It is a much needed show in the scary and uncertain times we find ourself now.
I find it a very emotional watch for me. I was too young to actually recall everything that happened in the seventies or early eighties. It wasn't until the end of the 80's that I was first slammed in the face with not just my first AIDS case but, soon after finding out, my first death to an AIDS related death. All while I was still in high school. By the time I was a senior, a few friends and close family friends had either come to me to let me know they were positive or had passed away. It was such a horrible and difficult time in my life. What made it harder was the fact that I couldn't tell anyone about what was going on, the losses I had suffered because the ones that had told me had done so in confidence. During that time, the stigma that surrounded HIV/AIDS was still very strong. My friends had come to me and shared something very important and personal that not many people could or would understand.
This was not just a tough period for my community but an especially rough one for me. I felt I had to do something, anything. So, I started with Volunteering at The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (This was way before they started adding all of the other letters to LGBT). I started to work with the Center's National Hotline. It was a free number people could call who had no one else to talk to about their sexuality or the problems they were going through on account of it.
That's where I started to become an activist.
In '95, I was part of the first National Pride theme that was dedicated for marriage equality, holding a section of the longest Rainbow Coalition Flag that was used in the New York Pride (then cut into sections and sent to different cities world wide for their pride festivals) and all I could think of was of my friends. Friends lost and friends that were sick. I am one of the lucky ones that was able to walk through the flames and not get burnt. But many were not. Many are gone and many more are still dying...
When We Rise, in my eyes, has become a sort of love letter to all of those men and women who were first in the trenches and first to have their voices heard in a time when their lives were on the line. It is such a beautiful show...So well acted, written and directed. I just wish that every single person...not just gay, but straight as well, could watch it. It's portraits of all the characters in such a wonderful well rounded way, full of flaws, strength and weaknesses really is a love letter.
What more can I say about this show, It has brought me to tears a few times. It has put a smile on my face a few times. It has made me angry a few times...I LOVE IT! It truly is an incredible show.
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