Meet Trinidad and Tobago Plaintiff Jason Jones | This Way Out Radio Episode #1933
- This Way Out
- Apr 15
- 8 min read
Biracial, binational, queer human right activist Jason Jones began his lawsuit against Trinidad and Tobago’s British colonial ban on same-gender sex in 2017. It was struck down in 2018, but an appeals court recently overturned that ruling and reinstated the law. Jones has one more chance to appeal that decision (interviewed by David Hunt).
And in NewsWrap: transgender professional player Harriet Haynes sues the English Blackball Pool Federation to let her compete in the appropriate gender category, Redmond Sullivan is no longer a member of the Wagner College Iconic Fencing Club after a cisgender opponent refuses to play her, the Trump administration freezes Maine’s federal education funding because of the state’s trans-inclusive policies, queer-themed titles top the American Library Association’s list of most banned books for the fourth consecutive year, the White House refuses to respond to journalists who use preferred pronouns, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Ret and David Hunt (produced by Brian DeShazor).
All this on the April 14, 2025 edition of This Way Out!
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Complete Program Summary
for the week of April 14, 2025
Trinidad and Tobago Plaintiff Jason Jones
NewsWrap (full transcript below): Trans British professional player Harriet Haynes sues for inclusion in English Blackball Pool tournaments; there has yet to be an explanation for transgender U.S. college fencing champ Redmond Sullivan no longer being on her Wagner College women’s team following a cis female competitor refusing to face her in a recent tournament; Maine sues the Trump administration over its punitive freeze of federal funds to feed school children and to assist transgender female prisoners because the U.S. state chooses to comply with its human rights laws rather than Trump’s anti-trans edicts [with audio from a February 21st exchange between President Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills]; tomes with queer content again top the American Library Association’s annual list of the country’s 10 most banned books; and the White House says it will refuse to respond to any reporter who includes their preferred pronouns in email inquiries because, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells the New York Times, those who do “clearly do not care about biological reality or truth” (written by GREG GORDON and LUCIA CHAPPELLE, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR, reported this week by RET and DAVID HUNT, with a brief musical snippet by CHUBBY CHECKER).
Feature: The Caribbean Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is stuck in a time warp. Its 16th century British colonial-era ban on same-gender intimacy was struck down in 2018, only to be reinstated by an appeals court just a few weeks ago. However, it’s not the end of the fight for the rights of Trinidad and Tobago’s 100,000 LGBTQ+ citizens. This Way Out’s DAVID HUNT met with Jason Jones, the activist who has led the way as he pushes for the next — and final — round of legal challenges (with intro music by the NO GREATER TIME COLLECTIVE and internal music by HILL TOP TRIO).
NewsWrap
A summary of some of the news in or affecting
global LGBTQ communities
for the week ending April 12th, 2025
Written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle,
reported this week by RET and DAVID HUNT,
produced by Brian DeShazor
Is pool a gender-affected sport? Transgender professional player Harriet Haynes says it’s not, so she’s suing the English Blackball Pool Federation. The group that organizes county-level competitions in England only allows people assigned female at birth to compete in the female category for eight-ball. Haynes’ lawsuit follows her April 6th win at the Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series Event 2 in Wigan. She defeated trans player Lucy Smith among others. Protesters inside the venue at Robin Park Leisure Centre held banners saying, “Save women’s sport” and “He’s a man.”
Haynes can still compete in some other U.K. tournaments and play internationally. She’s been barred from games sponsored by the English Blackball Pool Federation under a policy set in August 2023. The 34-year-old told Canterbury County Court on April 7th, “my success in pool in general is down to my efforts, whether in the women’s section or open section.” She credits good coaching and extensive practice for her victories, not biology.
Federation attorney Sarah Crowther insisted that pool is a gender-affected sport. She told the court, “All cue sports have protected women’s categories because the physique of male players means that male players have an advantage over female players.”
Crowther confronted Haynes on the “nature versus nurture” question, probing her assertion that her strengths were the result of practice and technique. Haynes replied, “I would say practice definitely, yes.”
Crowther then asked Haynes if she would acknowledge that pool is, in fact, gender affected. Haynes answered, “I’m not an expert on it.”
For an expert opinion, Haynes submitted a report by an MIT professor. The conclusion there was that there is no inherent “male advantage” if a player can break above a certain speed – a velocity that can be achieved by both genders.
The case continues.
In more transgender sports news, Redmond Sullivan is no longer a member of the Wagner College Iconic Fencing Club. The specifics of her departure remain a secret and references to her tournaments have been removed from the Staten Island, New York private university’s website.
