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| ===Public office=== | ===Public office=== | ||
| Milk ran for the ] unsuccessfully twice, in ] and ]. He emerged as a figurehead for San Francisco's large ], and was known as the "]," a title which he himself coined. With each campaign, he garnered a larger number of supporters. | Milk ran for the ] unsuccessfully twice, in ] and ]. He emerged as a figurehead for San Francisco's large ], and was known as the "]," a title which he himself coined. With each campaign, he garnered a larger number of supporters. | ||
| In 1975 against the wishes of ] (who saved President Ford from asassination) Milk publicly proclaimed him a "gay hero" and said his act "will help break the stereotype of homosexuals." ] groups petitioned local media to give Sipple his due as a gay hero. Then columnist ] published the private side of the former Marine's story in the ]. Six other papers ran the column as well. After discovering her son's secret, Sipple's mother reacted to the knowledge of her son's sexual orientation by cutting off contact with him. Sipple's mother was reportedly harassed by her neighbors. When her son called to talk to her, she hung up on him. One source says that Sipple's split with his family eventually healed and he came back to Detroit to visit them {{citation needed}}. Another source says that the split never healed, and his father refused contact with him when his mother died in 1979. | |||
| In acknowledgment of Milk's base of support, Mayor George Moscone appointed him to the powerful Board of Permit Appeals in ]. Milk would lose his seat after just five weeks, however, when he announced his candidacy for the ]. Milk's opponent in that race was ], who would win the assembly seat by 3,600 votes out of 33,000 ballots cast. | In acknowledgment of Milk's base of support, Mayor George Moscone appointed him to the powerful Board of Permit Appeals in ]. Milk would lose his seat after just five weeks, however, when he announced his candidacy for the ]. Milk's opponent in that race was ], who would win the assembly seat by 3,600 votes out of 33,000 ballots cast. | ||
Revision as of 04:50, 16 April 2007
Template:Infobox revolution biography
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978. His assassin, Dan White, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Outrage over the verdict led to widespread rioting in San Francisco by enraged homosexuals and others. Milk is seen by some to be a martyr to the LGBT community.
Biography
Early life
Milk's given name was Harvey Bernard Milk, not "Glimpy Milch", as is widely reported. His grandfather, Morris Milk was the owner and namesake of Milk's Department Store in Woodmere, New York; "Glimpy" was Harvey's nickname because as a child and adolescent, he was considered odd-looking because of his large ears, nose, and feet. He was born in Woodmere. He graduated from University at Albany in 1951 and joined the United States Navy; he was honorably discharged, although he later told voters in campaigns that he was a victim of one of the many anti-gay purges of the armed services.
Following his service in the Navy, Milk lived for a time in Dallas, Texas but as a Jew had difficulty in finding and keeping a job. Eventually he relocated to New York City and took a job on Wall Street. He also became involved with theater, serving as producer along side Tom O'Horgan for a number of plays including Lenny and the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
In 1972, Milk moved to San Francisco. He settled with his partner Scott Smith and opened a camera store, Castro Camera, in the Castro gay village. He emerged as a community leader, founding the Castro Valley Association of local merchants, and represented the neighborhood businesses in dealing with the city government.
Public office
Milk ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unsuccessfully twice, in 1973 and 1975. He emerged as a figurehead for San Francisco's large gay community, and was known as the "Mayor of Castro Street," a title which he himself coined. With each campaign, he garnered a larger number of supporters.
In 1975 against the wishes of Oliver Sipple (who saved President Ford from asassination) Milk publicly proclaimed him a "gay hero" and said his act "will help break the stereotype of homosexuals." Gay liberation groups petitioned local media to give Sipple his due as a gay hero. Then columnist Herb Caen published the private side of the former Marine's story in the San Francisco Chronicle. Six other papers ran the column as well. After discovering her son's secret, Sipple's mother reacted to the knowledge of her son's sexual orientation by cutting off contact with him. Sipple's mother was reportedly harassed by her neighbors. When her son called to talk to her, she hung up on him. One source says that Sipple's split with his family eventually healed and he came back to Detroit to visit them . Another source says that the split never healed, and his father refused contact with him when his mother died in 1979.
