Cleve Jones. Roma Guy. Ken Jones. Have you ever heard of them? Probably not and that is a shame. I had never heard of these people either until I watched the ABC miniseries "When We Rise." Now, I am so glad that I know who they are and know about all of the advances they made in the LGBTQ rights movement. These extraordinary people (and many, many others) are not found in history books, and that is a real tragedy because every American should know about them.

You have probably heard about this miniseries that recently aired on ABC. "When We Rise" is essentially a historically accurate recreation of the major events in the American LGBTQ rights movement since the 1970's. Most Americans probably do not know about many of the historic events and people that this series depicts and that is a shame. Everything I learned from watching this show was completely new information to me. As a straight, white, female college student, I knew absolutely nothing about the history of LGBTQ in America. I never even really thought about it or knew that there was such a rich, tragic history behind this group. Why is LGBTQ history not mentioned American history classes in our schools? Everyone knows about the Civil Rights and women's movement and the leaders behind it, so why is LGBTQ history not presented as well? Personally, I remember learning about the 1960's, '70's, and '80's in my American history class in high school but all we discussed were hippies, drugs, the Civil Rights movement, etc. The realities of the AIDs epidemic, Proposition 6, the AIDs quilt, countless major protests from these decades by members of the LGBTQ, and more were never even mentioned. The history that is taught in schools and is emphasized by the media should not be selective.

So, why should you watch this outstanding miniseries? Well, "When We Rise" depicts the history of a large group in America and the outrageously unfair treatment that they (and their supporters) have faced and continue to face. Everyone should know about this history so that they know the warning signs of this tragic history if it starts to repeat itself. Also, just about everyone knows someone who is LGBTQ; members of this group need to know that other people know at least some of their history, and that they care about them and will support them. One of the biggest myths in America today is the idea that "coming out and being LGBTQ is not a big deal anymore" but this unfortunately is not really the case. Perhaps in your social circle or where you live being LGBTQ does not seem to be an issue for anyone and this is a great thing (and the way it should be) but sadly, this is not the reality for other areas in America. Knowing the history of the LGBTQ community is just plain important. African American and women's struggles in history (and today) are well known and if LGBTQ history is more well known, they will gain more support just like the African American and Women's movements did. In order for LGBTQ history to be more accessible and available to the public (especially on television), a groundbreaking series like this needs to be supported. ABC took a huge risk by airing this series and if people do not tune in, then it is less likely that similar programming will be supported in the future. So, tune in on abc.com, Hulu, or iTunes if you missed it on ABC so that we can all see and learn more about the LGBTQ community.

Dustin Lance Black is the mastermind behind this brilliant series and his four years of work on this emotional, tragic, and hopeful project is clear once you take the the time to watch it. Hopefully, this series will inspire others to create similar projects. I am so thankful that I found this miniseries and watched it because I learned so much about the history behind the LGBT community (that includes so many people I care about). This is not just an LGBTQ issue. This is an issue for everyone to be concerned with because we should all be fighting for equality. So, watch this show. Get angry. Get upset. Get inspired. We are all fighting the same struggle and are in the same fight.