Bad for Business - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is apparently having second thoughts about the latest version in parliament of the possibly trade-killing "Anti-Homosexuality Law" …

"Enormous Step Backwards" - the semi-autonomous Indonesian province of Aceh, which operates under Islamic law, enacts a new statute to punish same-gender sex with public caning …

Development Over Discrimination - Quezon City, the biggest in the Philippines, expands its LGBT anti-bias protections to include education, insurance, access to goods and services, and accommodations …

Hate Gets the Spanish Boot - the Spanish region of Catalonia approves a bill levying heavy fines on perpetrators of anti-LGBT hate crimes …

We Are Not Amused - social media giant "Facebook" learns the hard way that you don't mess with drag queens ….

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

Queer India Now & Collins Gets Better

Week of September 22, 2014
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As the news breaks that India’s government will challenge the recent Supreme Court ruling that legally recognized trans-people as a third gender, we hear "Sapphic Nomads" Katie Cook and Maggie Young's second audio postcard from Mumbai.

It Got Better for pro-basketball player Jason Collins after he came out, as he tells Chrisanne Eastwood at the OutFest screening of the docu-series on the LGBT youth support project.

Plus: right-winger Tony Perkins' homophobic radio rant against the Smithsonian Institution.

And in NewsWrap: Justice Ginsberg makes U.S. marriage equality predictions, Egypt grinds gay men into entrapment, Russia's "no promo homo" pol poisons  opening of St. Petersburg's QueerFest, Texas hotels "86" Museveni, Ugandan gay activist wins U.S. asylum, and more news reported this week by Carole Meyers and Wenzel Jones (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!

St. Pat's Ploy & Love Is Strange

Week of September 15, 2014
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Mature marriage meets separation anxiety in the new Ira Sachs film starring Alfred Molina and John Lithgow (interview by Steve Pride).

The organizers of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade try to green-wash their bias, but they can't fool Gay USA's Ann Northrup and Chris Cooper.

And in NewsWrap: Ugandan repression migrates to Gambia, Cairo cops hunt down viral video "gay wedding" guests, the Australian Football League rethinks its deal with the Sultan, mounting marriage equality cases compel U.S. Supreme Court consideration, and more news reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Kristin Mellian (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 September 13, 2014

SUMMARY

Hateful Contagion - Gambia lawmakers approve a draconian Uganda-like anti-LGBT law, while seven men arrested in Cairo for appearing in a viral video that allegedly shows Egypt's first gay wedding ceremony "test negative" for homosexuality …

Deal With the Sultan - the Australian Football League "reassesses" its major sponsorship deal with Royal Brunei Airlines in view of the pending laws in the tiny Southeast Asian country that call for gay people to be stoned to death …

Supreme Suspense - all eyes will be on the U.S. Supreme Court on September 29th when justices meet behind closed doors to consider hearing appeals of marriage equality rulings in Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah, while three other federal appeals courts ponder marriage equality cases in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, and Hawai'i …

Clobbering Quackery - a federal appeals court upholds New Jersey's ban on so-called "reparative therapy" for patients under the age of 18 that claims to turn gay people straight …

Dishonorable Bias - a Republican-controlled panel of the U.S. House of Representatives rejects a bill to provide lesbian and gay military veterans with spousal benefits equal to their heterosexual counterparts, even if they live in states that don't recognize their legal marriages …

Taming the Beast - professional homophobes Mat Staver and Matt Barber of the "Faith and Freedom" radio show use a "heterosexual men are pigs" argument to keep civil marriage exclusively heterosexual ….

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.

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.

NewsWrap for the week ending December 8, 2012

SUMMARY

Wedding Win - Mexico's Supreme Court overturns a law in the state of Oaxaca that defined marriage as exclusively heterosexual …

Supreme Showdown - U.S. Supreme Court agrees to review both California's marriage equality-banning Proposition 8 and one of several eligible cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) …

Separating Church and State - county judge rejects a request by church groups and a right-wing "family" group to intervene in a lawsuit challenging Illinois' ban on civil marriage for lesbian and gay couples …

Al-ki Is Now - longtime lesbian couple becomes the first to get a marriage license in the state of Washington at the stroke of midnight on December 6th, the first hour that they became available to same-gender couples …

Taking "Dirigo" Seriously - Portland plans to be the first city in Maine to issue licenses to and perform weddings of gay and lesbian couples when that state's marriage equality law takes effect at midnight on December 29th …

Choosing the Harder Right - lesbian West Point graduate marries her longtime partner in the U.S. Military Academy's iconic Cadet Chapel, becoming the first same-gender couple to wed there since the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and the advent of marriage equality in the state of New York …

Jet Set - gay male couple becomes the first to have their wedding celebrated in the pages of "Jet," the venerable biweekly magazine aimed primarily at African-American readers …

Crossing A Great Divide - family court judge in Israel approves the first divorce of a Canadian-married gay couple whose legal union had been recognized by order of Israel's High Court of Justice …

At the Helm - the iconic Hikaru Sulu beams down to the mythical comic book town of Riverdale ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted December 11th.