This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine

How does your first time at a gay bar compare with the experiences of others? Come cruising with curator Art Smith through his growing online collection of those stories — and you can add yours to thousands of others, like the one told by Daniel M. Jaffe (produced by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: going abroad to have a surrogacy baby is now a crime in Italy, Moscow police raid two downtown clubs p...

Author and journalist Nico Lang’s new book “American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era” tells the stories of eight trans and nonbinary teenagers from across the United States, highlighting their triumphs and struggles (interviewed by Daniel Huecias). And in NewsWrap: about one in 20 Kiwis came out in New Zealand’s first Census to count LGBTQIA+ people,...

Activist-author Urvashi Vaid’s gender politics may have been ahead of her time, but her nibling, poet-comedian Alok Vaid-Menon, finds contemporary resonance in recordings of her from This Way Out’s archives (part 2 of 2, produced by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: the European Court of Justice orders all 27 E.U. states to recognize a person’s legal gender transition secured in any other member s...

Internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, actor and author of “Beyond the Gender Binary” Alok Vaid-Menon critiques the LGBTQ+ movement’s myopia around intersectional politics, and, thanks to This Way Out’s archives, discovers that their perspective echoes their Aunt Urvashi Vaid’s analysis of “Virtual Equality” in the 1990s (Part 1, interviewed by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: Thailand King Ma...

At the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, a keynote address by Democratic vice presidential nominee, coach and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recounts his own track record as an LGBTQ ally, which is as long and cutting-edge as that of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. And in NewsWrap: Georgia’s Parliament passes a package of bills modeled on Russia’s infamous “no promo homo law,” Kh...

The bold, brash and bawdy life and artistry of Sophie Tucker is captured in a risqué and raucous one-woman cabaret show written and performed by Laural Meade (interviewed by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: the largest LGBTQ Pride March in Serbia’s history had several thousand people marching through the capital of Belgrade in defiance of violent threats, an accusation of theft in the midst of a...

Drag may be under fire today by the enforcers of “family values,” but not so back in the early 1900s according to scholar and historian Andrew L. Erdman, author of “Beautiful: The story of Julian Eltinge, America’s Greatest Female Impersonator” (interviewed by David Hunt). And in NewsWrap: openly gay Malcolm Bishop’s appointment as Lord Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tonga draws immediate c...

A gay Christian activist-author who started out as the closeted ghostwriter for some of the most powerful televangelists in the U.S. came out in 1994 with the book “Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America.” Mel White could hardly have been more prescient about the religious right politics that would lead to the MAGA movement and Christian Nationalism (original interview by Ian Mas...

The Democratic National Convention confirmed the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to top the Party’s ticket in the presidential election campaign at an enthusiastic gathering basking in the glow of the Republicans’ dreaded diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition to Harris and Walz, highlights from queers and allies include Senator LaPhonza Butler (CA), Transpor...

The late ballplayer Billy Bean talked about his intentions when he was first named Major League Baseball’s gay Ambassador for Inclusion in 2014 (interviewed by Chrisanne Eastwood and Wenzel Jones), and his success is proven by the response to last week’s homophobic incident involving Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas are known for being literary mavens, and...

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, whose pro-LGBTQ+ track record includes early support for marriage equality and the repeal of “Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell,” and making his state a sanctuary for transgender people. And in NewsWrap: Sofia’s streets fill with protesters when Bulgaria’s Parliament passes a “no promo homo” law, Argentina’s far-right President Javier Mile...

Right-wing politicians and pundits scream, but most students, faculty and staff believe that college and university diversity, equity and inclusion programs create an environment that’s welcoming for everyone. Assistant vice president Renee Wells of Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina sees how DEI improves all of campus life. (David Hunt reports) And in NewsWrap: U.K.’s ban on puberty...

Berlin-based writer, curator, and activist Federico Hewson has spent decades examining the intricate relationship between human beings and flowers and the symbolic interpretations of flowers. His latest initiative further explores that connection by pairing flowers with artistic renderings of queer activists around the world who were tragically murdered for their activism. Hewson shares his person...

