Gay Liberation Follies -1976 | This Way Out Radio Episode #2009
This week on This Way Out, a long-forgotten gem from the Pacifica Radio Archives brings some much-needed laughter: excerpts from The Gay Liberation Follies- recorded circa 1976 in San Francisco, a queer radio take on the legendary TV comedy Laugh-In, recently rediscovered and preserved from an original KPFA recording featuring Lily Tomlin performing some of her most famous characters: Ernestine, Edith Ann, and more. In the news U.S. hospitals pay millions to settle Justice Department demands targeting pediatric gender-affirming care, queer celebrities are arrested protesting Israel’s war in Gaza at the United Nations, and Colombia withdraws from the global Equal Rights Coalition.
Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ communities in Australia mobilize to defend trans and intersex rights, and U.S. Republicans discover that there’s more to politics than attacking trans people. Plus, a heartfelt tribute to Dolly Parton — and more queer news, history, and culture, now that you’ve discovered This Way Out.
Featured speakers: Hannah Einbinder, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin
Credits: Associate Producer Lucia Chappelle, Producer/ host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, the feature was produced by Brian DeShazor and Lucia Chappelle, NewsWrap reporters Marcos Najera and Lucia Chappelle. Dolly Parton Tribute produced by Sheri Lunn. Feature produced by Brian DeShazor music: Dolly Parton and theme music was written and performed by Kim Wilson.
All this on the September 28, 2026 Edition of This Way Out!
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This Way Out
NewsWrap
Program 2009 Distributed 09/28/26
Hospitals across the U.S. have paid over 24 million dollars to the Department of Justice regarding transgender youth health programs this year– that’s according to a new investigation from The Advocate. Since May, at least six hospitals have adopted deals to pay damages, federal penalties, and create funds for detransition services. The six known institutions are Texas Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Connecticut Children’s Hospital, Mount Sinai Health System, NYU Langone Health and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
According to the Justice Department’s September 18th press release, gender-affirming care providers are violating the federal law through “fraudulent billing practices” and “false” diagnoses. No evidence of the alleged fraud was provided – the hospitals are preemptively entering into the payoff deals nevertheless.
The Justice Department has been aggressively seeking access to medical records and communications related to gender-affirming care in hospitals. After months of investigations, some, like Mount Sinai and NYU Langone, say they’ve adopted deals hoping to end the federal probing. However, LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Lambda Legal is criticizing the hospitals for buckling to the Justice Department’s demands. In a public statement, Lambda Legal noted that recent injunctions allow hospitals to refrain from releasing patient information. In their words, “While we don’t know the full terms of the agreement, we do know it is another capitulation that puts political retribution over hospitals’ ethical and legal obligations to, and the well-being of, trans youth.”
[ PROTEST AUDIO]
Queer celebrities, activists, and politicians were arrested for protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Among them were actors Hannah Einbinder, Susan Sarandon, Elliot Page, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, New York City Council Member Chi Ossé , comedian Caleb Hearon, and many more. New York City Police told the protesters to disperse, but more than 100 stayed to be detained.
[AUDIO - EINBINDER ARREST]
“Free Palestine! Netanyahu out of New York! No bombs on Lebanon! No bombs on Iran! Stop the Genocide!”
Emmy award winner Hannah Einbinder called out to fellow protestors as she was taken away by police with hands zip-tied behind her back. The openly queer actor and comedian stars in this year’s lesbian horror film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.” She has frequently used her celebrity status to speak out about Israel’s genocide.
The September 24th sit-in was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, the world's largest Jewish organization supporting Palestine. Wearing their “Fund People Not Bombs” T-shirts and carrying banners calling for an end to the genocide, Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian, and Lebanese demonstrators gathered together in the middle of the street for more than an hour. Official vehicles headed for the UN had to be re-routed.
Colombia is withdrawing from the Equal Rights Coalition. First formed in 2016, the international advocacy organization pledges to champion queer, trans, and intersex rights through diplomacy, legislation, public policy, and humanitarian protection initiatives. It’s an intergovernmental body of more than 40 countries. Two member states of the Coalition share co-chairing duties for two-year terms. Columbia ended the country's co-chair tenure with Spain for the 2024-2026 term.
