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Harvey Milk, Gay Rights Icon and Martyr
Harvey Bernard Milk (22 May 1930 – 27 November 1978) was a politician and gay rights activist.
He was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California, the first openly gay elected official in California, and according to Time magazine, "the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet."
Harvey was known as the "Mayor of Castro Street," and really made a name for himself well fighting against Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative. If passed, Prop 6 would have fired any teacher in California that was suspected of being gay.
Harvey was active during a time of great change in San Francisco and the increasing visibility of gay and lesbian people in American society. He was known to not care about what happened to himself and always spread a message of unity and hope, saying:
If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.
My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you.
I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you... And you... And you... Gotta give em hope
Hope will never be silent.
All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words
He was assassinated in 1978, along with Mayor George Moscone, by resigned city supervisor Dan White.White's relatively mild sentence for the murders led to the White Night Riots(which holds its 30th anniversary today), and eventually the abolition of diminished capacity defense in California.
A champion of hope and civil rights for those of sexual minorities, Harvey Milk was one of the most prominent individuals in the entire history of the gay rights movement. Yet, there is no memorial in his honor, no day celebrating his life and legacy, nothing beyond a whisper of hope and a bronze plaque on Castro St.
We must change that. We must band together, and fight. More than ever, today, we know what it was like, fighting for the things that others take for granted. He fought against a California proposition against greater odds than we did - and won. We can't let his spirit down, but first, there has to be awareness.
So gather your friends, gay, straight, lesbian, bi, queer, trans, and join together in honoring this legend, our legend, and fight for what's ours.
Candlelight Vigils are being planned for May 22nd at 7:00pm in the following locations, Please bring peaceful signs with Milk quotes or quotes relating to the movement and candles:
San Francisco:
Steps of City Hall, across from Civic Center Plaza.
Make sure candles are in cups.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/prmcke
Los Angeles:
West Hollywood, Corner of San Vicente and Santa Monica
Map: http://tinyurl.com/pfe5bz
Orange County:
Huntington Beach Pier. Meet at the top.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/oxwzrj
Fresno:
Peace Corner(Shaw and Blackstone)
Map: http://tinyurl.com/ogezhv
San Diego:
Outside of Rich's Night Club, By the Marriage Equality Wall
Map: http://tinyurl.com/olw9p9
Sacramento: Location TBA
If you are interested in planning an event in your location, please email us with the location information!
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