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Voices of Pride on PBS Wisconsin
June 10, 2025 Leave a Comment
The first of June marked the beginning of Pride celebrations in Wisconsin and across the nation — an opportunity to honor the accomplishments, experiences and resilience of LGBTQ+ communities.
The centrality of the word “pride” in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights marks a profound reclamation of language in modern civil rights history. When LGBTQ+ organizers in the late 1960s debated what to call their movement, they faced a choice between “gay power” and “gay pride.” The embrace of “pride” represented a direct rejection of the generational shame and stigma imposed on LGBTQ+ people. This simple yet revolutionary idea — that marginalized communities could transform societal rejection into collective empowerment — became a cornerstone not just of LGBTQ+ liberation, but of movements for justice across other communities fighting for dignity, visibility and the right to exist authentically.
All year long, PBS Wisconsin curates a collection of streaming series and specials that share the stories of LGBTQ+ communities. We hope you’ll join us in a celebration of Pride with selections from PBS Wisconsin Voices, alongside new PBS programs premiering in June.
Wisconsin Pride | Documentary & Website
LGBTQ+ history is Wisconsin history. Learn about trailblazing Wisconsinites who – facing intolerance, cisgender heterosexism and transphobia – responded by forming community, chosen family, living authentically and fighting for their rights.
Released in June 2023 in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society, this two-part documentary and companion website demonstrate how diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and expression are a broadly shared part of the human experience. It tells stories of Indigenous two-spirit people prior to and after European settler colonization and Wisconsin statehood, and continues through the 19th and 20th centuries — exploring how forward-looking Wisconsinites challenged LGBTQ+ harassment and injustice in visionary ways, long before LGBTQ+ activism reached the national stage.
Janis Ian: Breaking the Silence | American Masters
New from American Masters, learn about the singular artistry of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian. From the controversy of her teenage hit “Society’s Child” to the generational anthem “At Seventeen,” Ian’s music gave voice to outsiders and tackled themes of identity, self-worth and societal expectations.
This intimate documentary traces her evolution as a folk icon and queer artist, exploring her creative journey, the pressures she faced in the industry and her decision to come out publicly in the 1990s. Breaking Silence offers a moving portrait of an artist who stayed true to her voice, emboldening others to find theirs. Premiering 9 p.m. Friday, June 20, on The Wisconsin Channel (PBS Wisconsin-2) and streaming across platforms on June 20.
LGBTQ+ | Why Race Matters
PBS Wisconsin is in its fourth season of producing Why Race Matters, a digital series highlighting critical issues affecting marginalized communities across Wisconsin.
In this episode, host Angela Figzerald sits down with scholar-activist Tiffany Lee who shares what it means to exist at the intersection of multiple identities — particularly as a Black queer woman in Wisconsin, a state that proudly claims the title “The Gay Rights State” while still grappling with the lived realities of queer communities who are further marginalized by race. Lee speaks with wisdom and empathy, relaying how forging spaces where Black queer people can “breathe” isn’t just activism — but an act of survival and love.
Break the Game | New from POV
Premiering 9 p.m. Monday, June 30, filmmaker Jane M. Wagner’s feature-length Break the Game follows Narcissa Wright, a world-record-holding gamer whose coming out as a trans woman cost her the massive fanbase she’d cultivated — and with it, a kind of digital belonging that had become her lifeline. What unfolds is less a traditional documentary than a meditation assembled from the raw materials of our hyperconnected age: Twitch streams, chat logs and the endless scroll of online existence that sometimes feels indistinguishable from living itself.
Wright’s attempt to reclaim her place through a new speedrun record in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild becomes a window into something larger — the ways we perform our identities in digital spaces, the toll of existing under constant scrutiny and the particular cruelty of communities that can turn on the very people who helped nurture them.
Bianca Lynn Breeze calls the numbers | Wisconsin Life
Brandon Rounds brings Drag Bingo to small communities just outside Madison as joy wrapped in rhinestones and humor. Growing up in Boscobel in the southwest corner of Wisconsin, Rounds deploys his drag persona Bianca Lynn Breeze — named for his late mother — to transform the familiar comfort of church basement Bingo into something that sparkles.
Rounds’ approach feels less like performance and more like ministry, using high glamour’s magnetic pull to create moments where strangers become curious instead of closed off. Bianca’s work reminds us that change often happens through the simple act of showing up with kindness, calling out numbers with a smile and proving that authentic, infectious, glitter-covered joy is a powerful form of connection.
Find more Pride programming this month in the PBS Wisconsin Voices collection and ongoing news coverage following LGBTQ+ issues from the PBS News Hour.