However, less than two months after far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella took office, the country is pulling out of the Coalition. Deputy Minister of Migration and Consular Affairs Pedro Roa explained the September 17th withdrawal to the Spanish news outlet El País. He stated that this alliance "is not a priority" for de la Espriella’s administration.
Leaving the Coalition will have no bearing on existing domestic rights for Colombians. Court rulings related to same-sex marriage, adoption, and protection from discrimination still stand. However, the future of LGBTQ+ rights could be in question. President de la Espriella campaigned with the promise of defending the so-called “traditional family,” claiming a child needs a father and a mother. Academic director of the Global Future School of Fundación Universitaria, Daniel Bonilla, warned The Bogotá Post that his administration’s withdrawal “looks less like an isolated foreign policy tweak and more like the international expression of a domestic project.” Bonilla notes the policy is in line with what the government “explicitly calls a cultural battle” at home.
One hundred organizations across Australia have joined forces to defend their country’s federal anti-discrimination law. Created by LGBTIQ+ advocacy group Equality Australia, the open letter to members of Parliament was written in response to a Liberal-National Coalition bill to rewrite the Sex Discrimination Act. Liberal Party Senator Michaelia Cash authored the proposed conservative amendment titled, “Restoring Common Sense and Recognising Biological Sex.” She was backed by the center-right Liberal-National Coalition, and senators from the right-wing One Nation and United Australia Parties.
Cash’s amendment seeks to limit the definition of “sex” in the law to one’s sex determined at birth. It also removes any recognition of intersex people from the law. Cash believes that they are just, in her words, “incorrectly identified at birth.”
In response, LGBTIQ+ groups, unions, disability groups, and mental health advocates banded together to urge all federal MPs to reject the changes to the Sex Discrimination Act. Their open letter reads, in part, “For decades, Australian governments have recognised transgender people in law and allowed amendments to identity documents. These protections have coexisted with women’s rights without evidence of safety issues or systemic failures.” They warn that the amendment “would strip protections from transgender Australians and weaken safeguards for women more broadly,” and that “It would render entire groups of people invisible in law and trigger a cascade of damaging consequences.”
Dr. Morgan Carpenter is the executive director of Intersex Human Rights Australia. In companion with the letter he wrote, “Proposals to define biological sex in law don’t respect people whose innate characteristics are not typically female or typically male. [...] These proposals coercively reassign many of us to categories we’ve never lived in.”
The bill did not progress past its first reading in July, and was defeated once again on September 15th. Cash is determined to continue her campaign for the amendment.
Finally…
A leaked memo to Republican candidates has revealed internal concerns that they are losing political ground with their anti-trans culture war campaign. First reported on by Oriana González at the Washington Sun, the memo is from the conservative advocacy organization American Principles Project. The non-profit and its affiliated super PAC first formed in 2009. They are considered by some to be significant drivers of anti-transgender panic.
American Principles Project President, Terry Schilling, may have originated the conservative tactic of running political attack ads targeting transgender athletes. Back in 2019, Schilling’s organization partnered with a behavioral science firm and a data partner to analyze what social issues would sway voters. Schilling told Politico in 2020, “What we found was the sports issue got the most powerful response from people, specifically conservative Democrats and independents.”
However, now the American Principles Project is worried that inciting cultural sensationalism won’t be enough. While they continue to advocate for conservative candidates to push messaging against so-called “transgender ideology” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the group also appears to be taking a page out of the recent progressive movement’s book. The memo tells republican candidates that, “pressing the advantage on these issues alone, while important, may not be sufficient. Republicans must also make the case to families on what they plan to do to help improve their economic standing.” The memo goes on to note the effectiveness of policies from the Democratic Socialists of America.
The American Principles Project offered no vision of what a helpful economic policy for U.S. citizens might be. They simply tell candidates to propose a “compelling alternative to the DSA on how Republicans will help families who are struggling economically.”
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