When We Rise: Meet 7 Real Activists Who Are Portrayed in the New Miniseries

Austin P. McKenzie (left) and Guy Pearce (middle) play Cleve Jones (right).

Just as it's briefly shown in the miniseries, Jones was mentored by the iconic gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk until Milk's death in 1978. Jones went on to cofound the AIDS Foundation in 1983, and years later, he led the National Equality March in 2009. Jones wrote When We Rise, the book that inspired the miniseries.

He currently lives in San Francisco and works for the hospitality workers' union UNITE HERE.