Sullivan was catapulted into the national spotlight in March when cisgender female opponent Stephanie Turner protested her inclusion in the Cherry Blossom Open. Turner forfeited the match and posted a statement that went viral.
Sullivan was a member of Wagner’s men’s fencing team during the 2023 - 24 season. She has competed for the women’s team in several matches during the first half of the current season.
Turner represents the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia. She had finished four earlier matches at the Cherry Blossom Open before she was set to face Sullivan.
Until the anti-transgender executive orders of the Trump administration, the National Collegiate Athletic Association was in sync with the inclusive policies of USA Fencing and its international governing body. Now the NCAA has declared, “A student athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.” In response to the Sullivan controversy, USA Fencing stood by the 2023 policy its statement said “was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces.”
Sullivan’s own Iconic Fencing Club initially supported her. They insisted following the Cherry Blossom tournament incident that she had adhered to all of USA Fencing’s rules and guidelines, and stressed the sport’s "deep tradition of honor, sportsmanship, inclusion, and respect." However, now Sullivan is gone, and all Wagner College spokesperson Jim Chiavelli will say is, “We are in full compliance with NCAA and NEC rules and regulations. The fencer is not a member of our fencing team.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice have launched a discrimination investigation into USA Fencing’s trans-inclusive policy.
The issue of transgender student athletes is part of the reason federal education funding for the state of Maine is being frozen. That’s the Trump administration’s way of punishing the state for refusing to ban transgender girls and women from competing in school female sports. The freeze was announced last week by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Maine’s Attorney General Aaron Frey has now asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order to release those funds.
Maine argues that the money being withheld is used to feed school children and disabled adults. Frey charged that Rollins was acting “more like a hostage taker seeking a ransom payment than a cabinet-level federal official.”
Democratic Governor Janet Mills’ February 21st run-in with Trump over Maine’s support for trans female athletes went viral.
[SOUND: Trump and Mills]
TRUMP: Is Maine here, the governor of Maine?
MILLS: I’m here.
TRUMP: Are you not going to comply with it?
MILLS: I’m complying with state and federal laws.
TRUMP: Well, I'm … we are the federal law, so you better comply …
MILLS: We’re going to follow the law, sir.
TRUMP: … you better comply because otherwise you're not getting any… any federal funding.
MILLS: See you in court.
Agriculture Secretary Rollins responded to Maine’s lawsuit defiantly, claiming, “You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated.” Rollins extended the false narrative with, “This is only the beginning, though you are free to end it at any time by protecting women and girls in compliance with federal law.”
The state is also being punished for violating Trump policy by refusing to transfer trans female prisoners to male facilities. Maine’s Department of Corrections confirms that the U.S. Justice Department has cancelled grants that support post-release supervision and reentry services, according to the Maine Morning Star. Those resources help prevent recidivism and reduce crime.
In a media statement, Maine’s Attorney General Frey proclaimed that Trump is “not above the law, and … Maine will not be bullied into violating [state] law.”
Queer-themed titles top the American Library Association’s list of most banned books for the fourth consecutive year. Number one and number two are All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. They’ve both been on the list since 2021.
There have been no substantial changes in the ALA list since 2023. The top ten banned books also include Flamer by Mike Curato, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Looking for Alaska by John Green.
Director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom Deborah Caldwell-Stone told NBC News that parental challenges only accounted for 16 percent of the complaints. She said Moms for Liberty and other far-right groups are behind the majority of the demands to have a book yanked from the library shelves. Most involved “false claims of illegal obscenity for minors,” according to the ALA report. Other hot topics included anything dealing with race, racism, diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.
The attacks on books has a chilling effect on librarians, who are increasingly reluctant to stock books that may be controversial. According to the ALA’s Caldwell-Stone, “Librarians don’t want to get prosecuted or otherwise face legal trouble. A lot of librarians are operating under these kinds of threats.”
It can get worse. The Trump administration has ordered the virtual elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Dozens of grants to state and local libraries are outright canceled. Those actions are already being challenged in court.
Finally, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, “As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.” The Trumpian reasoning? Leavitt told the New York Times this week, “Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story.”
“Crooked Media” reporter Matt Berg told the “Times,” “I find it baffling that they care more about pronouns than giving journalists accurate information, but here we are.”
Soon after his inauguration, Trump’s Office of Personnel Management denounced “gender ideology” and sent a memo to the entire federal workforce essentially forbidding references to personal pronouns in all workplace communications.
The White House lost another word game this week. A federal judge ordered it to reinstate the Associated Press to briefings and related media-attended events. Its reporters had been exiled for refusing to comply with a Trump edict to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
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