Awareness
Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay individuals to be elected to public office in the United States. He confronted an onslaught of discrimination during his time running for public office. Harvey ran for the office of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors twice before finally winning on his third run in 1977. His win was significant because it gave hope to those in the GSRD community who were not used to seeing openly gay candidates successfully run for office. His election to office also brought more visibility to the gender, sexuality, and relationship diverse (GSRD) community since his win made both national and international headlines.
While serving as a San Francisco City-County Supervisor Harvey was instrumental in his commitment to the GSRD community. He successfully implemented policies that not only advocated for protecting those in the GSRD community but also fought for their rights. Harvey was also a coalition builder who worked with other marginalized communities to foster intersectional relationships and create policies that reflected the needs and priorities of those communities. Some of his most notable accomplishments in public office included sponsoring anti-discrimination bills, successfully opposing proposition six which would have led to the firing of GSRD teachers in public schools, advocating for more resources for the predominately GSRD Castro district, establishing day care centres for working mothers, and developing affordable housing.
Despite Harvey’s success while in public office, his political career was tragically cut short just a year after being elected as a San Francisco City-County Supervisor. In 1978, an irate former San Francisco City-County Supervisor shot and killed both Harvey and the San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. In the aftermath of the shooting, a candlelight vigil was held in the Castro district the evening of the shooting. Subsequently, after his death allies and community advocates also marched elsewhere around the country to honour his legacy and continue the fight for equality.
Sadly, after Harvey Milk’s death, his assassin was acquitted of murder charges and received a very lenient sentence for manslaughter that was incongruent with the sentencing typical for such charges. A weak defence was used to justify the assassin’s rationale. The killer’s defence attorney had argued that his client had eaten too much junk food on the day of the slayings and was therefore not responsible for his actions. As a result of the extremely unjust sentencing, riots broke out across the country.
Despite the miscarriage of justice in the sentencing of Harvey’s assassin, a groundswell of support to honour Harvey’s legacy continued long after his passing. To commemorate the unwavering sacrifice and significant contributions Harvey Milk made to both the GSRD community and beyond, Harvey’s May 22nd birthday was selected as the annual day to honour his legacy. Join us in celebrating the extraordinary legacy and contributions of Harvey Milk on May 22, 2024.
Written by: Laura H.
Sources
https://www.harveymilk.com/biography
https://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography
https://gsanetwork.org/resources/harvey-milk-day
