When We Rise Episode 1.02 Part II

It is 1978, and Cleve Jones, Ken Jones and Roma Guy work together to fight Proposition 6, which would ban gays, lesbians, and their allies from working in California public schools. Ken lives secretly with his boyfriend, Richard, a social worker who would lose his job if the ballot measure were to pass. Meanwhile, Roma quickly discovers that living with her ex-girlfriend Diane and her current girlfriend, Jean, isn't exactly ideal when Diane announces that she's going to have one of the first ever lesbian "turkey-baster" babies. Now living in the Castro with friends Marvin and Scott, Cleve works on the campaign to elect Harvey Milk as San Francisco City Supervisor. Victory soon turns to tragedy when Milk is assassinated. The ballot box, the police, and the courts unable or unwilling to protect them, our characters rise up and take to the streets.

Just as gays and lesbians are gaining political power in 1981, a disease dubbed "gay cancer" begins taking the lives of gay men and IV drug users. When Cleve's friend Bobbi Campbell falls victim, Cleve turns to Dr. Marcus Conant, determined to help slow the spread of this yet untreatable disease. Diane works as a nurse at a public hospital. Needing more help in the face of this rapidly growing health crisis, Diane convinces Roma and the Women's Center to volunteer to help comfort the hospital's "untouchable" gay patients. Cleve, Ken, Roma, and Diane struggle to educate a terrified community with what little information they have, while wondering if they too may have contracted the disease. During a heart-breaking vigil for those who have passed, Cleve is inspired to create what will become the AIDS Memorial Quilt, in hopes of seizing the nation's attention.