Previously on When We Rise ` Each generation has its own epic confrontations that it must face. I knew what I was called to do, not as an individual, but as part of my generation. Dad, I'm gay. It's an illness. It can be treated. I think you need some help. Get out our city, or you'll get what he got. I'm not gonna see you again, am I? We hold a street action; we get beat up by the very cops that refuse to protect us. You have such strength in you. About being black, maybe. But being black isn't the only thing that's different about me. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) # Swing low, # sweet chariot, # comin' for to carry me home. # I looked over Jordan, # and what did I see A drink before you go, sugar? # comin' for to carry me home. You got a good bourbon? Two bourbons. They call me Mama Jose. And you are? M-Michael. Well, you be whoever you want to be in here, baby, dance with whoever you want to dance with. Just not too close if the cops come. How do you know I'm not a cop? Oh. You? You're a Navy boy, Michael. And God has delivered you to this place of refuge. So be thankful. Come. # ...carry me home. # What makes you say Navy? I was just like you once. I mean we all were. Plucked from our homes by the draft for the war. Until we got caught doing what comes natural. And then we got that blue slip, and all the blue-slip nelly queens got picked up and disposed of at the nearest port ` San Francisco. I mean, the devil didn't do this to San Francisco. Mm. No. It was the Navy, the cops' own beloved US of A. They come here? The cops? Sure. But they think twice about raiding a place like this these days. I mean, since the riots. There were riots here? Compton's Cafeteria, Stonewall in New York. The cops came in to bust all our nelly queens' heads open and put our names in the papers like they do. This time, we fought back. And we started a revolution, honey. I'm not looking for a revolution. I just want a place where I can have a drink... and relax for a moment or two. Is that all you really want, Mr Michael? Then you don't have a clue... because... that is everything. # You're not alone And you're never gonna get that minute... if you're not willing to fight for it. # Love is the only hope for the lonely. (DOORBELL BUZZES INSISTENTLY) (SIGHS) (CAR IDLES) (UNSETTLING MUSIC) (CONTINUES BUZZING) (UNSETTLING MUSIC) (ENGINE CONTINUES IDLING) (ENGINE RUMBLES) (PANTS) (UNSETTLING MUSIC) MAN: It's a raid! (PEOPLE SCREAM) Cops have arrived! Let's go! The cops! Run! Go! (SIREN WAILS) (PEOPLE SHOUT) POLICEMAN: Come on! Come on! They go in this van. Surround it! Lock arms! Surround it! Come on! Lock arms! Lock arms! (ALL SHOUT) ALL SING TO THE TUNE OF 'MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE': # God save us nelly queens, # God save us nelly queens. (SHOUTING CONTINUES) # God save us queens. # From every... Get your spade ass back here! Sir, I-I'm not one of them. # ...long may we live and die. # God save us nelly queens, # God save us queens. # God save us nelly queens, # God save us nelly queens. # God save us queens. # (PATRONS CHATTER) Hey. Have a seat. I don't bite, unless you want me to. (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS SOFTLY) What do you want, honey? For now, coffee would help. And what do you want in return? Relax. (CHUCKLES) I did the down-and-out refugee-child routine in my time. What's your name? Where you from? I'm Cleve Jones. I'm from Arizona. Thank you. I'm Sylvester, from Inglewood. I mean, I'm not down and out no more. (CHUCKLES) I just got back from my first tour in Europe. Here. Come to a show. You do drag? This is not drag, honey. This is me. Keep your eyes peeled on this face, and you're gonna see it on the Billboard charts for being devotedly me. (BOTH LAUGH) OK, I will. Yeah. You better come. Bring a friend. MOUTHS: Hi. MOUTHS: Bye. Um, I have to... I don't know. Uh, can we have two coffees to go, please? Here's what I want from you boys ` be fabulous, and tell them other skinny new boys to do the same, cos we need a new scene in this city. Can you do that for me, Cleve Jones from Arizona? You have no idea. There is one option which could alleviate the present tension and potentially leave everyone happier. (SIGHS) Yes. I go back to my celibate life. (CLICKS TONGUE) Roma. (SIGHS) Now, I spent the 50s very much intending to hide the fact that I was a lesbian, but that meant... putting down and holding down a whole part of myself that was really vital to my being. So, first ask yourself do you think hiding will make you truly happy? It'd be a lot more comfortable than this, if we're being honest. OK. The traditional heterosexual model for relationships is monogamy, right? For the past 2000 years, maybe. And in theory, that serves its purpose ` procreation and child-rearing. But we don't have that option available to us, not yet. So, I suggest that, in the interest of growing closer rather than further, we abandon that model. The heterosexual model? Mm-hmm. Now, Jean and I have purchased land and adjoining homes in Willits. Ours is the house with the outdoor latrine and the well. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. I suggest that we all move there, explore what might create the most love between us. You don't have to give me an answer right away. But we're going there this weekend to plan an action against the National Organisation of Women. Oh, well, I'm still a member of NOW. You got to be kidding me. How is that any crazier than you wanting a three-way relationship? Because I don't want any hurt feelings. Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you brought me back here and had sex with me three, four, five times. Five times? Well, no. Three times each time, so 12 times total, but only four visits. (SCOFFS) So much for, 'I'm sorry, Sally, I'm just not that sexual.' Oh, please, not right now. You need to talk. I don't have time for one girlfriend, let alone two. Thank you for the terrible tea, but I have flyers I need to be stapling up to protect us from the patriarchy. Roma. Roma, wait. (DOOR OPENS, CLOSES) Three times each time? (STAPLER CLICKS) (GENTLE MUSIC) (MUSIC SWELLS) He'll be fine with it. Hang on. Let me talk to him. Carl. Hey, Tomi. SINGSONGY: Carl. Hey, can I talk to you for a second? Um, my Sunday job paid me out in cash, so I'm leaving for Europe. But this is Cleve. Uh, I've told him everything he needs to know about being a bike messenger, and he can fill in. Cool? Starting at 6am, the blueprints start coming off the printer. We put them in tubes. They got to be on site within the hour. You ride that? Sir, I can get that bike from the Bay to the ocean in 30 minutes. OK. All right, now, I'm gonna keep looking... for some better place out there, OK? But until I find it, you just do whatever you can to make as much money as you can so you can join me out there, OK? # Poor old granddad. Thank you. OK, kid. Knock yourself out. Thank you. All right. California and Mason ` hotel. California and Mason, big hotel. Yes. You got this. (SIGHS) OK. # For love is blind and you're far too kind. # Don't ever let it show # I wish that I knew what I know now # when I was younger. # I wish that I knew what I know now # when I was stronger. # Oh. # 1 (INDISTINCT SHOUTING) Thanks for letting me stay here. It's not the Ritz, but... This is it. Hey, Tomi. Hey. He's cool. (ROCK MUSIC PLAYS) Um, who all lives here? Every day it's a new kid from someplace. I stopped keeping count. Does everyone have a job? We all do, but it's not enough to live here. I mean, some sell weed to make up the difference in rent. But if you're hungry, you sell yourself. You get 50 bucks from a banker, but letting him go down on you is a felony? And not just cos it's a trick. It's cos you're a guy. The cops are targeting us. So, if he's 6ft tall, white and handsome, you better watch out. What about laundry? (CHUCKLES) Save your quarters, baby. (STAPLER CLICKS) Hi. We're having a rally to stop violence against women. Are boys invited? Oh. No. (CHUCKLES) I mean, I don't know. Because I really like a good march, but that one could get pretty crazy. Why do you say that? I did ERA marches with my mother in Arizona when I was a kid, and those were as intense as any peace rally. And then I marched for the Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez was there, and that got wild. You met Cesar Chavez? Well,... he was there. So, are you with the workers or the peace movement or what? It's all the same to me ` same struggle, same fight. Well, right now my priority is women. Well, right now my priority is not starving to death, but that doesn't mean that I'm just focused on day-old loaves of bread. (CHUCKLES) OK, sure, fine. Well, feminism states that our destiny's not determined by our gender, right? Now, for you, that means one thing; for me, that means that I can love who I love. So I wouldn't rule all boys out, because I'm sure I'm not the only boy like me in San Francisco. (GENTLE MUSIC) I need you to bring all the boys like you. But if anyone asks, I didn't invite you, cos some of these women ` they hate men. Well, men are pigs. I'm Cleve. OK, Cleve. I'm Roma. (DOOR CLOSES) PA: 105 from Santa Rosa now arriving, Gate two. Santa Rosa bus now arriving, Gate two. (UNSETTLING MUSIC) (LOCKER CLANKS) (MUSIC CONTINUES) Hey, Mom. Where are you? I'm` How are you? Tell me everything. Well, I got a job. I'm a bike messenger for a printing company, actually, and you should see my legs. (CHUCKLES) I've got calves like Nureyev. (LAUGHS) Do you have a phone number yet? No, no, not yet. But I'm` I'm saving, and I only need more 100 more dollars to get my own place, and then you can call me whenever you want. 100 every month? No, it's just` it's just once ` a deposit. Um... I'm kind of worried of what they're gonna do at the hotel I'm staying at right now. Oh, Cleve. DAD: Son, come back. We'll support you. On your terms? Let's just agree on the outcome we're all looking for. I... No. I won't agree. And I'm not gonna try and fix something that's not broken. I don't accept that, Cleve. Heck, I worried I was homosexual for almost a year when I was 16. Dad, it... Cleve, we can't help you, not like this. