ABC/Eike Schroter(NEW YORK ) — The new ABC miniseries When We Rise, beginning tonight, tells the mostly-unknown story behind the LGBT movement in the U.S., and the people who dedicated their lives to equality for gay men and women.

The miniseries was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and stars Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle K. Williams and Ivory Aquino as the real-life heroes of the movement.

“This covers four-and-a-half decades,” Dustin Lance Black tells ABC Radio.  The screenwriter, who won the Oscar for writing the 2008 film Milk, adds, “We go back to 1971, it comes all the way to 2013, and these are people who dedicated themselves to equality.”

“That’s really all we’re doing is sharing who we are,” he adds.  Black, who grew up in a Mormon household in San Antonio, Texas, tells ABC Radio, “It’s an introduction of my LGBT family to my Southern family. That’s how I’ve always seen this series and I do hope my Southern family and beyond — we might not agree all the time — but I do think they’ll relate to the struggle of, of, of these LGBT families and these moms who are trying to raise their kids.”

“I hope people, when they tune in and watch this, understand that we are stronger together,” Black says when asked what he hopes viewers will take away from When We Rise.  “Yes, we’re in, we’re in divisive times right now, but we can lock arms. We can come together and we can start to move forward again.” 

When We Rise starts tonight, February 27 at 9 pm. ET, and runs through March 3 on ABC.

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