Proud Voices: GetLit Poets #1

In a special Pride Month feature produced by Brian DeShazor, young poets from Los Angeles-based Get Lit – Words Ignite respond to the words of LGBTQ trailblazers across generations. After listening to archival recordings by James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Quentin Crisp, the poets James Mondares, Candi aka Vonne, and Samantha Rios created original spoken-word pieces inspired by those voices and their enduring messages.

The result is a moving intergenerational conversation that connects LGBTQ history, literature, and activism with the experiences of today’s emerging writers, demonstrating how the power of queer storytelling continues to inspire new generations.

This week on This Way Out, NewsWrap reports on growing concerns over proposed cuts to LGBTQ+ health research and federal grant programs under a new Trump administration plan. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, follow protests by transgender rights activists in the United Kingdom over new public-facility restrictions, report on a neo-Nazi disruption of Pride events in Athens, Georgia, and celebrate Broadway history as Qween Jean becomes the first openly transgender Tony Award winner.

Featured speakers: Zohran Mamdani, Bruce Villanch, Brian Sonia-Wallace, James Baldwin, James Mondares, Audre Lorde, Candi aka Vonne, Quentin Crisp Samantha Rios

Credits: Associate Producer/Lucia Chappelle, Producer/Host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Brian DeShazor, NewsWrap reporters, Joe Boehnlein and Melanie Keller, music by Raye and Kim Wilson.

This Way Out