Award-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman talk about finding the stories of those who were swept up when Germany went from being a homosexual haven to a horrific Nazi hell (interviewed by Steve Pride). Contains material some listeners may find disturbing.
Passionate voices filled the Nebraska Capitol building over a second attempt to sideline trans student athletes, and most persuasive argument against the ban came from married gay dad and state Senator John Fredrickson.
And in NewsWrap: England’s National Health Service calls the medical evidence supporting pediatric gender-affirming healthcare “remarkably weak” in The Cass Review, Uganda activists will appeal the Constitutional Court’s ruling that upheld the “Anti-Homosexuality Act” to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court allows Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans young people to take effect, West Virginia’s law excluding transgender athletes from competing in school sports is struck down by a federal appeals court, bills to restrict the rights of transgender people are vetoed by the governors of Kansas and Arizona, the cartoon character Bluey has a friend with two mommies, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor).
All this on the April 22, 2024 edition of This Way Out!
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Complete Program Summary
for the week of April 22, 2024
Paragraph 175 – The Movie
Hosted this week by Lucia Chappelle and produced with Greg Gordon
ADVISORY:
Some listeners may find descriptions of how gay men were treated in Nazi Germany
in the Paragraph 175 feature to be disturbing.
NewsWrap (full transcript below): A highly controversial report about pediatric gender-affirming healthcare by England’s National Health Service, the Cass Review, concludes that the efficacy of typical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies, has not been proven, further restricting access to supportive care for trans young people … Ugandan activists appeal the Constitutional Court’s April 3rd ruling upholding most parts of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act (AKA the “Kill the Gays” law) to the East African nation’s Supreme Court … the U.S. Supreme Court allows Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare to be enforced even as the laws’s constitutionality is being challenged in a lower court … the Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns West Virginia’s ban on trans student athletes … Kansas’ Democratic Governor Laura Kelly vetoes a Republican-enacted trans youth gender-affirming healthcare ban … Arizona’s Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoes a Republican-passed measure that would have virtually erased the legal recognition of trans and non-binary people in the state … and Australia-based but globally popular Bluey becomes the latest animated TV show for preschoolers to introduce queer characters [introduced by the Bluey TV theme song and with a brief audio excerpt from the show] (written by GREG GORDON, edited by LUCIA CHAPPELLE, reported this week by JOHN DYER V and AVA DAVIS, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR).
Feature: Passionate voices filled the Nebraska Capitol building this month when the Republican-dominated legislature considered, for the second consecutive year, a bill to sideline transgender student athletes (with comments by sponsoring Republican state Senator Kathleen Kauth, supportive Republican Governor Jim Pillen, Democratic state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, Republican state Senator Merv Reipe, and most notably Democratic state Senator John Fredrickson, with intro/outro music by THE CARPENTERS)
Feature: Rising right-wing driven anti-semitism and homo- transphobia are making analogies with the 1930s and 40s more and more common. We featured Paragraph 175, a documentary on that period when it was originally released in 2000. It’s still insightful today (featuring producers/directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman in conversation with STEVE PRIDE, and with audio clips from their multi-award-winning film narrated by RUPERT EVERETT).
NewsWrap
A summary of some of the news in or affecting
global LGBTQ communities
for the week ending April 20th, 2024
Written by Greg Gordon, edited by Lucia Chappelle,
reported this week by John Dyer V and Ava Davis,
produced by Brian DeShazor
A highly controversial report by England’s National Health Service calls the medical evidence supporting pediatric gender-affirming healthcare “remarkably weak.” Well-known British pediatrician Hilary Cass was commissioned in 2020 to lead an investigation into the sharp rise in referrals to the only clinic for gender variant youth. The Cass Review drew on research conducted by independent academics at the University of York and comments by clinicians and families. The resulting report released on April 10th acknowledges that young people with gender dysphoria need specific health care, but it pillories all the current social and medical modes of treatment.
A plethora of previous studies into the care of those whose gender differs from that identified at birth are “poor quality” research, according to The Cass Review. It questions the use of reversible puberty blockers and hormone therapies that has long been accepted as the correct healthcare for trans young people.
One of The Cass Review’s critics is Dr. Hane Maung of the trans healthcare service organization GenderGP. In his words, it “… dismisses a very large number of studies and omits studies from the past two years. Hence, it neglects a vast amount of evidence on the benefits of gender affirming medical treatment for trans youth.”
Others are concerned that the Review undermines efforts to ban conversion therapy. Providers might fear that advising caution in gender dysphoria cases could be equated with debunked methods of changing sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling, according to The Guardian.
Trans young people’s access to puberty blockers and hormone therapies in England has already been restricted. It will become close to impossible under the government of Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The opposition Labour Party is expected to regain power in national elections later this year, but that won’t help. A Party official told The Sun this week that he no longer stands by his previous statements that “trans women are women.”
