HBO Max Unveils First Look at Docuseries ‘Equal’

(Photo Credits: Screengrab from HBO Max’s Official YouTube Account)

HBO Max has a new docuseries, guys, it’s called Equal. This four-part docuseries will shine a spotlight to a part of the LGBTQ history created by these “unsung heroes who pulled a generation out of the closet.” 

Equal will give us a glimpse of what activism was like before and after the birth of Pride movement. It stars Keiynan Lonsdale as Bayard Rustin, Cheyenne Jackson as Dale Jennings, Anthony Rapp as Harry Hay, and Samira Wiley as Lorraine Hansberry to name a few while Pose star Billy Porter will be narrating the series.

The first episode focuses on the story of two organizations called Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis. 

Mattachine Society was founded in Los Angeles in 1950 and is said to be “one of the earliest LGBT organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights.” To know more about Mattachine Society, read here. 

Daughters of Bilitis, on the other hand, was founded in San Francisco in 1955 and is the first lesbian rights group in the United States.

Meanwhile, episode 2 highlights the emergence of the transgender movement as well as the lives of the transgender pioneers. The episode will end with the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riots in San Francisco. Dubbed as a “historic act of trans resistance” by The Guardian, the incident is considered as “one of the first LGBT-related riots in United States history.”

Episode 3 is titled Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good! It features the pioneers from the Black community as well as their contributions to the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.

Lastly, episode 4, titled Stonewall: From Rebellion to Liberation, highlights the events leading to the Stonewall Riots and the birth of the Pride movement.

Equal is scheduled to hit HBO Max this October 22, 2020 in honor of the LGBTQ History Month. To know more about the docuseries, read here.