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Watch: Trailer for LGBT miniseries “When We Rise” debuts

ABC's "When We Rise" follows LGBTQ movement from Stonewall to present day

By on November 22, 2016

The stars are out for When We Rise, ABC’s miniseries dramatization of the LGBTQ rights movement.

Spanning five decades, from the Stonewall Riots to present day, the eight-hour, seven-episode series will dramatize the LGBTQ community’s struggles from nascent activism, through the horrors of the AIDS crisis, to the unprecedented advancement of our rights under President Obama.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is teaming up with director Gus Van Sant to bring When We Rise to screens.

“It’s been the honor of my life to research and craft these stories of family, diversity and equality over the past three years,” Black said in a statement. “To have collaborators of this caliber sign on to help bring these stories to life is a tremendous vote of confidence, and I hope a testament to the relevancy and necessity of our continued march toward justice for all.”

The trailer showcases a wealth of talent on board for the production, including Whoopi Goldberg as Pat Norman, the first openly gay employee of the San Francisco Health Department, Mary Louise Parker and Rachel Griffiths as a lesbian couple, Guy Pearce as Cleve Jones, who conceived the AIDS Quilt, and Rosie O’Donnell as Del Martin, co-founder of America’s first lesbian organization.

When We Rise comes at a particularly uncertain time for the LGBTQ community, as President-elect Donald Trump fills his administration with a number of individuals who hold anti-LGBT attitudes.

When We Rise is set to air in February.

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