By: Katie Boundy
Although not widely released, the 2008 movie Milk is a portrait of one of the most influential characters of the 20th century. Harvey Milk was elected to board supervisor of San Francisco in 1977, the first openly gay elected official in the United States.
The 1970s were brutal for people like Harvey Milk. Some medical professionals considered homosexuality to be a mental illness. Gay men were attacked on the streets and could be sent to prison for having consensual sex with other men. Interracial marriage had only been legalized a few years before – the thought of legal gay marriage was preposterous.
Harvey Milk was elected by sheer determination. He moved to San Francisco in 1972, where he simply ran a small camera store. He never had political aspirations, but his brilliant speaking skills and sense of humor won him popularity in the neighborhood, and he ran for State Assembly in 1973. He was defeated in 1973 and again in 1975, but was elected to a city supervisor position in 1977 amid strong support from the gay community, senior citizens, and ethnic minority groups.
As supervisor, Milk’s greatest victory was working to prevent the passage of Proposition 6, also called the Briggs Initiative. John Briggs, a California congressman, wrote legislation that would have required that homosexual teachers be fired from their jobs. Most polls showed that the initiative was certain to pass by a wide margin, but in the final days before the vote, the gay population mobilized thousands of activists who were able to turn the tide. Many people opposed it because of the threat to privacy and civil liberties, and the initiative was defeated by over one million votes on November 7th, 1978.
Because of his lifestyle, Milk was a political target and received occasionally severe threats to his life. He recorded a will on November 18th, 1978, in which he stated with eerie foresight, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” Nine days later, after only 11 months in office, he was assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former board member with whom Milk had major policy disagreements. White first shot and killed Mayor George Moscone, and then cornered Milk, shooting him five times, including twice in the head.
White was acquitted of both murders and sentenced to less than 8 years for manslaughter. On May 21st, 1979, riots erupted against the light sentence in what is known as the White Night. Protestors threw rocks and burning objects at City Hall, and riot police stormed a gay bar, beating innocent patrons. The bar fight spilled into the streets and lasted for hours. In the end, over 160 people had to be hospitalized and the damage to the city totaled more than one million dollars.
Harvey Milk left a legacy not only for San Francisco, but for all of America. He inspired Cleve Jones to begin the AIDS quilt, and paved the way for more civil rights legislation. His election inspired people across America and his words will endure for generations: “Without hope, we give up. I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.”
