Overview

This Way Out is the award-winning LGBTQ radio magazine that’s been on the air since 1988. Each half-hour episode combines a global news wrap-up with features, interviews, and culture pieces, produced by a volunteer team amplifying queer voices worldwide.

Heard on more than 200 community stations, streaming online, and available as a podcast, the program is sustained by listener donations. Its mission is simple: tell our own stories in our own voices — connecting the LGBTQ community across borders, generations, and movements.

History & Legacy

Founded in 1988 after the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, This Way Out was created by veteran radio journalists Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle. It quickly became the world’s first internationally syndicated LGBTQ radio magazine. Over 1,700 episodes later, it continues to chronicle queer history in real time — from the AIDS crisis to marriage equality to today’s global human rights battles.

The show has earned multiple awards, including honors from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, GLAAD, and the Golden Mike Awards, and its full archive is being preserved in the Library of Congress. More than a radio program, This Way Out has been a lifeline for listeners worldwide — often the only queer voice available on the dial.

Hosts

Brian DeShazor

Host of This Way Out, Brian also serves as CEO of Overnight Productions, the nonprofit behind the program. A longtime advocate for community media and former director of the Pacifica Radio Archives, he leads the team ensuring queer stories are heard and preserved worldwide.

Lucia Chappelle

Associate Producer and co-founder, Lucia has helped shape This Way Out’s voice since 1988. A former KPFK public affairs director and lifelong activist, she continues to guide the show’s editorial direction and mentor new generations of queer media makers.

Greg Gordon

Greg Gordon: This Way Out co-founder, coordinating producer, and NewsWrap writer. Greg is a pioneer in LGBTQ broadcast radio, with roots tracing back to the first broadcasts of IMRU on KPFK in 1974. He volunteered with the gay media collective and IMRU until 1984. He covered the Marches on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights, along with Lucia Chappelle, live for Pacifica Radio in 1979 and 1987, and he famously interviewed Harvey Milk in 1979, shortly before Milk’s assassination. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Radio–Television Production from UCLA.

Recent Episodes

Support This Way Out & Independent Media

Help keep programs like This Way Out — and community-powered radio at KPFK — strong. Your contribution makes a difference.