Celebrate Pride Month with WTTW in 2021
Daniel Hautzinger
June 1, 2021
June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month, in honor of the June, 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York that was a turning point in the movement for LGBTQ rights and recognition. (You can learn more about Stonewall in an American Experience documentary WTTW is airing this month.) While Chicago's Pride Parade has been postponed this year until October, there are a few other Pride events happening in the city this month. Fill that temporary absence with programming from WTTW, online and on TV, listed below.
Find our sister station WFMT's Pride programming of LGBTQ classical music composers and artists here.
American Masters: Ballerina Boys
Friday, June 4 at 10:00 pm on WTTW and Saturday, June 12 at 3:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Discover Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks), an all-male company that for 45 years has offered audiences their passion for ballet classics mixed with exuberant comedy. With every step they poke fun at their strictly gendered art form.
Out & Proud in Chicago
Sunday, June 6 at 9:30 pm on WTTW Prime and available to stream
Jane Lynch hosts this WTTW documentary about the history of Chicago's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
POV Shorts: Post-Colonial Queer
Sunday, June 6 at 11:30 pm and Saturday, June 12 at 11:30 am on WTTW Prime and available to stream
This short POV documentary features LGBTQ stories from around the world.
Afropop: Mama Gloria
Saturday, June 12 at 10:00 am and Sunday, June 13 at 10:30 pm on WTTW Prime and available to stream
Gloria Allen is a 75-year-old Black transgender activist who started a charm school for homeless trans youth and is now aging with joy and grace. It is the story of a mother’s love—the love that Gloria’s mother had for her and the love that Gloria has for her chosen children.
Becoming Johanna
Saturday, June 12 at 11:00 am on WTTW Prime and Friday, June 25 at 8:30 pm on WTTW
When Johanna, a 16-year-old transgender Latina, begins her transition and gets kicked out of her home and school, she finds a foster family who loves her and a supportive school principal who helps her graduate and thrive.
Out in Rural America
Following five stories from the LGBTQ community over six years, this film explores the issues of self-doubt, discrimination, acceptance, and small-town and Midwestern LGBTQ life from a cultural, social, familial, and religious perspective.
Reel South: Outspoken
Saturday, June 12 at 1:00 pm and Sunday, June 27 at 11:30 pm on WTTW Prime
Members of the LGBTQ community fight to live free from discrimination in West Virginia.
American Experience: Stonewall Uprising
Saturday, June 12 at 1:30 pm on WTTW Prime and Sunday, June 13 at 10:00 pm on WTTW and available to stream by WTTW Passport members
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. That night the street erupted into violent protests and street demonstrations that lasted for the next three days. The Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Prideland
Saturday, June 12 at 4:00 pm on WTTW Prime and Sunday, June 27 at 2:00 pm on WTTW and available to stream by WTTW Passport members
Follow queer actor Dyllón Burnside on a journey to discover how LGBTQ Americans are finding ways to live authentically and with pride in the modern South.
POV: We Are the Radical Monarchs
Sunday, June 13 at 9:30 pm on WTTW Prime and available to stream by WTTW Passport members
Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBTQ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice.
Man in an Orange Shirt
Tuesday, June 15 at 8:00 pm and Wednesday, June 16 at 10:00 am on WTTW Prime and available to stream by WTTW Passport members
Two love stories, 60 years apart, chart the changes and challenges in gay lives in England—from the era of jail terms to the onset of dating apps. Vanessa Redgrave stars in this drama scripted by best-selling novelist Patrick Gale.
Expect a Miracle
Sunday, June 20 at 11:00 pm on WTTW Prime and Thursday, June 24 at 10:30 pm on WTTW and available to stream
This documentary tells the story of Fraternity House, the only hospice in North San Diego County that gave AIDS patients near death a safe place to die with dignity and love. The film centers on a handful of heroes who cared for a marginalized population in a time of fear, misinformation, and rejection from families and the government.
Lavender Scare
Sunday, June 27 at 3:00 pm on WTTW and Sunday, June 27 at 9:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Learn the untold story of how tens of thousands of homosexual federal workers were either fired or denied employment in the 1950s, stirring outrage in the gay community and starting an LGBTQ rights movement with an unlikely hero at the forefront.
American Masters: Holly Near
Sunday, June 27 at 7:00 pm on WTTW Prime and available to stream by WTTW Passport members
Experience the power of song in the struggle for equality through the story of feminist singer and activist Holly Near, who for the last 40 years has worked on global social justice coalition-building in the women’s and lesbian movements.
American Masters: Terence McNally
Sunday, June 27 at 8:00 pm and Monday, June 28 at 10:00 am on WTTW Prime
Explore the late four-time Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally's six groundbreaking decades in theater. The film delves into McNally's pursuit of love and inspiration, LGBTQ activism, triumph over addiction, and the power of the arts to transform society. McNally was an early casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, dying in March of 2020.
