ILGA’s First Asian Foray & Egypt’s Queen Boat Bust

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) started organizing globally in 1978, and in 2004 its 22nd World Conference was held in Manila — the first event of its kind in Asia. One major issue on the table was Brazil’s United Nations resolution against sexual orientation discrimination, which finally passed the UN Human Rights Council ten years later. (Michael Schemer interviews attendee Uma Kali Shakti, both of Sydney, Australia.) The biggest queer news story out of Egypt in 2001 was the raid on The Queen Boat, a well-known gay venue in Cairo. Twenty-eight-year old Mazin was one of 23 men arrested for “debauchery” who served time in prison (interviewed by Jonathan Groubert of Radio Netherlands). And in NewsWrap: the United States Supreme Court declines to review an appeals court’s decision to allow a transgender student to use the bathrooms that match his gender identity, U.S. state legislatures have spawned a record number of deeply alarming anti-queer bills, Missouri legislators debate eight anti-trans bills while the rabbi dad of a trans boy testifies to the truth, Idaho House struggles to define what they want to censor, appeals court upholds injunction against Texas book ban, Taiwan elects its first queer to the the Legislative Yuan, Irish Cabinet Minister Jack Chambers comes out, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the January 22, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/