Sydney Mardi Gras Strife & Stonewall Rainbow Retrieval

Against a backdrop of violent anti-semitic and anti-indigenous attacks and the relaxation of police restraints in response to them, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organizers are faced with twin controversies: the withdrawal of the Jewish group Dayenu from the event and demands for the expulsion of the New South Wales Police contingent. Veteran activist Ken Davis explains the situation (Barry McKay reports).

New Yorkers defy the Trump administration and replace the rainbow flag the government “disappeared” from the Stonewall National Monument (Paul DeRienzo of WBAI reports).

A Black History Month Rainbow Rewind honors Langston Hughes (produced by Sheri Lunn and Brian DeShazor).

And in NewWrap: the European Parliament approves a resolution specifically calling for “the full recognition of trans women as women,” HIV-positive enlistees are once again banned from serving in the U.S. military, intersex children are now protected from undergoing unnecessary medical procedures without their informed consent in the Australian state of Victoria, Kansans can now sue if they’re upset after sharing a bathroom with a trans person, U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team captain Hilary Knight leads her team to gold and plans to lead speed skater Brittany Bowe to the altar, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Nico Raquel and Ret (produced by Brian DeShazor).

All this on the February 23, 2026 edition of This Way Out!

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