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.

[1] 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.

Rob Reiner, Pauley Perrette, William Sadler, Phylicia Rashad, Alexandra Grey, Mary McCormack, Arliss Howard, and Henry Czerny were booked as guest stars.

The site's critical consensus reads, "When We Rise works as a well-meaning outreach project with a decent cast, even if the script's ambitious reach slightly exceeds its grasp.

"[16] Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times wrote in his review: "It could've been a scene from any of the recent protests that have arisen in the stormy first weeks of the Donald Trump presidency.

This is obviously a huge undertaking, one that traces the converging paths of gay activists who thwarted Prop 6, were later devastated by the rise of AIDS, but then rallied back to win marriage equality in 2015.

Although there were some non-factual elements, Cleve Jones (one of the principal gay activists depicted) stated that the small, factual changes Black and his team made to the 50-year history of specific characters and events portrayed do not dilute the overall truthfulness and realness of the miniseries.