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (SNIFFLES) (RECEIVER THUDS, COIN CLINKS) (POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES) (ELTON JOHN'S 'LEVON') # He was born a pauper to a pawn... ID? # ...on a Christmas day # when The New York Times said God is dead. # And the war's begun. # Alvin Tostig has a son today. (PEOPLE CHATTER INDISTINCTLY) # And he shall be Levon,... Can I have a bourbon, please? # ...and he shall be a good man. Frisk him. Put your hands on the bar. Spread your legs. # ...in tradition with the family plan. # Whoo, and he shall be Levon. Now can I get a bourbon, please? ID? He just checked them. He's not serving you. You're didn't ask anybody else in this place for an ID. You don't like my service, you can get out of my bar, boy. # He shall be Levon. Keep with your own kind down in the Tenderloin. # And he shall be a good man. # And he shall be Levon # in tradition with the family plan. # Whoo, he shall be Levon, # and he shall be a good man. # (CARS HONK) (SIRENS WAIL DISTANTLY) (UNSETTLING MUSIC) Hey. You a cop? Me? Yeah. You're 6ft tall, and you're white. No. Um, you want to take a walk? Where to? My apartment. (SIGHS) Do you have food there? 1 So, what brought you here? Well, I came here to avoid getting a lobotomy. (CHUCKLES) But now on most nights I'm more afraid of what might happen here. I was on the streets for a while, too, when I first left home in New York. Did you ever go down to the village, the Stonewall Inn? What do you know about all that? Well, I know there was an organised uprising against the cops that lasted three nights. Well, don't believe everything you read. So you're saying it's not true? I'm saying I was there. (CLEARS THROAT) (SOFT JAZZ PLAYS) What was it like? It was just kids ` kids who just wanted to dance and didn't want to take the cops' harassment anymore. They learned to mess with the cops cos they'd been to peace-movement marches like you. Didn't even know gays had never fought back. So they did what was in their bones. Those kids gave enough hope that... now we're all telling our own stories about Stonewall cos Stonewall made us feel like we deserved one,... finally. And that's bigger than the truth. But you ` you got to know it was just kids like you and your friends. (JAZZ CONTINUES PLAYING) You don't have to do this. I know. (PLATES CLATTER) Hey, Tomi, guys, there's gonna be a rally on Market, and it's gonna get really ugly. Who wants to come? I feel like... fighting back today, don't you? I-I feel like getting arrested. (CHUCKLES) Have you even been arrested, white boy? No, I haven't, but I look forward to it. (HORN HONKS) Relax. We're early. If at least 50 women don't show up, they've won. And this humiliation ` it's my fault. (ENGINES RUMBLE) This was supposed to be a protest against violence. I'm not putting these women in the position to be beat up by the same cops that already won't protect them. We have to cancel it. (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) (EMOTIVE MUSIC) (CHATTERING CONTINUES) Roma! Roma, do you mind? OK, sure. We stand here united in anger! (SHOUTING, CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Women of all kinds ` gay, straight, black, and white, now is the time to create our own power in order to ensure our safety! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Women are exploited as sex objects,... ALL: Yes! ...breeders,... ALL: Yes! ...domestic servants! ALL: That's right! Yes! Our safety stolen away by those who are tasked with our protection! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) And we identify the agents of our oppression as men! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) CLEVE: Hey, Del! Del! Phyllis! I read your book. How old are you, kid? What's it matter to you? You got a big mouth. We could use a few more. Look us up. Really? This is our protest in our area. Come on! Get out of here! You got a problem? What? He's with me. (PROTESTERS CONTINUE SHOUTING) OFFICER: Back on the sidewalk. (SIREN WAILS) Back on the sidewalk now! WOMAN: We claim this intersection as ours. Stop the violence! ALL CHANT: Stop the violence! Stop the violence! (INDISTINCT SHOUTING) Stop the violence! Stop the violence! (SHOUTING CONTINUES) # This is not an escape. Stop... (GUNSHOTS) # But I don't know how to hold somebody without losing my grip. Roma, put this on your mouth. It'll protect you from the smoke, OK? And your nose, too. Whatever you do, stay together. (COUGHS) They can't break us all at once, OK? Roma! (COUGHS) # Thought I heard you whisper in the dark # that you knew where the light would be. # Thought I saw your shape against the black,... (COUGHS) # ...thought I felt you moving beside me. (KEYS CLATTER) # We are not alone. I'm not any good at this. No, you're not. You're in here hiding from the cops, not because you don't have it in you, but because this fight's still about ideas for you ` good ideas, but ideas aren't enough to lead with. And the one thing that can make this truly personal for you, the one thing that can make you strong ` you're burying it. You love women, Roma. And if you owned that, you wouldn't be in here shaking like a leaf because some cop launched tear gas at you. You'd be hotter than hell, ready to fight for your life. (EMOTIVE MUSIC) 1 (SOFT MUSIC PLAYS) (LINE RINGS) WOMAN: Hello. Yes. Hello. Is this Del? Yes. It's Cleve. Cleve who? Jones, from the rally. