# When We Rise

When We Rise is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker, Michael Kenneth Williams, Austin P. McKenzie, Emily Skeggs, Jonathan Majors, Fiona Dourif, and Sam Jaeger among 30 others. The miniseries premiered on ABC on February 27, 2017, with the rest of its episodes airing March 1 to 3.

## Plot

Based on the memoirs of LGBT activist Cleve Jones, When We Rise chronicles the personal and political struggles, set-backs, and triumphs of a diverse group of LGBTQ+ individuals who helped pioneer a portion of the civil rights movement from its infancy in the 20th century to the successes of today. The saga covers 41 years – starting in 1972, shortly after the Stonewall riots – and tells the evolving history of the modern gay rights movement.

## Cast

* Guy Pearce as Cleve Jones, LGBT activist
** Austin P. McKenzie as young Cleve Jones
* Mary-Louise Parker as Roma Guy, activist
** Emily Skeggs as young Roma Guy
* Rachel Griffiths as Diane Jones, Roma's girlfriend (later wife)
** Fiona Dourif as young Diane Jones
* Carrie Preston as Sally Miller Gearhart, activist, teacher, and writer
* Michael K. Williams as Ken Jones, activist
** Jonathan Majors as young Ken Jones
* Jack Plotnick as Gilbert Baker, designer of the rainbow flag
** Dylan Arnold as young Gilbert Baker
* Ivory Aquino as Cecilia Chung, transgender activist
* Kevin McHale as Bobbi Campbell, AIDS activist
* Dylan Walsh as Dr. Marcus Conant, pioneer in the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS
* Rafael de la Fuente as Ricardo Canto, Cleve's partner
* Caitlin Gerard as Jean, Roma's first girlfriend in San Francisco
* Nick Eversman as Scott Rempel, Cleve's friend in San Francisco who gives his job to Cleve when he leaves for Europe
* Whoopi Goldberg as Pat Norman, the first openly gay employee of the San Francisco Health Department
* Rosie O'Donnell as Del Martin, co-founder of Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States
* Maddie Corman as Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin's girlfriend (later wife), fellow activist and co-founder of Daughters of Bilitis
* Denis O'Hare as Jim Foster, an openly gay Democratic party organizer
* David Hyde Pierce as Dr. Jones, Cleve's father
* T. R. Knight as Chad Griffin
* Sam Jaeger as Richard, Ken Jones' long-term partner
* Todd Weeks as Tom Ammiano
* Matthew Del Negro as Gavin Newsom
* Justin Sams as Sylvester
* Alexandra Grey as Seville
* Willam Belli as Jason
* Michael DeLorenzo as José Sarria
* Richard Schiff as Judge Vaughn Walker
* Charlie Carver as Michael Smith, Ken Jones' early partner
* Rob Reiner as David Blankenhorn
* Pauley Perrette as Robin
* William Sadler as Chuck Cooper
* Charles Socarides Jr. as Richard Socarides
* John Rubinstein as Dr. Charles W. Socarides
* Phylicia Rashad as Bishop Yvette A. Flunder
* Jazzmun as Bobbi Jean Baker
* Mary McCormack as Roberta A. Kaplan
* Arliss Howard as Ted Olson
* Henry Czerny as David Boies
* Balthazar Getty as David
* Tyler Young as Matt

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | US viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Part I" | Gus Van Sant | Dustin Lance Black | February 27, 2017 (2017-02-27) | 3.26 |
| 1972: Three people—an Arizona peace activist named Cleve Jones, an African-American sailor Ken Jones in Vietnam, and a Boston women's activist Roma Guy—all move to San Francisco to join the nascent gay community. ||||||
| 2 | "Part II" | Gus Van Sant | Dustin Lance Black | February 27, 2017 (2017-02-27) | 2.64 |
| Roma helps take a stand against the National Organization for Women's attempts to purge lesbians from their ranks. Ken comes to accept—and fight for—his sexuality. After struggling to find San Francisco less welcoming than he'd hoped, Cleve hears of a New Yorker, Harvey Milk, running for election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. ||||||
| 3 | "Part III" | Dee Rees | Story by : Eileen Myers Teleplay by : Dustin Lance Black & Dianne Houston | March 1, 2017 (2017-03-01) | 2.30 |
| 1978–79: Roma sees the establishment of The Women's Building. Harvey Milk runs for the Board of Supervisors against a backdrop of Anita Bryant's Moral Majority and John Briggs's statewide initiative to ban gay people and allies from working with children. ||||||
| 4 | "Part IV" | Dee Rees | Story by : Allison Abner and Lisa Zwerling Teleplay by : Lisa Zwerling | March 1, 2017 (2017-03-01) | 1.79 |
| 1981: A new disease, initially named gay-related immune deficiency, starts spreading among gay men and drug users in San Francisco. Roma and Diane start a family. ||||||
| 5 | "Part V" | Thomas Schlamme | Dustin Lance Black | March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02) | 2.00 |
| 1992: A decade after the advent of the AIDS Crisis, Cleve (now played by Guy Pearce) unveils the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C., and visits ACT UP in New York as they fight for early clinical trials of new drugs. Ken (now played by Michael K. Williams) finds his life turned upside down when Richard dies of AIDS. Roma and Diane (now played by Mary-Louise Parker and Rachel Griffiths) work with Tom Ammiano to see Carole Migden elected to the Board of Supervisors—and find out he's the biological father of their daughter Annie. ||||||
| 6 | "Part VI" | Thomas Schlamme | Dustin Lance Black | March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02) | 2.03 |
| 1997: Ken relies on Cecilia Chung's support as he struggles with addiction at a VA hospital. Cleve visits the Human Rights Campaign in D.C., where Richard Socarides lobbies for Bill Clinton to do better than "don't ask, don't tell" and DOMA. Roma and Diane's daughter Annie struggles with her unconventional background. In Palm Springs, Cleve looks after the child of a drug-addicted neighbor. 2006: Cleve speaks to the interviewer we've seen throughout, against a backdrop of the murder of Matthew Shepard and George W. Bush's proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. ||||||
| 7 | "Part VII" | Dustin Lance Black | Dustin Lance Black | March 3, 2017 (2017-03-03) | 2.07 |
| 2008: As Barack Obama is elected president, California Proposition 8 revokes California's recently-acquired marriage equality, starting Cleve to help organise the National Equality March on Washington, D.C., and advocate for equal rights. Roma, Diane and Tom become grandparents and advocate for citywide universal healthcare in San Francisco. Ken is baptised, but finds some churches are less welcoming than others. ||||||
| 8 | "Part VIII" | Dustin Lance Black | Dustin Lance Black | March 3, 2017 (2017-03-03) | 2.07 |
| 2009–13: Cleve takes the battle against Prop 8 through the federal courts all the way to the Supreme Court. Ken works with Cecilia Chung to get support for his church. Roma and Diane decide to get married if the Supreme Court allows it. ||||||