Harvey Milk: A Forgotten Hero
Written By: Aiden Lopes
Edited By: Yozer Wang
Source: Empire State Plaza
When most young people think of Harvey Milk, an all too common first thought is: “who?” Or, “isn’t that a terminal at SFO?” While the latter may be true, the story of how his name graced hallowed gates of Terminal One is one to remember.
As a Native born New Yorker, Harvey Milk was no stranger to hard work. Growing up as a Jewish boy in the 1930’s, Milk’s interests ranged from Oprah to football. This young man participated in this eccentric collection of interests as a gay high school boy. This early repudiation of society’s binaries only foreshadowed Milk’s desire to resist the status quo and to fight for change.
After studying humanities in college, Milk enlisted in the navy, inspired by his deep love for his country. However, four years later, Lieutenant Junior Milk resigned after facing discrimination and official questioning about his sexuality. Undeterred, Milk decided to continue to serve his country, just from a new position. He decided to become a teacher to lift up the next generation of leaders.
“Hope will never be silent.”
Continuing his theme of service, he slowly became more active in politics, prompted by protests against the Vietnam war. This political involvement led to Milk moving to San Francisco in 1972 and running for the Board of Supervisors the following year. Even though he lost the race, Milk established that he was a fighting force in the San Francisco political landscape.
Milk later co-founded the Castro Village Association – a revolutionary organization of LGBTQ+ businesses – after witnessing local store owners attempting to bar two gay men from opening a business. Over the years, Milk grew the Castro Village Association into a power base for LGBTQ+ business and a national blueprint for other communities. Serving the community was central to Milk’s identity.
Source: Guidigo
After losing the election for the San Francisco Superposition again in 1975, Milk’s great friend and ally, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, appointed him on to the Board of Permit Appeals. This marked him as the first openly gay commissioner in U.S. history. Milk capitalized off of this success to fuel his election for a supervisor position–which he easily won in 1977.
Source: FoundSF
His win caught national headlines. It was a major victory for the LGBTQ+, and proved to the community that it was possible to be triumphant over the social discrimination and prejudice of the time. As supervisor, Harvey Milk never stopped fighting for his community. He sponsored anti-discrimination bills, reformed tax codes, and spoke out about national struggles the LGBTQ+ people faced. Milk didn’t just serve the LQBTQ+ community; many of his initiatives helped out all members of society. He truly championed the idea that when we help out each other, we all succeed.
A ballot measure that Milk was staunchly opposed to was Prop 6, which mandated that all openly gay teachers be fired. As Milk was a teacher in his past, this issue was especially important to him. Milk strongly and passionately rebuked this law in the form of large pride protests. Due to Milk’s efforts, Prop 6 didn't come to fruition during a time when many other anti-LGBTQ+ attacks were being successfully waged.
Source: KQED
Milk’s success story tragically came to an end when he was assassinated on November 27, 1989 by former San Francisco supervisor Dan White. To make matters worse, Milk’s assassin was acquitted of murder charges and only given a mild manslaughter sentence. The justification for such an egregious lack of justice? White’s lawyer stated that Dan White had eaten too much junk food the day of Milk’s murder and thus could not be held responsible for his crimes. This later became known as the Twinkie defense. Dan White was sentenced to a total of less than eight years in prison. This ignited the White Night Riots, where enraged San Franciscan citizens stormed City Hall and burned police cars. In retaliation, the San Francisco Police Department raided Castro Village, the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in San Francisco which Harvey Milk had been responsible for much of its success, vandalizing their businesses and attacking its population. The incident ended inconclusively with a settlement that covered personal injury claims and damages.
The legacy of Harvey Milk inspires people to constantly stand up to the face of discrimination and adversity, to always support your community, and to never stop fighting for what you know is right. We all should channel Milk’s qualities to make our home a better place as he did.