The Cass Review’s conclusions are reportedly being evaluated by the independent national health services of Scotland and Wales.
NHS England will now hone in on gender-affirming healthcare for trans adults. It announced a new review the day after the Cass release, allegedly based on whistleblower complaints.
The Cass Review is already having ripple effects in Belgium and the Netherlands. Health officials in both countries are now questioning the pediatric gender-affirming care they offer.
LGBTQ activists in Uganda are appealing the Constitutional Court’s April 3rd ruling that upheld the horrific Anti-Homosexuality Act. The 22 plaintiffs will take their argument that what’s known as the “Kill the Gays Law” violates Uganda’s Constitution to the Supreme Court.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act punishes “aggravated homosexuality” with death. It also increases the penalty for private consensual adult same-gender sex with up to life in prison. An earlier version was struck down in 2014 on a legal technicality.
Officials in the East African nation thumb their noses at the condemnations of international human rights groups. Several Western nations threaten economic sanctions. The World Bank has already suspended millions in loans to Uganda from the International Monetary Fund because the law directly violates its anti-discrimination policies.
The United States Supreme Court is allowing Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans young people to take effect. The 2023 law makes providing that care a felony.
A temporary injunction against the law’s enforcement was issued in December, when U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said he believed it would be found unconstitutional. However, the 6-to-3 conservative majority of the Supreme Court reversed that decision on April 15th. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “Just do a little forum shopping for a willing judge and, at the outset of the case, you can win a decree barring the enforcement of a duly enacted law against anyone.” Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
Two trans teens and their families are challenging the measure, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, its national office and three private law firms. The high court decision specifically shielded the plaintiffs, but the draconian Idaho ban can now be enforced against everyone else.
A joint statement warned that the ruling “allows the state to shut down the care that thousands of families rely on while sowing further confusion and disruption.”
West Virginia’s law excluding transgender athletes from competing in school sports is out of bounds, according to the Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Toby Heytens wrote that the state’s Save Women’s Sports Act amounts to sex-based discrimination against the plaintiff. West Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said, “We know the law is correct and [we] will use every available tool to defend it.”
ACLU attorneys for 8th grade trans girl track athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson argue that the ban violates Title IX, a federal law that forbids sex discrimination in schools. In Judge Heytens’ words, Becky “has been recognized by her community and legally changed her name, and West Virginia has issued a birth certificate listing her sex as female. … [Offering her] a ‘choice’ between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all.”
Becky’s attorneys say the ruling is “a tremendous victory for our client.” Unfortunately, Heytens restricted his ruling to the plaintiff’s participation on girls’ teams based on her specific situation. He took pains to say that Title IX doesn’t necessarily require all schools in the state to allow every trans girl to play on girls’ teams.
Bills to restrict the rights of transgender people were vetoed by two Democratic governors this week.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly rejected the state legislature’s prohibition on healthcare providers offering gender-affirming treatment to trans people under the age of 18. The Republican-backed measure also opened the door to civil lawsuits and potential disciplinary actions against offenders.
In her veto message Kelly wrote, “This divisive legislation targets a small group of Kansans by placing government mandates on them and dictating to parents how to best raise and care for their children. I do not believe that is a conservative value, and it’s certainly not a Kansas value.”
Meanwhile, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that critics say would have virtually erased the legal existence of the state’s transgender and non-binary people. It would have removed the word “gender” from state law, and replaced it with the word “sex” as defined solely by biology.
Hobbs also vetoed a bill that would have allowed public school teachers to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
Finally,
[SOUND – Bluey theme song]
Bluey has joined the ranks of animated TV shows for preschoolers featuring queer characters. The adventures of the six-year-old Heeler puppy, her family and friends are set in Brisbane, Queensland, but the show is wildly popular around the world.
In this week’s extra-long Season 3 finale, “Bluey’s” mom and dad might have to sell the family home and move away. Her sad scenario prompts a classroom discussion about other sad stories. Her Chihuahua classmate “Pretzel” casually notes that …
[SOUND]
Pretzel: When my guinea pig run away, my mums told me he might come back, but he didn’t.
Classmates: Awww!
TikToker @AussieGirlMarge called it a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.”
[SOUND]
Pretzel: When my guinea pig run away, my mums told me he might come back, but he didn’t.
Still fans around the world celebrated the episode, titled The Sign. User @babedaboonie proclaimed “Finally! It’s the only thing Bluey was missing.”
Of course, social media homophobes clutched animated pearls is response.
Bluey streams on Disney Plus in North America and the U.K., on ABC iView Down Under, and on several other outlets.
Producer Sam Moor told BBC Radio 4 earlier this week that Season 4 is already in the works. He says, “I’m sure we have many more surprises in store for you.”