The Global Rise of Anti-LGBTQ Laws (Part Two) | This Way Out Radio Episode #1989
- May 12
- 7 min read
In part two of her series on the global rise of anti-LGBTQ laws, This Way Out’s Ebony Joseph explores how criminalization and political hostility are creating a growing public health crisis for queer communities worldwide. Advocates say laws targeting LGBTQ people not only fuel stigma and violence, but also discourage people from seeking HIV prevention, mental health care, and other essential services. The report highlights countries where fear of arrest or public exposure keeps people from accessing clinics, while anti-LGBTQ rhetoric increasingly spreads from government policy into everyday life.
The story also examines the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid programs, including the dismantling of USAID and restrictions on funding tied to “gender ideology.” Former USAID officials and global health advocates warn that the loss of support for LGBTQ-focused HIV outreach programs could have devastating consequences, especially in countries where queer people already face criminalization. Despite growing hostility, organizers and activists continue building local networks of care and resistance, insisting that queer and trans lives deserve dignity, safety, and access to healthcare.
And in NewsWrap: Botswana amends penal code removing anti-LGBTQ+ provisions which previously criminalized same-sex relationships, United States Trump Administration release 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy defining major terror groups including “violent secular political groups” with ideologies that are “anti-American, radically pro-transgender,” Zambian RightsCon is abruptly cancelled with officials claiming the event does not align with the country’s “national values,” Pennsylvania legislators amend Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, Isaac Ranson, a transgender man, joins Minnesota Aurora FC soccer team as the first openly trans player, but must play with women’s team because of his gender assigned at birth— and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer the 5th and RET (News Writers Ebony Joseph and Jeb Backe, News Producer Brian DeShazor).
Author Armistead Maupin reads from Tales of the City from September 10, 1990 on This Way Out in the Rainbow Rewind.
Featured speakers: Tabani Moyo, Armistead Maupin, Neela Ghoshal, Donald Trump, Kent Klindera, Alex Garner.
Credits: Associate Producer/Host Lucia Chappelle, News Producer Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe and Ebony Joseph, assistance from Lauren Schmitt, feature report Ebony Joseph producer, NewsWrap reporters John Dyer the 5th and Ret, music by The Fray and Kim Wilson
All this on the May 11, 2026 Edition of This Way Out!
Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.
NewsWrap
Program #1989 Distributed 05/12/26
In NewsWrap: Botswana amends penal code removing anti-LGBTQ+ provisions which previously criminalized same-sex relationships, United States Trump Administration release 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy defining major terror groups including “violent secular political groups” with ideologies that are “anti-American, radically pro-transgender,” Zambian RightsCon is abruptly cancelled with officials claiming the event does not align with the country’s “national values,” Pennsylvania legislators amend Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, Isaac Ranson, a transgender man, joins Minnesota Aurora FC soccer team as the first openly trans player, but must play with women’s team because of his gender assigned at birth— and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer the 5th and RET (News Writers Ebony Joseph and Jeb Backe, News Producer Brian DeShazor).
Botswana courts have formally removed anti-LGBTQ+ provisions from the law. On March 26th, 2026, the Botswana government published an amendment with removed paragraphs from the country’s penal code which had criminalized so-called “unnatural offences”.
Under the penal code, same-sex relationships could be seen as proper cause for imprisonment up to seven years.
The change comes six years after the landmark ruling by Botswana High Court striking down the ban on consensual same-sex intimacy. Local LGBTIQ+ group, titled “Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana”, say this win means access to healthcare, safety, employment, and freedom to live openly.
The LGBTQ+ community continues to fight for more legal recognition and protections in Botswana as a couple now fights for their right to marry, arguing against the discrimination of Botswana’s Marriage Act.
The Trump administration has just released a 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy. Published May Sixth, the 16 page memo outlines what the White House claims to be “three major types of terror groups”. The three groups are defined as “narcoterrorists and transnational gangs,” “legacy Islamist terrorists,” and “violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and fascists”.
But further into the document, the administration expands that list to include what it describes as “violent secular political groups” with ideologies that are “anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist,” continuing the Trump administration’s broader campaign of targeting transgender people through policy and rhetoric.
The Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council Doctor, Sebastian Gorka, has similarly misattributed violence to transgender and non-binary individuals.
This Counterterrorism memo marks yet another attempt to criminalize transgender people in the US.
