Tell Me More on WAMC HD2

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, we look at another significant decision from the Supreme Court that might have been overshadowed by the ruling on immigration enforcement. The justices said life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders is cruel and unusual punishment. We'll talk with law professor Paul Butler about what that means for young people behind bars in this country.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, as well as others who love, work with or just appreciate their LGBT friends and colleagues, are observing June as Pride Month. We'll talk about the history of the gay rights movement from the author of a new book called "Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution." That's in just a few minutes.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now, we turn to the ongoing fight for civil rights for LGBT Americans. June is recognized by millions of Americans as Gay Pride Month and, for the first time ever, the Pentagon is holding a gay pride event today. It comes less than a year after the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell", the policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Here's a clip of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's Gay Pride Month message.

It's wedding season for couples around the country, including superheroes. Marvel Comics, the group behind Spider-man, X-Men and the Avengers, recently released a comic featuring its first same-sex superhero wedding. Host Michel Martin discusses the intersection between the Marvel universe and politics with Marvel's editor-in-chief, Axel Alonso.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is leading the charge to get Detroit's massive backlog of rape kits tested and processed. It's a cause that hits close to home, because Worthy was a victim of rape when she was a law student. Host Michel Martin speaks with Worthy.

The Supreme Court threw out key parts of Arizona's tough immigration law. But the court didn't rule on one of the most controversial elements of the law. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR's Ron Elving, Professor Gabriel Chin with the University of California, Davis, and the vice dean of University of Arizona College of Law, Marc Miller.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan fired his defense minister and national security adviser, saying the government needs new tactics to counter the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram. They have been blamed for sparking strife in parts of northern Nigeria last week. Host Michel Martin speaks with Al Jazeera English's Yvonne Ndege.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.

Coming up, we take our weekly visit to the Barbershop where we will ask the guys now that LeBron James finally has his championship ring, will that stop the haters or not? That is later in the program.

When the girls basketball team was cut from Charlotte Murphy's Pittsburgh school last year, the then 4th grader told the superintendent that the cut went against Title IX. For the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the law that prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of sex, host Michel Martin talks to Murphy and Superintendent Linda Lane.

For a California man named Steven, a perfect woman had to be pretty, submissive — and Asian. In the documentary Seeking Asian Female, filmmaker Debbie Lum followed Steven as he sought out, found, and brought over Sandy, a 30-year-old woman from China, on a fiancee visa. Then reality hit. Lum talks about her film with host Michel Martin.