Alok Beyond the Binary

Internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, actor and author of “Beyond the Gender Binary” Alok Vaid-Menon critiques the LGBTQ+ movement’s myopia around intersectional politics, and, thanks to This Way Out’s archives, discovers that their perspective echoes their Aunt Urvashi Vaid’s analysis of “Virtual Equality” in the 1990s (Part 1, interviewed by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: Thailand King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s royal assent officially redefines marriage as a legal union of two individuals, the Duma gives initial approval to a ban on the adoption of Russian children to countries that allow gender-affirming healthcare and marriage equality, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues the federal government to avoid training prospective foster families to support a child’s potential LGBTQ+ identity, free expression advocate PEN America finds that the number of books banned in U.S. public schools tripled during the 2023-2024 academic year, the FBI’s annual Crime in the Nation report reveals that one-in-five of the exploding number of hate crimes in the U.S. were motivated by anti-queer animus, a study in the journal Nature Human Behavior based on The Trevor Project’s new peer-reviewed research proves the link between anti-transgender legislation and youth suicides, and more international LGBTQ news reported by David Hunt and Michael LeBeau (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the September 30, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/ NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: Beginning October 1, 2024, the weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica’s AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.