The Zambian Government has abruptly canceled RightsCon, the world’s largest conference on human rights and technology, just days before the summit was set to begin in Lusaka.
Organizers say nearly 3000 activists, journalists, and tech leaders from over 150 countries were expected to attend.
Officials claimed the event did not align with the country’s “national values,” while advocacy groups accuse the government of bowing to pressure over discussions involving LGBTQ rights, censorship, and surveillance, some even citing Chinese influence as the cause.
According to Freedom House, a US-based democracy NGO, Zambia is rated “Partly Free” meaning that citizens face significant challenges to political rights and civil liberties.
In an interview with DW Africa, Tabani Moyo the Executive Director the Media Institute of Southern Africa, warned that for these convenings to survive political interference, and ultimately, for human rights to progress, democratic institutions must stand together.
[Audio: DW Africa Tabani Moyo Interview]
This will have serious ramifications on the broader rights as I spoke about….Hence the need for the future of collaboration advocacy and convenings of this nature to have multiple prong strategies when we are convening global conversations that will no longer focus on a single country because of the far-reaching end of these underlying circumstances and the hidden hand of maligning actors. You now need to plan with three, four, five countries or two or more continents in advance because you might not know how even the most predictable of societies would end up behaving if they are be if they operating under duress the way diplomatically so to speak diplomatically so to speak as it has unfolded in Zambia.
On April 28th, Pennsylvania legislators passed House Bill 2103, making it unlawful for someone to be denied housing, employment or access to public accommodations based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Democrat Representative Ben Waxman proposed the bill as a preemptive measure after a recent investigation into a white-only Arkansas community found that they technically operate within the law. Out of concern for a similar exploitation of loopholes in the law, the legislation specifically expands protections from discrimination.
The bill amends a piece of legislation from 1955 known as the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. The original bill prohibited certain practices of discrimination including race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age or national origin by employers, labor organizations, and more.
Expanding upon the Human Relations Act, the amendment passed by a narrow vote of 101 to 100. The vote split almost entirely down party lines with the exception of Democrat, Representative Frank Burns joining all republicans in opposing the bill. Nevertheless, House Bill 2103 advances to the Pennsylvania Senate.
Ghanaian trans musician Angel Maxine has been in hot water after poking fun at Member of Parliament John Ntim Fordjour claiming the two have had past love affairs together. Her social media posts come in response to Fordjour’s advocacy for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known colloquially as the Ghanaian anti-LGBTQ bill.
The legislation would enforce the imprisonment of individuals engaged in same-sex romantic involvement, banning trans health care, prohibition of same-sex marriage, among other related provisions.
Angel Maxine’s remarks regarding her “gay lover”, John Ntim Fordjour, picked up traction on platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and X, snowballing to the point of discussion on the floor of Parliament. John Ntim Fordjour publicly denied her claims, and threatened legal actions calling her statements defamatory.
Angel Maxine has refused to retract her comments on social media. She defended her satire in a public statement specifying, “In demonstrating the risk of such an expansive criminal law, I mentioned Hon. Ntim Fordjour as my lover. My purpose was to press the point that false reporting, public suspicion, and the mob-like justice that animates the Bill put everyone at risk,”
She went on to voice concerns for the ways the bill will criminalize the ordinary lives of queer people. Angel Maxine has also released an image of her lawyers’ formal response to Fordjour arguing that her statements “constitute fair comment on a matter of public interest.”
A Minnesota women’s soccer team is making history after signing its first openly transgender player.
Isaac Ranson has joined Minnesota Aurora FC for the upcoming season. Ranson, a transgender man, played for California State University, Fullerton and won Big West Goalkeeper of the year in twenty-twenty-three and twenty-twenty-five.
Ranson’s signing comes as debates over transgender athletes continue around the country, with several Republican-led states pushing restrictions on trans participation in sports, especially in schools.
According to the United Soccer League rules, players must join the team matching their gender assigned at birth. So in spite of Isaac Ranson being a trans man, he must play with the women’s team.
In an interview with The Big West, Ranson said that women’s soccer has been one of the few spaces where he’s felt safe and supported while living openly as himself, saying “It honestly means the world to me to be able to stand proudly and be who I am. Finally being able to be Isaac…Trans individuals are facing a lot of hate in sports, in the media. There's just not enough LGBTQ+ representation out there. I want to help change that.”
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