Portland, Oregon’s twice monthly live open mic performance event, Slamlandia, yields the work of three queer poets: Joshua Merritt, Evey Rothwell and Ret (produced by Brian DeShazor).

Plus December birthdays including anthropologist Margaret Mead and historic queer moments from the declassification of homosexuality as a disease to the dawn of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on the Rainbow Rewind (written and produced by Sheri Lunn and Brian DeShazor).

And in NewsWrap: Kazakhstan’s so-called “LGBTQ propaganda” bill is on an indefinite hold while the Senate takes more time to study the measure, Egypt and Iran object when their World Cup teams are chosen to play in host Seattle, Washington’s “Pride Match,” Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony is being charged with allowing and participating in a banned LGBTQ Pride parade, the Arlington, Texas City Council votes to remove “sexual orientation” and “gender identity and expression” from the city’s anti-bias policies to placate the Trump administration, the official portrait of four-star Admiral Rachel Levine in the Health and Human Services Department deadnames the first transgender person ever confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ret and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the December 15, 2025 edition of This Way Out!

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