When Brian Hurlburt applied to host a radio show on low-power community broadcaster WAYO-FM, the station didn’t technically exist yet. This was 2015, and organizers were still laying cables and installing power racks before launching. Hurlburt wanted in. He’d worked in radio before, hosting a show in Batavia, and he dreamed of returning to the microphone with a purpose. “I had a desire to get LGBTQ+ views out into our community,” Hurlburt said. “I heard about this station that was going to sign on the air and my late husband, Jim, encouraged me to go for it because I wasn’t 100% sure.” WAYO sent its inaugural broadcast on January 4, 2016. “The Rainbow Roc Show,” Hurlburt’s creation, premiered soon after as one of the station’s very first programs. It still airs from 1-3 p.m. every Monday. A decade — and 500 shows — later, “Rainbow Roc” has become a staple of Rochester radio, a haven for frank discussions of queer issues, a de facto news show with a tenacious, remarkably current lens on both local and national issues as well as a home for spotlighting queer historical figures who have changed the world. Brian Hurlburt conceived of ‘Rainbow Roc’ back in 2015, before WAYO-FM was even on the air. Credit: PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH In other words, the kind of program that’s perfectly at home on WAYO. “We play music from singers and songwriters that are LGBTQ+. We play bands that might have a member that’s LGBTQ+, or we’ll play people who are supportive of the LGBTQ+ community,” Hurlburt said. “Or we’ll throw in whatever we damn well please.” The “we” grew quickly. Hurlburt added Michael Lill as cohost because, as Hurlburt said, “I forgot how to talk on the radio by myself.” The core of the show became Hurlburt and Lill having candid conversations with each other and some notable guests. One of their first interviews was Rochester drag icon Mrs. Kasha Davis, who has since appeared on the show several times. “We ran Roc Pride from 2012 until 2015,” Lill said. “We got done volunteering doing that, because it was a lot. We were doing 60 hours a week extra just to try and get the Pride fest going.” A radio show seemed like a less intense but still meaningful way of maintaining their advocacy, especially as the roster expanded. Hurlburt invited the “charismatic” and showtune-loving Christopher Hennelly, Lill’s partner at the financial management business The Christopher Group, to join. A regular at the courthouse and at press conferences, Hennelly began unpacking complex, contemporary issues during the show, including homelessness, Medicare and parole. “I’m more of a news addict,” Hennelly said. “I can’t help myself.” Christopher Hennelly, left, joined the ‘Rainbow Roc’ crew and became known for his frank discussion of local issues. Kat Sweeney, far right, offers a segment on change makers called ‘Herstory.’ And then there’s Silent Greg, a friend who hung around the studio long enough to become an actual cohost (when he chooses to speak). “Brian would always tell me, ‘I envision one day where we have groups of different people instead of just the two of us,’ Lill said. “‘I want to have a roundtable, like an old “Charlie Rose” type thing, and get people of different opinions.’” Kat Sweeney is one of them. She now provides a segment called “Herstory,” inspired by a spate of drag queens getting banned from performing in different communities. Each week, she spotlights an author, comic artist, actor, activist or notable LGBTQ+ community member. It’s part of what makes “Rainbow Roc” special, she said. “(The show) also provides a way for people to feel like they identify with somebody, because we all have different situations,” Sweeney said. “I have adult kids. I’m neurodivergent. Brian is dealing with some disability stuff. People listening to us often get a chance to say, ‘I empathize with that. I recognize that.’ I think people, especially right now in this community, really need to feel validated and seen and heard.” Here’s how “Rainbow Roc” works. Each Sunday evening, Hurlburt prepares some songs — like a modern cover of Diana Ross’ gay anthem “I’m Coming Out” or a track from queer “American Idol” heartthrob David Archuleta — while the hosts assemble on Zoom for the episode recording.  After a block of music, the conversations begin. The upcoming Pride parade route. A discussion about how many smaller Pride celebrations have become so reliant on corporate donors that, when the companies change their support as the political tides shift, the festivals suffer. The many adaptations of the TV series “Queer as Folk.” None of the discourse would be possible without WAYO station manager Max Kelley, the hosts said. Once COVID hit, Kelley helped set up the mobile recording model the show still uses. He’s pleased to see how “Rainbow Roc” perfectly embodies the station’s community mission. “WAYO doesn’t necessarily have a news program or anything like that,” Kelley said. “But Christopher spends a lot of time watching court cases locally and all sorts of local events and things in that social justice space going on in the community, and then uses the show as a platform to raise awareness, which I think is really cool.” Michael Lill has co-anchored ‘Rainbow Roc’ since shortly after the show launched in 2016, when WAYO-FM first went on the air. Credit: PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH Hennelly believes in the importance of his work covering economic challenges, domestic violence in the queer community and trans prisoners who may be forced to de-transition due to draconian policy. But he also knows it’s only one segment of the larger patchwork of “Rainbow Roc.”“These are serious issues, but that cannot make two hours of radio,” he said. “Thank god these folks here say, ‘OK, come on back out of that!’ I’m grateful because then it does re-ground me (in) the joy.” Joy may, in fact, be the center of the show. As Hurlburt and Lill look ahead to their next decade on the air, they’ve got jovial dreams. “My biggest hope is that (the news) is not always going to be so hard and dark,” Lill said. “When we first started the show, we had just gotten (federal) gay marriage and we had more artists coming out, and it seems like we’re seeing that kind of go back in. That’s one of the main reasons we continue the show: it’s needed right now.”Hurlburt, naturally, stays focused on the music.  “I would love to see the first annual ‘Rainbow Roc’ LGBTQ+ concert type deal where there’s four or six bands and we all gather in the park,” he said. “Sounds like Pride!” Hennelly quipped. Hurlburt admitted it does, before adding a final novena: “Hopefully with a little bit more money, we can bring David Archuleta.” wayofm.org/shows/rainbow-roc-show The post Local radio show ‘Rainbow Roc’ celebrates 10 years of proud LGBTQ+ advocacy appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less