MILWAUKEE — A local podcast helping listeners discover Wisconsin's LGBTQ history has returned for its second season.
"Be Seen" is the result of a partnership between the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project and Radio Milwaukee.
"It has been a little challenging to find these sources. It's not like there's a Milwaukee gay encyclopedia that we can just want to go and find all the answers," said Nate Imig, director of digital content for Radio Milwaukee.
Imig hosts the series with Michail Takach, the curator for Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project.
"When you're working with a history as colorful, captivating, and engaging as ours, you really have to get creative and the podcast is a great way of doing that, getting in front of people with really powerful stories that they probably have never heard that inspire an emotional reaction and pride in the city," Takach said.
"For this season, we wanted to strike a balance of long-running traditions and important people. Our first episode is with Bobby Rivers who is actually kind of a queer media pioneer in Milwaukee. He later went on to have a show on VH1," Imig explained.
One episode dives into the tradition of Milwaukee's Pride Parade, while another highlights Donna Burkett. Burkett and Manonia Evans were the first to seek a same-sex marriage license in Wisconsin during the 1970s.
The podcast focuses on LGBTQ history, but the stories are relevant to what's happening in the world currently.
"Right now, there's a lot of anti-LGBTQ violence and legislation that's being proposed across the country. We believe that if we can get to know our neighbors and archive this history and share the truth about Milwaukee that's how we change hearts and minds," Imig said.
Both Imig and Takach admitted unearthing the past and talking with key figures can get emotional, but the work is too important.
"If we can connect people with the history and heritage they didn't know existed because they were told it never existed, that is the greatest gift we can give society," Takach said.
"Be Seen" has been recognized by NPR as one of the podcasts to follow. It also received a silver award from the Milwaukee Press Club for Best Original Podcast in 2022.
You can listen to "Be Seen" on any of your podcast apps. You can also visit Radio Milwaukee's website.
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