The personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today. The period piece tells the history of the gay rights movement, starting with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
The worst episode of "When We Rise" is "Part I", rated 7.9/10 from 442 user votes. It was directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black. "Part I" aired on 2/27/2017 and is rated 0.2 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Part II".
A young peace activist escapes his repressive life in Phoenix and heads to San Francisco, hoping to find refuge and community, but finds that the struggle for survival is just as difficult as it was back home. Elsewhere, NOW purges lesbians from its ranks.
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Dustin Lance Black
Ken, Cleve, and Roma fight an initiative that would ban gays from working in California public schools, while Cleve works on the campaign to elect Harvey Milk as San Francisco City Supervisor. But soon a disease starts killing gay men all over the country.
Director: Dee Rees
Writer: Dianne Houston, Dustin Lance Black, Lisa Zwerling
AIDS continues to ravage the gay community. Cleve creates the AIDS quilt in order to get the President's attention, while Diane's daughter Annie struggles with her identity as the child of a lesbian couple and a gay man.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Derek Simonds, Peter Parnell
An energized Cleve inspires a group of young activists to organize a march on Washington to demand full LGBTQ civil rights, while Roma uses her skills to reform healthcare in San Francisco. Elsewhere, a group forms to try overturning California's discriminatory proposition banning gay marriage.
Director: Dustin Lance Black
Writer: Dustin Lance Black