Bobby Rivers’ legacy in LGBTQ community

WEATHER WATCH 12 STARTING AT 430 TOMORROW MORNING. FORMER WISN 12 ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER AND PERSONALITY BOBBY RIVERS HAS DIED. HI TROOPERS. ISN’T IT AMAZING SOME OF THE STUFF YOU SEE ON TV NOWADAYS, THE EFFECTS OF WHAT’S ON THE TUBE VERSUS SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE ARE STAGGERING. AND BEING THERE, A FOUR STAR MOVIE STARRING PETER SELLERS SELLERS IS CHANCE, A TERRIFYINGLY STUPID BUT WELL-DRESSED MAN WHO HAS KNOWLEDGE OF ONLY TWO THINGS TV AND PLANTS. RIVERS GRADUATED FROM MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY IN THE 1970S AND STUCK AROUND IN MILWAUKEE FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, JOINING WISN IN 1979 AS THE CITY’S FIRST BLACK FILM CRITIC. ON TV, HE CONTRIBUTED SEGMENTS FOR THE STATION’S PM MAGAZINE SHOW, AND THEN LEFT FOR NEW YORK CITY IN THE 80S. RIVERS ALSO ACTIVE WITH MILWAUKEE’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND JOINING US TODAY FOR MORE ON THE LEGACY THAT HE LEAVES BEHIND RIGHT HERE IN MILWAUKEE IS MICHAEL TAKASH. HE’S THE CURATOR AT THE WISCONSIN LGBTQ HISTORY PROJECT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH US. AND I KNOW THAT HE WAS A GUEST ON THE BE SEEN PODCAST EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND THE SUBJECT OF A STORY IN OUR LIVES MAGAZINE. FIRST, WHAT WERE YOUR YOUR INTERACTIONS LIKE WITH HIM? SO MY FIRST INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY RIVERS WAS IN 2016, SHORTLY AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. AND AS SOMEBODY WHO GREW UP WATCHING HIM ON PM MAGAZINE, IT WAS REALLY KIND OF A THRILL. I MEAN, I CAN REMEMBER WATCHING HIM, UM, BROADCASTING LIVE FROM THE GRAND OPENING OF GRAND AVENUE IN 1982. I REMEMBER HIM COMING ALL THE WAY OUT TO MY HOMETOWN, UM, AT THE GRAND OPENING OF MARKETPLACE IN OAK CREEK. UM, SO IT WAS REALLY QUITE AN HONOR TO SPEAK WITH HIM PERSONALLY AND GET HIS PERSPECTIVES ACROSS HIS FIVE DECADES OF BROADCASTING CAREER. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY TO LEARN A LOT ABOUT WHAT CAME BEFORE AND WHAT CAME AFTER HIS TIME IN WISCONSIN. AND I HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS BECAUSE YOU HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING ABLE TO TALK TO HIM ONE ON ONE, GET SOME ANSWERS FROM HIS PERSONAL LIFE, HIS EXPERIENCE SAYS, HOW IMPORTANT WILL BOBBY RIVERS STILL BE FOR YEARS TO COME? HOW MUCH DOES HE MEAN TO MILWAUKE YOU KNOW, IT’S FUNNY YOU ASK THAT BECAUSE WHEN WE REACHED OUT TO HIM THIS SPRING FOR THE BE SEEN PODCAST, HE WAS SURPRISED THAT ANYONE REMEMBERED HIS NAME IN MILWAUKEE AND THAT REALLY CAME AS A SHOCK TO US BECAUSE HE’S VERY WELL REMEMBERED, UM, BOTH FOR HIS HUMOR AND HIS UNIQUE PERSONALITY, HIS UNIQUE STYLE OF ADVERTISING. HE ALWAYS LEFT PEOPLE KIND OF WITH A DROP JAW AND A RAISED EYEBROW. UM, AND HE REALLY PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES. HE PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES. AS A BLACK MEDIA PROFESSIONAL AT A TIME WHEN, IN HIS OWN WORDS, EVERYONE ON THE NEWS LOOKED LIKE A KEN OR A BARBIE DOLL, HE REALLY PUSHED THE LIMITS AS A GAY BROADCASTER AT A TIME WHEN THE JOKE WAS ON THE GAY COMMUNITY. SO HE DECIDED TO PLAY JOKES THAT ONLY THE GAY COMMUNITY WOULD UNDERSTAND AND TUNE IN, TO LISTEN TO. UM. SO REALLY, BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, HIS RADIO CAREER, HIS TV CAREER AND EVEN, YOU KNOW, BECOMING A NATIONAL VEEJAY ON THE VH ONE NETWORK, THE FIRST BLACK OUT, UH, DEEJAY, UH, TO HAVE THAT ROLE. UM, I THINK HE’LL BE REMEMBERED FOR YEARS TO COME. HE REALLY ELEVATED MILWAUKEE AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS RAPIDLY CHANGING. I REMEMBER ONE OF HIS FAMOUS QUOTES WAS THAT HE WAS AT THE GRAND OPENING OF ELSA’S AND SAID, IT WAS WONDERFUL TO SEE PEOPLE DRINKING SOMETHING OTHER THAN PBR OUT OF CANS. AND MAYBE MILWAUKEE REALLY HAS ARRIVED. UM, SO HE WAS REALLY HERE AT A TIME THAT, YOU KNOW, MILWAUKEE WAS REALLY CHANGING. HE WAS AT THE SCENE FOR EVERY CHANGE THAT HAPPENED. AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, THESE THESE YOUTUBE VIDEOS AND THESE BROADCASTS THAT HE DID OVER TIME, A REALLY GREAT TIME CAPSULES OF THAT PERIOD, SO MONUMENTAL, SO IMPORTANT TO OUR COMMUNITY. MICHAEL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF BOBBY RIVERS AND YOU CAN FIND MORE CLIPS FROM RIVERS TIME RIGHT HERE O