This Way Out : The International Gay And Lesbian Radio Magazine, Program No. 696

THIS WAY OUT - the international lesbian & gay radio magazine": Program I.D. #02-F72-00031 ("T.W.O." Program #696) (hosted this week by Greg Gordon & written & produced with Lucia Chappelle)Marriage-minded British Columbia queer couples get their days in court; Kentucky Baptist legal victory stirs faith-based discrimination fears; Moscow's mayor slams Pride as "propaganda", but an Aussie state's top cop will march in Melbourne, judge okays dog-mauled lesbian lover's wrongful death lawsuit, Malaysian transwomen are denied the right to self-identity, Styx bassist says he's gay and "I'm Okay", and other global GLBT news Opening Theme Music/Intro Continuity. . [no teases this week] . . . :40 SEGMENT #1 NewsWrap: In Russia, Moscow's city government refuses a permit for a gay & lesbian pride parade, but in Australia, Victoria's state Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon announces she'll be marching with a contingent of queer cops in Melbourne's Gay Pride March, and in Canada, British Columbia's new Premier Gordon Campbell issues an official proclamation of Vancouver's Gay & Lesbian Pride Day; in Hungary, four groups are suing a Budapest district mayor in civil court over his failed attempt to block GLBT and feminist groups from participating at the huge Pepsi Island youth music festival; in a remarkable ruling, a California judge decides that, even though under state law only blood relatives or surviving married spouses can file wrongful death lawsuits, San Francisco lesbian Sharon Smith can file suit in the widely-reported dog mauling death of her life partner Diane Whipple specifically because the pair couldn't legally marry; Ronald Gay is given 4 consecutive life terms for killing Danny Overstreet and wounding six others at the gay Backstreet Caf in Roanoke, Virginia last September, while the U.S. queer-inclusive federal hate crimes bill -- now known as the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act - passes a Senate committee and may come to a floor vote in October; the Houston, Texas City Council votes 10-4 to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in city employment; Malaysia's estimated 50,000 transsexuals are denied the chance to be legally recognized in their self-identified gender, while a transgender in Cyprus wins a conditional pardon from a fraud conviction because prison authorities can't decide whether to place her with men or women; Chuck Panozzo, bass player for the quadruple-platinum-selling rock band Styx, proudly comes out as a gay man with HIV at a Human Rights Campaign event in his hometown of Chicago; and Irish-born airline steward Brian Dowling wins Britain's latest edition of the "reality" TV series "Big Brother" in what is reportedly the country's largest-ever telephone poll, becoming the first open gay or lesbian to do so in any of the program's incarnations around the world [written by CINDY FRIEDMAN, with thanks to GRAHAM UNDERHILL, JASON LIN, BRIAN NUNES, CHRIS AMBIDGE, REX WOCKNER & GREG GORDON, and anchored by CINDY FRIEDMAN & BRIAN NUNES] . . . . . . . 10:15 SEGMENT #2 - As we report in "NewsWrap" this week, bassist Chuck Panozzo of the mega-selling rock group STYX has identified himself as a gay man -- we salute his coming out with an abbreviated version of a cut from the group's 1978 album "Pieces of Eight": the lyrics of "I'M OKAY" now seem especially appropriate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:50 SEGMENT #3 - Billboard for B.C. marriage lawsuit report [:10] + A Kentucky judge's decision in a job discrimination lawsuit this week is being seen as a portent of trouble to come if the current version of the Bush Administration's so-called "faith-based initiative", promoting federal funding of social service-providing religious institutions, becomes law. ALICIA PEDREIRA was fired from her job as a therapist/counselor at the taxpayer-funded Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children when it became publicly known that she is lesbian. The court dismissed the claim that her termination constituted religious discrimination, ruling that the state of Kentucky's civil rights statutes "protect religious freedom, not personal lifestyle choices", but left intact other charges involving the pervasiveness of specific religious elements in the Kentucky Baptist Homes' programs. Pedreira described the events leading up to her lawsuit during a July 12th interview with AMY GOODMAN on Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now" (outro music from "Old Kentucky Home" by RANDY NEWMAN) [6:30] . . . 6:40 SEGMENT #4 - "TWO" I.D. by AMANDA BEARSE ("Marcie D'Arcy" on the long-running TV sitcom "Married... With Children") [:10] + Eight same-gender couples in the Canadian province of British Columbia are suing the federal government for the right to legally marry. The case began more than a year ago when a lesbian couple in Victoria requested a marriage license. While there have been several developments involving the original and additional plaintiffs since the lawsuit was first filed, hearings in the case began this week in the British Columbia Supreme Court. This report by HEATHER KITCHING ["Queer FM"/CITR-Vancouver] includes comments by CYNTHIA PETERSON, an attorney representing some of the couples, JUDITH BOWERS, who heads up the federal government's team of lawyers, and JOHN FISHER of EGALE - Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere - Canada's queer rights lobbying group which is also participating in the lawsuit [7:55] . . . . . . 8:05 Closing Continuity/Credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:25 TOTAL PROGRAM TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28:55 [https://webdacs1.nprsat.org/archive]