In acknowledgment of Milk's base of support, Mayor George Moscone appointed him to the powerful Board of Permit Appeals in 1976. Milk would lose his seat after just five weeks, however, when he announced his candidacy for the California State Assembly. Milk's opponent in that race was Art Agnos, who would win the assembly seat by 3,600 votes out of 33,000 ballots cast.
After San Francisco switched from at-large to district elections, Milk was elected to the Board of Supervisors on his third attempt in 1977, the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the United States, and only the third openly gay elected official in all of the US, after Kathy Kozachenko and Elaine Noble. Milk represented District 5, which included the Castro.
In his eleven months as a Supervisor, he sponsored a gay rights bill for the City as well as – famously – a pooper-scooper ordinance. He was also instrumental in defeating Proposition 6, backed by State Senator Briggs, which would have allowed openly gay men and lesbians who were teachers to be fired based on their sexuality. In November 1978, Proposition 6 was soundly voted down by Californians.
Milk was also successful in reaching out and making alliances among the city's ethnic populations and among labor union leaders but not among the rank and file members.
Assassination
Main Article: Moscone-Milk Assassinations
Late in 1978, Supervisor Dan White, an acrimonious political opponent of Milk's, resigned from the Board of Supervisors. His resignation meant that Moscone would choose White's successor, and thus could tip the Board's balance of power in Moscone's favor. Recognizing this, those who supported a more conservative agenda talked White into changing his mind. White requested that Moscone re-appoint him to his former seat.
Moscone originally indicated a willingess to do so, but more liberal city leaders, including Milk, lobbied him against the idea, and Moscone ultimately decided not to re-appoint White. On November 27, 1978, White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea for re-appointment. When Moscone refused to yield, White shot Moscone to death, then went to Milk's office and also shot Milk to death.
White later turned himself in at the police station where he was formerly an officer. Even though he had carried a gun, 10 extra rounds, and crawled through a window to avoid metal detectors, White denied premeditation.
Thousands attended a spontaneous candlelight memorial vigil the night of Milk's funeral. Video of candlelight vigil, accompanied by a message Milk recorded preemptively "to be played only in the event of death by assassination". Milk had foreseen his risk of assassination and had recorded several audio tapes to be played in that event. One of the tapes included his now-famous quote, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
Trial
White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter on the grounds of diminished capacity and sentenced to seven years and eight months, a sentence widely denounced as lenient and motivated by homophobia. During jury selection, defense attornies had excluded candidates they deemed "pro-gay". During the trial, they had brought in a psychologist to show evidence of the depression - namely that the consumption of junk food was out of character for the normally health-conscious White (leading to a common misunderstanding that junk food was blamed — see Twinkie defense).
White Night Riots
After the sentence, the gay community erupted into what became known as the White Night Riots. As soon as the sentence was announced, word ran through the gay community and groups of people began walking quickly to the Civic Center and by 8:00 PM, there was a sizable mob formed. According to the documentary, "The Times of Harvey Milk", the enraged crowd started by screaming at police officers calling for revenge and death. Then, riots began to break out with the mob setting ablaze a number of police vehicles, disrupting traffic, smashing windows of cars and stores, buses had their overhead wires ripped down, and physical violence resulted against the outnumbered police officers.
Many rioters were arrested but the Chief of Police, Charles Gain, was blamed for being too weak in his response and holding back his officers when he should have been more proactive and defended lives and property. He defended himself by pointing out that no one was dead and only a few had minor injuries. More than 160 people were hospitalized because of the rioting.
Legacy
Harvey Milk is widely regarded as a martyr for the gay community and the gay rights movement. Many gay and lesbian community institutions are named for Milk, including the Harvey Milk Institute and the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club in San Francisco, as well as a number of alternative schools in the United States, including Harvey Milk High School in New York City. A diner at the University of Warwick in the UK was named Harvey's in his honour, and the Leeds University Union named a nightclub the Harvey Milk Bar (although it has since been renamed).