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Ken, the client you were working with from Tennessee ` he asked if I could sit in on a meeting with him and the black soldiers he wrongly punished. You have the ability to get through to people. You have such strength in you. About being black, maybe. But I grew up in a black home with a black mom who understood my struggle. But being black isn't the only thing that's different about me. Other things... that feel born in me. They aren't in my mom. In those ways, I was born into enemy territory. I need answers. I need to know where he is now. The Lord? No. Michael. I haven't even cried because I don't know if he's in heaven or hell... or if it's my fault where his soul is now. Stop. Don't say anything more about this on this island. I'll recommend you go back to your church every Sunday. (POIGNANT MUSIC) Imagine there's one of you sitting out there. What would you say to you? (POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES) A year ago, I sat in a room like this, and I listened to a man tell me that I was sick and that I was a criminal and that I had no future and that I was going to hell. (POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES) (SOBS) (MUSIC SWELLS) (SOBS) Well, I'm here to tell you that I haven't gone crazy and I haven't gone to jail... yet. And I refuse to believe in a God... who would send me to hell for who I am. (KEYS JANGLE) Where are you going? Most importantly, I want you to know that whoever you are, you are not alone. Exactly, Walter. And despite fear of identification, of rejection, we are here to say that the Constitution tells us that we already have the right to participate in this country on an equal basis with every other citizen. REPORTER: That was Jim Foster, the first openly gay man to ever speak at a Democratic National Convention. (ALL CHATTER) Nice to meet you, Rachel. Oh! How are you? Roma! Hi! Hi. So good to see you. Good to see you. All right, everybody settle down now. Good morning, and wel` - (CLICK!) - (SCREAMING) (NEWCOMERS SHOUT INDISTINCTLY) Sisters, we are tired of living in the closet because of the women's movement. Order! We'll have some order here! We are not a menace! We are not a distraction! And we will not be silent any longer! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) 1 I worked with the lesbians, and they didn't seem too interested in... any sort of political fight. And the peace movement is always going to be home for me. But now that war is ending, and ours is just beginning. So I'm looking for a real... foothold in the gay movement. And I saw you on television at the convention and thought I would just start at the top. Well, you must have stayed up pretty late if you saw me at the Democratic Convention. I mean, you could have done better than a 2am slot for us, don't you think? Do you know how much it took to get that spot? We've worked for years organizing, raising money, walking precincts. What have you done except for make some noise and smoke weed? And that's my question, sir. Is there a place for someone like me in the movement? Look, it matters what you look like to our allies. Oh. And we're gonna need allies to get anywhere. So when you say 'allies', you mean rich, straight, white, Christian male allies. Like it or not. I mean, perhaps if you got an education, got a haircut. (SCOFFS) There's a barber up on 18 Street. Well, this has been... very informative. Such a pleasure to meet you finally, Mr Foster. (CHUCKLES) Have a great day. SCOTT'S VOICE: 'Cleve, I've found it. Get out of San Francisco. Meet me in Amsterdam in May. 