Jenn Deerinwater Creates Change | This Way Out Radio Episode #1975
- This Way Out
- 2 minutes ago
- 7 min read
An indigiqueer Creating Change keynoter calls for radical inclusion; the E.U.’s rights council urges all member states to ban conversion therapy, Russia declares ILGA “undesirable”, Budapest’s mayor is officially charged with criminally allowing last year’s LGBTQ Pride march, Missouri’s top court upholds the state’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, and an expelled trans Space Force colonel announces her U.S. congressional run.
Those stories and more this week when you choose “This Way Out”.
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Credits: Hosted this week by Lucia Chappelle and produced with Greg Gordon. “NewsWrap” reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Ava Davis and produced by Brian DeShazor. Jenn Deerinwater feature produced by Greg Gordon with thanks to Cathy Renna and The National LGBTQ Task Force. Theme music: Kim Wilson. Additional music: Paul Simon; Ty Defoe.
In our 38th year satisfying your weekly minimum requirement of LGBTQ news and culture!
Complete Program Summary
for the week of February 2, 2026, 2026
Jenn Deerinwater Creates Change
In “NewsWrap” [full transcript below]: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Union’s independent human rights body, approves a non-binding resolution banning so-called “conversion therapy”, the debunked practice that falsely claims that sexual orientation and gender identity can be “straightened out” through a combination of counseling and prayer; Russia designates the global queer advocacy group ILGA an “undesirable foreign organization” that is “a threat to the foundation of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the defense capability of the country or the security of the state”, which can lead to up to 6 years in prison for any Russian citizen involved with the group in any way; the government of Hungary’s authoritarian P.M. Viktor Orbán officially files criminal charges against progressive Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for supporting last June’s LGBTQ Pride March that drew a record crowd estimated at up to 250,000 to the capital city; Missouri’s Supreme Court unanimously upholds the U.S. state’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans patients under the age of 18, and the related ban on Medicaid paying for such care for anyone; and former Space Force Colonel BREE FRAM, the highest ranking transgender member of the U.S. armed forces until she was forced out by the Trump administration for being who she is, announces her candidacy for a seat in the U.S. Congress representing a district in northern Virginia [with audio excerpts from her campaign launch video] (written by GREG GORDON and LUCIA CHAPPELLE, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR, and reported this week by MICHAEL LeBEAU and AVA DAVIS).
Feature: An indigiqueer welcome greeted about 2,000 activists, organizers and advocates to Washington, DC for the annual queer political strategizing event held by the National LGBTQ Task Force. The theme of the January 20-25 CREATING CHANGE CONFERENCE was “Unstoppable,” and it featured plenary sessions, day-long institutes on organizing for specific affinity and interest groups, a cruise, gayme room and other special events, along with a wide array of resource spaces. For its opening general session, Creating Change turned to local indigenous leadership and heard a keynote address by JENN DEERINWATER (with intro/outro music performed right before her remarks by Grammy-winning two-spirit interdisciplinary performance artist TY DEFOE).
NewsWrap
for the week ending 31 January 2026
Program #1975 distributed 2 February 2026
Reported by MICHAEL LeBEAU and AVA DAVIS
written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle
and produced by Brian DeShazor
European Union member states are being urged to ban conversion therapy. Seventy-one members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted on January 28th in favor of the resolution, 26 voted against, and two members abstained. The Council of Europe is the E.U.’s independent human rights body. The resolution to ban the discredited “cure” is non-binding.
Sponsoring U.K. Labour M.P. Kate Osborne wrote, “Conversion practices have no scientific basis and have harmful consequences on the individuals to them. … They induce or strengthen feelings of shame, guilt, self-disgust, and worthlessness, and lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.”
Osborne stands firmly with the scientific community, where the claim that sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed through a combination of prayer and counseling is widely condemned.
Thousands of auto-generated emails opposed the inclusion of transgender people in the ban, and the gender critical group Sex Matters lobbied heavily against it. They maintain they are trying to “protect” trans young people who may be “confused about their sex.” The Society for Research in Child Development refutes that assertion. In their studies, trans youth are as consistent in their identification as their cisgender counterparts.
The queer advocacy group ILGA World says the conversion therapy ban “establishes an international human rights standard and provides detailed guidance for national authorities.” ILGA World’s press statement issues the challenge, “Responsibility now shifts to governments to translate the Assembly’s recommendations into law and policy.”
That could be one reason the Russian government finds ILGA World so “undesirable.” The federation of more than 2,000 affiliated groups revealed that it is now officially designated an “undesirable foreign organization,” as per a January 21st announcement on the Justice Ministry website.
