The Global Rise of Anti-LGBTQ Laws (Part Three)

Ebony Joseph concludes her three-part series on the global rise of anti-LGBTQ laws with a report from activists in Nigeria and Kenya confronting criminalization, censorship, and severe funding cuts. Organizers describe how anti-LGBTQ legislation affects housing, employment, healthcare, and online safety, while warning that many so-called “family protection” bills across Africa are linked to broader international networks of authoritarian politics and religious conservatism. Despite mounting political hostility, grassroots groups continue building coalitions, supporting vulnerable LGBTQ people, and fighting for dignity, equality, and belonging.

In this week’s Newswrap, a record-breaking boycott rocks the Eurovision Song Contest as protests over Israel’s participation intensify amid the war in Gaza, while a new GLAAD report warns that major social media platforms are becoming increasingly unsafe for LGBTQ users. Additional stories include Japan’s growing legal recognition of non-binary people, the delayed opening of a landmark African LGBTQ art exhibition in Washington, D.C., and the European Commission’s decision not to pursue an EU-wide conversion therapy ban despite strong public support.

In a Rainbow Rewind, poet Adrienne Rich reflects on responsibility to both past and future generations in a powerful archival excerpt.

Featured speakers: Adrienne Rich, Ebony Joseph, JUSTIN CHIDOZIE, MOSES, CHEPKIRUI RONOH, GOODLUCK

Credits: Associate Producer/Lucia Chappelle, Producer/Host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Ebony Joseph, NewsWrap reporters, Ava Davis and Joe Boehnlein, music by Audra Day, Tom Petty and Kim Wilson

This Way Out