Alum Cleve Jones Portrayed by Guy Pearce on Miniseries 'When We Rise'

ROMPER -- As a budding young activist in San Francisco during the 1970s, Jones eventually found himself interning for Harvey Milk’s campaign when he was a student at San Francisco State University (hence, his prominence in the film). Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the state of California and he became an icon of so-called “gay liberation,” encouraging other queer folks to come out and live openly. After working on his campaign, Jones was also present at Milk’s assassination in 1978, which “When We Rise” pays tribute to, depicting his most prized possession as a bullhorn Milk gave him.