The announcement reportedly also calls eight other organizations in Europe and the United States “undesirable,” including the Dutch organization B4Ukraine and George Washington University. Russian citizens found guilty of working with “undesirable” groups face up to six years in prison.
The “undesirable” law was first adopted in 2015 and was expanded in 2021 and 2024. It allows government authorities to target groups that are deemed “a threat to the foundation of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the defense capability of the country or the security of the state.”
The original law was blasted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights because it “failed to provide a clear legal definition or criteria for how the determination of such a threat will be conducted.” They warned that it “may have serious implications for civil society, particularly human rights defenders.”
The new strike against ILGA is just the latest Russian effort to suppress queer advocacy. In 2023 the country’s Supreme Court labeled what it called the “international LGBT movement” an “extremist organization.”
ILGA World’s membership covers more than 170 countries and territories, including groups in Russia. Executive Director Julia Ehrt was defiant in response to the designation. In her words, “Designating human rights groups ‘undesirable’ is outlandish and cynical … But no matter how much governments will try to legislate LGBTI people out of existence, movements will stay strong and committed, and solidarity remains alive across borders. And together, we will continue building a more just world for everyone.”
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony declares he’s “gone from being a proud suspect to a proud defendant.” Despite the slipping popularity of Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, his government is following through on a December threat to criminally charge the mayor for defying its ban on Pride celebrations. Karácsony declared it to be a municipal event and therefore not impacted by a national ban. Up to a quarter-million people participated last June in what turned out to be one of the largest LGBTQ Pride Marches in the country’s history.
Karácsony is accused of “[organizing and leading] a public gathering despite the police ban.” He faces an undetermined fine. Prosecutors asked a court on January 28th for a summary judgment in lieu of trial.
The 50-year-old Karácsony was elected mayor of Budapest in twenty-nineteen and has been a progressive thorn in Orbán’s side ever since. A longtime champion of LGBTQ+ rights, he’s defiantly flown both the rainbow Pride flag and the Ukrainian flag at City Hall.
Karácsony did not mince words about the charges on social media, saying “It seems that this is the price we pay in this country when we stand up for our own freedom and that of others.”
Missouri’s ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare has been unanimously upheld by the state’s Supreme Court. It also agreed that Medicaid should not pay for anyone’s gender-affirming care.
The measure was enacted by the legislature’s Republican majority and signed into law in 2023 by Republican Governor Mike Parson. The ACLU of Missouri and the queer-defending Lambda Legal brought the challenge on behalf of three families of transgender young people, medical providers, and LGBTQ advocacy organizations. They argued that the law should be subject to heightened scrutiny, a more demanding legal standard applied to cases involving the classification of individuals by specific characteristics, such as gender. Both the lower court and the state high court rejected that argument, according to the Missouri Independent. The plaintiffs claimed that the law discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status. However, Judge Kelly Broniec wrote for the Court that it is “only based on medical use and age.”
Broniec concluded, “There is no fundamental right to seek care the legislature has prohibited. … Because (the law) does not infringe on a fundamental right, rational-basis review is appropriate.”
The Missouri high court ruling echoes last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people under the age of 18. It ruled that the ban does not discriminate on the basis of sex or transgender status.
Missouri’s highest court also rejected arguments that the Medicaid ban violates the state Constitution. Broniec wrote that it only affects government spending. She believes that adults in the state should just pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary transition treatment. The litigants are still deciding whether to appeal.
Finally …
FRAM: Too many Americans are afraid of what the federal government will do to them instead of being confident in what it can do for them.
Bree Fram is running to represent a northern Virginia district in the U.S. Congress. She was the highest-ranking transgender member of the U.S. armed forces before her forced retirement.
FRAM: After 9/11, my country called. I served twenty-three years wearing the flag on my shoulder, reaching the rank of colonel. But then, Donald Trump fired me – not because of my performance, but because of who I am.
Fram was placed on administrative leave last June pending separation under the Defense Department’s newly reinstated transgender ban. She served in the Air Force in Iraq and Qatar during George W. Bush’s so-called “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” She came out as trans in 2016. Donald Trump instituted the ban on trans service members during his first presidential term, but the Biden administration overturned it. Fram subsequently joined the Space Force and was the first trans service member in the U.S. military to be promoted to colonel in 2024.
The 46-year-old political newbie raised more than 100,000 dollars from at least 400 donors across 46 states in less than 24 hours after announcing her candidacy, according to Metro Weekly.
FRAM: I’m running for Congress to make opportunity affordable, to protect our basic rights, and insure we have a government that works for you. I’m not gonna run away from my oath to the Constitution.
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