Dustin Lance Black is writing eight hour miniseries for ABC about history of gay rights movement

Dustin Lance Black, once a writer for the cable series Big Love, is returning to television with a far more personal project.

The Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk is developing an eight-hour scripted miniseries about the history of the gay rights movement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Black, 39, has written other movies (J. Edgar, Virginia) while also working as a very visible LGBT activist.

He was a founding member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights which spearheaded the federal lawsuit that led to the overturning of California’s Proposition 8.

His play 8 is based on the original trial where the law was challenged and has been performed in all-star productions in New York and Los Angeles as well as in smaller productions and readings across the country.

He seems like the ideal person to tackle this kind of miniseries.