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Preview the all-new Pride programs airing in June!
May 30, 2023 Leave a Comment
PBS Wisconsin celebrates the LGBTQ+ community this month with these all-new programs airing in June and streaming on the free PBS App.
Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Premieres 3 p.m. Sunday, June 4
Experience the meteoric rise and enduring legacy of Little Richard. This portrait of the “King and Queen of Rock and Roll” explores his far-reaching influence as well as his advocacy for the rights of Black artists in the music industry.
Wisconsin Pride
Premieres 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 20 on PBS Wisconsin and Milwaukee PBS, and available to stream beginning June 1 on the free PBS App
The all-new PBS Wisconsin documentary, Wisconsin Pride, brings hidden LGBTQ+ stories forward and reconsiders our state’s history in that light. A groundbreaking collaboration between PBS Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Historical Society, the film reveals Wisconsin’s history in a more inclusive scope.
Wisconsin has a long, but hidden, LGBTQ+ history. Before the movement for civil rights and wider acceptance, gay Wisconsinites liberated themselves to live as their authentic selves making unique contributions to our state’s history. In the 1970s and ‘80s, LGBTQ+ leaders’ fight for equality earned Wisconsin the nickname “The Gay Rights State.”
Independent Lens: Mama Bears
9 p.m. Tuesday, June 20
They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGTBQ people, these mothers are now willing to risk losing friends, family and faith communities to champion their kids, even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.
American Experience: Casa Susanna
8 p.m. Tuesday, June 27
In the 1950s and ’60s, an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills region of New York. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed — dressed as and living as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalized for their self-expression. Told through the memories of those who visited the house, the film provides a moving look back at a secret world where the persecuted and frightened found freedom, acceptance and, often, the courage to live out of the shadows.
