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[This Way Out]

 "THIS WAY OUT: the international lesbian & gay radio magazine"
Program #1,247 - distributed 02/20/12
Airs on more than 200 local stations around the world... or
Listen now via our free podcasts at www.thiswayout.org or on iTunes.
(hosted this week by Greg Gordon and produced with Lucia Chappelle)
Governor Gregoire gives Washington a great wedding gift;
India's religious fundamentalists appeal a landmark rights ruling;
Islamic U.N. countries decline to discuss sexual minorities, African
nations intensify LGBT repression, Australian parliamentarians
circulate marriage equality proposals, and more global LGBT news;
and a hit U.K. song assures LGBT youth that "It Does Get Better"!
  
  
- In "NewsWrap": The UN's Organization of Islamic Cooperation notifies the world body's top human rights agencies that its 56-member nations object to the scheduled March 7th meeting on violence against sexual minorities because "abnormal sexual behavior" has "nothing to do with fundamental human rights", while Tunisia's Human Rights Minister tells a national TV audience that sexual minorities have no rights in his country, Gambia's President says recognizing the rights of LGBT people would "destroy our culture", Uganda's Minister for Ethics and Integrity leads a police raid on what local media describe as "a secret gay rights activists conference" in Entebbe, and Liberia's former first lady and now senator follows Uganda's lead by introducing a bill to punish gay sex with execution... three bills to open civil marriage to same-gender couples are introduced in Australia's parliament, the Canadian government makes good on a promise to close a legal loophole that questions the legitimacy of marriages of foreign lesbian and gay couples performed there, New Jersey Governor CHRIS CHRISTIE makes good on his vow to veto a marriage equality bill approved by both legislative chambers, and repeats his call for a public vote on the issue [with a brief comment by the reluctant Republican]... and more LGBT news from around the world (written by GREG GORDON, produced by STEVE PRIDE, and reported this week by TANYA KANE-PARRY and RICK WATTS).
  
- On February 13th WASHINGTON GOVERNOR CHRISTINE GREGOIRE signed into law a bill to open civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples. Surrounded by key legislators and activists who had ushered the legislation through the House and Senate, Gregoire was exuberant in her signing ceremony remarks.
  
- INDIA's Supreme Court began hearings this week that could have a profound impact on that country's recent gains in LGBT civil rights. When the Delhi High Court found that the 148-year-old ban on so-called "unnatural offenses" was unconstitutional in 2009, activists hailed the ruling as a major legal and political breakthrough. But the landmark judgment that decriminalized same-gender sex and opened the door to a new queer visibility is being challenged.  From New Dehli, "Free Speech Radio News" reporter INDU VASHIST has the story [www.fsrn.org].
  
- Last weekend the campaign to stop homophobic and transphobic bullying "got better" thanks to a song released by THE L PROJECT that became an overnight internet hit. Some of the UK's leading lesbian performers took part in the recording, which hit Number 1 on the Amazon UK's Best Sellers Rock and Folk chart and Number 2 on the iTunes UK Rock Album chart. Proceeds from the sale of "IT DOES GET BETTER", sold at those and other music download sites, are going to the organizations Stonewall and Diversity Role Models.
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"This Way Out" is a U.S. tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit under the corporate name of OVERNIGHT PRODUCTIONS (INC.), and is supported by a grant from the Yavanna Foundation and donations from our listeners.  Thank you!
=> Please log on to thiswayout.org to add your support [a tax-deductible charitable donation in the U.S.].  We really can't go on without you!
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On the air since April 1988, "This Way Out" is the multi-award-winning internationally distributed weekly gay and lesbian radio news magazine. The program currently airs on more than 200 local community radio stations around the world, globally distributed at www.radio4all.net, www.indymedia.org, to Pacifica Radio station affiliates in North America, and "Down Under" through distribution by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia.  Listeners can also hear "This Way Out" through our podcasts at thiswayout.org; across Europe, Africa/the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific regions on the World Radio Network (wrn.org); and on audio CD by individual subscription. For lots of other information about "This Way Out" please visit www.thiswayout.org, email TWOradio at aol.com, or write to P.O. Box 38327, Los Angeles, CA 90038-0327.
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