In February of 2007, the city of San Francisco agreed to erect a statue of Harvey Milk downtown to pay tribute to his service and memoralize his life.
Depictions
The life of this politician is depicted in the Academy Award-winning documentary film, The Times of Harvey Milk in 1984, narrated by Harvey Fierstein. A 20th anniversary digitally remastered DVD of the documentary was released in 2004 and includes interviews with the film's director, Rob Epstein and Harvey's openly gay nephew, Stuart Milk , among others.
A number of pieces of music have taken Harvey Milk as their subject. Blue Gene Tyranny's Harvey Milk (Portrait) (1978) is a piece for magnetic tape which manipulates a recording of a speech Milk gave in 1978.
In 1987, punk band the Dead Kennedys released an acidic version of "I Fought the Law" with lyrics rewritten from Dan White's point of view. The chorus was altered to "I fought the law and I won," and lyrics include "I blew George and Harvey's brains out with my six gun" and "Twinkies are the best friend I ever had."
In the early 1990s a Southern sludge metal band named Harvey Milk was formed in Athens, Georgia. The group is still active today.
Harvey Milk is also mentioned by the band Concrete Blonde in their 1989 single "God is a Bullet": "John Lennon, Doctor King, Harvey Milk - all for goddamn nothing".
In 1995 the opera Harvey Milk by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie was premiered by the Houston Grand Opera, and in 1996 it was recorded on CD under Donald Runnicles with the San Francisco Opera orchestra and chorus.
The 1999 film Execution of Justice based on the 1983 play (of the same title) written by Emily Mann re-lives the assassination.
In 2000 a TV film, American Justice: It's Not My Fault - Strange Defenses examined the assassination with archival footage of Milk and White.
In 2004, playwright and actor Jade Esteban Estrada portrays Milk in the solo musical comedy ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2.
Director Bryan Singer will direct The Mayor of Castro Street, a feature film of Milk's life based on the Randy Shilts biography of the same name, scheduled for release in 2008.
Folk musician Zoe Lewis honors Milk with her song 'Harvey' on her 1998 album "Sheep".
In 1989 artist Félix González-Torres mentions Milk on an untitled billboard ("People With AIDS Coalition 1985 Police Harassment 1969 Oscar Wilde 1895 Supreme Court 1986 Harvey Milk 1977 March on Washington 1987 Stonewall Rebellion 1969")
References
- Shilts, Randy, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. ISBN 0-312-01900-9
- Weiss, Mike Double Play--The San Francisco City Hall Killings 1984.
- Turner, Wallace, "San Francisco Mayor is Slain; City Supervisor Also Killed; Ex-Official Gives Up to Police." The New York Times. November 28, 1978. A1.
External links
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- http://thecastro.net/milkpage.html Significant collection of photographs and Milk history.
- The James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library holds the Harvey Milk Archives - Scott Smith Collection.
- Time 100 Persons and Icons - Harvey Milk
- Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Organization dedicated to placing a bust of Harvey Milk in San Francisco's City Hall.
- Harvey Milk Institute
- Account of the White Night riots
- Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Democratic Club
- Harvey Milk Opera
- Execution of Justice Showtime original movie about the events leading up to the November 27 assassinations.
- The Times of Harvey Milk - IMDB Entry
- The Forgotten Populist, Harvey Milk an analysis of Milk's politics and political philosophy
- The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society Holds artifacts of Milk, including the suit he was wearing when shot by Dan White
- "Uncle Donald's Castro Street" A long time Castro resident gives his account of the Riot and Police Assault on Castro street afterward
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- California politicians
- Gay politicians
- Jewish American politicians
- LGBT rights activists
- People from San Francisco
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- Assassinated American politicians
- Deaths by firearm in the United States
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- 1978 deaths
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