HBO Max's 'Equal' To Profile LGBT Rights Pioneers
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | September 07, 2020
HBO Max has greenlit a four-part docuseries on the LGBT rights movement.
Equal will explore the true stories of activists pre-Stonewall. Each episode will bring history to life with re-enactments, never-before-seen footage, and interviews.
According to Variety, the series comes from Warner Horizon Unscripted Television.
“We are extremely proud to partner with these groundbreaking producers on a subject this important, at a time this critical,” said Mike Darnell, president of unscripted and alternative television at Warner Bros. “What a perfect project to launch Warner Horizon Unscripted Television’s new documentary series unit.”
The series will profile LGBT rights activist Harry Hay; The Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian civil and political rights organization; Christine Jorgensen, a transgender woman who publicly transitioned in 1951; and Bayard Rustin, a prominent LGBT and civil rights activist. The final one-hour episode will focus on the Stonewall Riots in New York, which have been widely credited with sparking the modern LGBT rights movement.
Executive producers on the project include Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions; David Collins, Michael Williams, Rob Eric, Joel Chiodi of Scout Productions; and Jim Parsons and his husband Todd Spiewak of That's Wonderful Productions. Collins and Williams are best known for creating Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Collins returned to the makeover reality series with Queer Eye in 2018. Berlanti directed the 2018 gay teen drama Love, Simon. Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, The Boys in the Band) and Spiewak started their production company in 2015.
“In June, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which shepherded in a new era for LGBTQ+ pride,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive vice president of original non-fiction and kids programming at HBO Max. “While we know the story behind that fateful summer night, there’s a lot of fascinating, untold history of the patriots, artists, and thinkers who paved the way. It’s time to share their heroic tales, and we could not have more perfect partners in Jim Parsons, Greg Berlanti, Jon Jashni and Scout to introduce our HBO Max audience to these historical trailblazers.”