All too often, companies with pro-LGBTQ public profiles pack up their Pride Month rainbow flags and pay their queer employees harsh reality. That was the experience of trans biotech engineer Alaina Kupec, and queer psychologist Dr. Jenna Brownfield talks about how to deal with the workplace battlefield. (Part 2 of 2 produced by David Hunt.) And in NewsWrap: South Korea’s Supreme Court orders the N...

Recent industry studies and the personal testimonies of out queer employees reveal a disturbing trend of employers backtracking on their support for ensuring welcoming workplaces. The statistics became reality for Dr. Khôra Martel when the University of Tennessee let her go from the religious studies department after she came out as trans. (Part 1 of 2 produced by David Hunt.) And in NewsWrap: a D...

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger talks about the perspective to be gained by blowing up masculine and feminine identities, and how he’s creating an Oasis for the art form (Part 2 of a two-part interview with Eric Jansen of “Out In The Bay”). And in NewsWrap: more than a hundred people skirt the governor’s ban on Istanbul LGBTQ Pride by crossing to the Asian side of the city, Santiago’...

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger sashays through those Golden Gates with a message of fabulousness in times of “drag panic” and performance bans (Part 1 of a two-part interview with Eric Jansen of “Out In The Bay”). Families of trans kids are fleeing the U.S. south, but founder and president of GRACE: Gender Research Advisory Council and Education Alaina Kupec is using their stories t...

Pivotal street actions that have fueled the march toward LGBTQ liberation are included in a newly-accessible collection of This Way Out programs at americanarchive.org: Section 28 protesters converged on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Downing Street, a Stop AIDS Now barricade blocked the Golden Gate Bridge, and a “rice-toss” in San Francisco expressed anger over the Defense of Marriage Act. G...

It’s the soundtrack that keeps a movement moving! Hear our playlist of essential pride anthems from past and present, and meet emerging queer musician and artist Caroline Kingsbury. She talks about the resurgence of LGBTQ+ music and drops her new single about chosen family and home, "Our House." (Part Three of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.) And in NewsWrap: gay Pakista...

Laws are being passed — and thugs are being deployed — attempting to shut down drag shows around the world. That’s the news making the headlines, but the backstage news is that drag performers are organizing in protest to protect their art. Qommittee Board President Blaq Dinamyte also talks about being a king in a predominantly drag queen world. (Part Two of a four-part Pride Month series produced...

One frightening mid-May night in San Diego, California, LGBTQ+ venues Pecs Bar, The Rail, Number One on Fifth Avenue and Rich’s were the targets of a pellet gun shooting spree. Rich’s employee Eddie Reynoso vividly recounts the disturbing incident that led to his being struck in the eye with a gel pellet. As publisher of the LGBTQ San Diego County News and the founder and executive director of the...

Forty-five years ago the shocking verdict in the murder of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and ally Mayor George Moscone sent the queer community and its journalists into the streets, where they were destined for a historic confrontation with police. Dr. Tanya D. Zuk of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas reflects on the significance of White Night. And in NewsWr...

Three short films — “Making Men” (Belgium, Zimbabwe), “Papi” (USA) and “Love Taps” (USA) — add a queer perspective as the New York African Film Festival explores the intersection of historical and contemporary people on the continent and among the diaspora, under the theme “Convergence in Time” (John Dyer V reports). We open the lesbian and gay wedding album 20 years after the first same-gender co...

Broadway’s 2023-24 season is full of LGBTQ-related plays and musicals. Gay USA’s Andy Humm and guest co-host Merryn Johns offer their thoughts on the hits, the misses and the queer Tony nominees; we add some examples from the shows “Suffs,” “Prayer for the French Republic,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Water for Elephants” and “Lempicka” to their astute reviews. Plus: comedian Dana Goldberg’s wise wo...

The world’s best-known memoirist whose the long series of books about his horrible and hilarious life began with “Running with Scissors” and “Dry.” Augusten Burroughs talks about writing, living and queering the memoir form. (Interviewed by Steve Pride.) And in NewsWrap: the United Methodist Church ends its 40-year ban on queer clergy and opens its doors to same-gender weddings, a Mombassa court o...