6/11/2012 This Way Out

Program 1262

Hosted by Greg Gordon and produced with Lucia Chappelle

 "NewsWrap": Russian Orthodox Church fundamentalists attack peaceful Pride-seeking LGBT demonstrators in Moscow, while a St. Petersburg judge rules that city officials can not ban public LGBT events before they happen as violations of the recently-enacted "gay propaganda" law; in the first U.S. federal appeals court level ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a unanimous 3-judge panel of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston declares the measure unconstitutional, while the Supreme Court in the Australian state of New South Wales approves listing a gay male couple as the two parents on the birth certificate of a child born to them through surrogacy; Nepal's government announces that it will soon allow transgender citizens to choose "other" rather than just "male" or "female" on official I.D. cards, while Yonlada Suanyos becomes Thailand's first openly transgender elected official; a New York state appeals court judge, citing a "tremendous evolution of social attitudes," rules that being falsely identified as gay no longer constitutes slander, while a fellow "Teletubby" finally refutes the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's infamous claim that the purple "magic bag" carrying "Tinky Winky" was gay (written by GREG GORDON with thanks to REX WOCKNER, produced by STEVE PRIDE, and reported this week by WENZEL JONES and JENN MAHONEY) [10:18] + Billboard for the queer youth play & panel and "In The Family" features

AUSTRALIA's first "out," first Asian cabinet member, Finance Minister PENNY WONG, has avoided being the country's loudest voice for marriage equality, even though she and her partner have an infant daughter. But Wong is no shrinking violet either. A witheringly honest, televised exchange between her and the Opposition's Shadow Treasurer JOE HOCKEY on the show "Q&A" was heralded by many as a watershed moment in national politics

A production from MINNESOTA's only pan-Asian performing arts organization called "Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them" was followed by a queer youth of color community forum at Augsburg College in MINNEAPOLIS to help frame a conversation about what can be done until "It Gets Better." "This Way Out" correspondent Dixie Treichel (from "Fresh Fruit" on KFAI-FM/Minneapolis-St. Paul) caught up with some of the participants and put together a collage of comments that include "Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them" director RANDY REYES and actor ALEX GALICK, and queer youth panelists JASON JACKSON, GILBERT ACHAY, MARIA KAMENSKA, and XAY YANG . [www.muperformingarts.org]

Critics have compared it to the classic "To Kill a Mockingbird," so why might audiences not like writer/producer/director/star PATRICK WANG's "IN THE FAMILY"? The subject matter is not easy, focusing on its gay Asian non-biological father's battle over parental rights in the Deep South. But "This Way Out's" STEVE PRIDE found that the characters and their story took hold of him and would not let go (with comments by the filmmaker, audio clips, and brief outro music from "Father Figure" performed by GEORGE MICHAEL)[www.inthefamilythemovie.com]