Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.[1] He did not focus on homosexuality or gay activism at first, but did later on in his career. Milk moved from New York City to live in San Francisco in 1972. This was a time when lots of gay men moved to live in the Castro District of San Francisco. Milk became a city supervisor in 1977.
Harvey Milk | |
|---|---|
 Milk in 1978 | |
| Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 5 | |
| In office January 8, 1978 – November 27, 1978 | |
| Preceded by | District Created |
| Succeeded by | Harry Britt (appointed) |
| Constituency | The Castro, Haight-Ashbury, Duboce Triangle, Noe Valley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Harvey Bernard Milk May 22, 1930 Woodmere, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 27, 1978 (aged 48) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | San Francisco |
| Alma mater | University at Albany |
| Profession | Politician, business owner |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1951–1955 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant, junior grade |
| Unit | USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) |
| Battles/wars | Korean War Era |
Career
Milk served 11 months in office and helped gay rights in the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated (murdered) by Dan White in San Francisco. White was another city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back.
Milk became an icon in San Francisco and "a martyr for gay rights", according to University of San Francisco professor Peter Novak.[2]
In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States".[3] Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us."[4] Milk was posthumously given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on August 12, 2009.
Popular quotes include "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door", "The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!".
There has been some controversy about Milk’s relation to Jim Jones, a cult leader who led the communist Peoples Temple and resulted in the deaths of over 900 people.[5]
Harvey Milk Media
Milk, dressed for his brother's wedding in 1954
Milk, here with his sister-in-law in front of Castro Camera in 1973, had been changed by his experience with the counterculture of the 1960s. Dianne Feinstein, who first met him in 1973, did not recognize him when she met him again in 1978.
By the time of Milk's 1975 campaign, he had decided to cut his hair and wear suits. Here, Milk (far right) is campaigning with longshoremen in San Francisco during his 1976 race for the California State Assembly.
Milk sitting at the mayor's desk in 1978
The headline of The San Francisco Examiner on November 28, 1978, announced Dan White was charged with first-degree murder, and eligible for the death penalty.
Bronze plate in front of Castro Camera covering Harvey Milk's ashes
Rioters outside San Francisco City Hall, May 21, 1979, reacting to the voluntary manslaughter verdict for Dan White.
Gay Pride flag above Harvey Milk Plaza in The Castro neighborhood
References
- ↑ Cone, Russ (January 8, 1978). "Feinstein Board President", The San Francisco Examiner, p. 1.
- ↑ Nolte, Carl (November 26, 2003). "City Hall Slayings: 25 Years Later", The San Francisco Chronicle, p. A-1.
- ↑ Smith, Raymond, Haider-Markel, Donald, eds., (2002). Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1576072568, p. 204.
- ↑ Leyland, Winston, ed (2002). Out In the Castro: Desire, Promise, Activism, Leyland Publications. ISBN 0943595886, p. 37.
- ↑ Savive, Will. "Jonestown: Got Milk? – Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple". Retrieved 2023-03-28.
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