'The boys are beautiful here.' Hey, Cleve? Hey. Cleve. You're registered to vote, right? (CHUCKLES) Sorry. From what I can tell, politics here is bourgeois affectation. I'm going to Europe. What's going on over there? Less 'marriage, military, religious, white male, cop, supremacy' crap. You know, we can keep flying away to search for something that isn't there, either, or we can stay and fight to make this the place we're looking for. Fight City Hall, the cops. MAN: ...work together. My candidate's Harvey Milk. He's running for city supervisor. MILK: And most importantly, most importantly, every gay person must come out. I'm running because it's obvious, based on what the media has opened up, that a political machine has formed in this city. I don't think a machine can represent people. REPORTER: And the issue of machine politics goes beyond the local supervisor's race. REPORTER: The thrust of the Watergate investigation now has switched to the federal grand jury in Washington. One by one, the high and the mighty and the former high and the mighty in the Nixon administration are being called to testify. The burglar himself said it wasn't the CIA. So, Marvin, let me ask you ` who stood to benefit? Nixon. We could be headed for a serious constitutional crisis. Haven't you been watching at all? I can't bear their sweaty faces, but I like when you talk about it. I'm just more of a theatre queen. (CHUCKLES) You're adorable. So, why don't you stay in New York? There are a million dancers in New York. I could be Liza Minnelli here. (LAUGHS) You want to be like her? No. Be her. Directed by Fosse in 'Marvin with a 'V'. OK. SINGS: # Maybe this time # I'll be lucky. # Maybe this time he'll stay. # (LAUGHS) And then drilled by her queer husband after he spent the day writing a new hit show for yours truly. Well, holy Liza Minnelli. Mm. 'Holy Liza' is right. (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS) I've never left a brother behind,... not on the street as a kid or in Vietnam. But if I'm being honest, I thought your life was worth less, cos lately I've been thinking my life is worth less too. And you don't got no reason to let me back in here after the cowardice I showed. But I could use this place, even for just one night. You are way too pretty to look so sad, Michael. Let Mama see you smile. I bet you have a beautiful smile. (CHUCKLES) There. (LAUGHS) So, when were you drafted? I wasn't. I signed up for three tours. You got an issue with that? I don't. Well, I've got an issue with war. You talk tough, but I look around here, and I think, 'Maybe you could use someone who is tough.' And if the fight comes here again, I won't run. Get Michael here a bourbon, please. Excuse me. (TAPS ON COUNTER) Excuse me! Excuse me, sugar. What are you? A very feminine little policeman? Don't piss her off. She hates cops. Thank you. Mm-hm. Who runs this place? Depends on what you're after. Somehow you've stayed open for decades. Tell me how you got this permit and how you've kept it. Well, that would be telling. You can trust her. She's one of us. I need to build a place in this city for women, run by women, for our protection. Unless, of course, you're all afraid of us having something of our own too. (ALL CHUCKLE) KEN: No, ma'am. Well, the secret, my dear, is that 'us vs them' is an illusion. All of you combined, locked arm in arm, are stronger than you know. You could lift us all up. We ` us ` we are everywhere. (APPLAUSE) Even hidden in the permit offices in City Hall. (FUNKY MUSIC PLAYS) # My country, 'tis of thee, # sweet land of liberty, # of thee I sing. # (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) (SIRENS WAIL) MAN: Hey. I just saw you walk out. You a cop? No. Well, I hope you're not lying, cos I don't feel like lying tonight. Cos I like it in there. I like it in there too. What's your name? Richard. You? (MUFFLED DANCE MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING) Ken. And I am in the US Navy, for now. I work at CPS here in the city. Child Protective Services. If anyone finds out about me, I... lose my job. Same here. (SIGHS) Um... I should go before I miss the last bus. (CHUCKLES) Hey, um, can I take your picture first? You sure that's all you want? I could be convinced to stay. (GENTLE MUSIC) (LAUGHS) Cleve, wait. Cleve. BREATHLESSLY: What? It's... It's never gonna work. But I have a feeling we could be the best of sisters. So I kiss like a sister? Mm-hm. (CHUCKLES) Well, sisters take care of each other, so maybe I can help you find a roof before I split. Let me know if you hear of anyone else with a spare room in the Castro. I hear that's the place to be now. That's what I hear too. (MUSIC CONTINUES) Where you going, faggot? (BLADE CLICKS) Ugh! Marvin! Marvin! (GRUNTS REPEATEDLY) (CAR PULLS UP, HONKS REPEATEDLY) Need a lift? (GRUNTS) (GENTLE MUSIC) Hey, can we help you? Roma? Do you know her? Roma. Yeah. That's Diane. # Nobody wants to be the only one that's left standing. # Nobody wants to be the only one to understand. # And now I'm seeing the way that you're leaving # without... (GRUNTS) # ...me. What do you think about having another renter here through winter? What are you thinking, Cleve? # The tide can hold you out. 'Dear Scott, I'd love to meet you in Amsterdam, but I can't, 'because I know what I'm here to do now. 'the churches, the state, the headshrinkers, the cops, everyone ` 'they're all against us. 'so they must be confronted.' READS: 'We must build a real liberation movement. But we first we need a place of our own, 'one block ` one block to fight them off from. 'And this is that place, and now is the time.' 'It's time for us to fight back. # # Anyway. # Captions by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017