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Harvey Milk

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For other uses, see Harvey Milk (disambiguation).

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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, and therefore, according to Time magazine, "the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet".

He was assassinated in 1978, along with Mayor George Moscone. The assassin, Dan White, "a troubled anti-gay conservative", was sentenced to five years with parole.[1] Outrage over the relatively mild verdict led to the White Night Riots in San Francisco.

Biography

Early life

His grandfather, Morris Milk was the owner and namesake of Milk's Department Store in Woodmere, New York; "Glimpy" was Harvey Milk'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 Bay Shore High School, Bay Shore, NY in 1947, 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. Eventually he relocated to New York City and took a job on Wall Street. He also became involved with theater, serving as assistant director alongside 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.

Milk's opponent in the 1975 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, The Briggs Initiative, 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.

The outing of Sipple

On September 22 1975 former marine Oliver Sipple saved the life of President Gerald Ford for which he was highly praised by law enforcement in the media as well as in a personal letter from the President. Milk outed Sipple, despite Sipple's insistence to reporters that his sexuality was to be kept confidential, proclaiming Sipple a "gay hero," and stating (this) "will help break the stereotype of homosexuals." Gay liberation groups petitioned local media to give Sipple his due as a gay hero. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen published the private side of the former Marine's story as did a handful of other publications. Sipple's mother disowned him when she learned his secret but according to a 2006 Washington Post article later reconciled with his sexual orientation."[2] Still the damage to Sipple was done. His mental and physical health sharply declined over the years. He drank heavily, gained weight to 300 lbs, was fitted with a pacemaker, became paranoid and suicidal. On February 2, 1989, he was found dead in his bed, at the age of forty-seven.

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, including board ally Dianne Feinstein[citation needed], talked White into changing his mind. White requested that Moscone re-appoint him to his former seat. Moscone originally indicated a willingness 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. 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. The Internet Archive has video of the vigil, accompanied by a message Milk recorded preemptively "to be played only in the event of [his] death by assassination". Milk had anticipated the possibility 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

Further information: Twinkie defense

Dan White's trial, which began four months after the killings, was one of the most closely watched trials in California at that time. The prosecution claimed that White's motive was revenge. But White's attorney, Douglas Schmidt, claimed that White was a victim of pressure and had been depressed, a state exacerbated by his consuming a large quantity of junk food before the murders; this became known as the "Twinkie defense". Schmidt also told the jury and the press that White carried the ammunition on him out of impulse from his past experience as a police officer.

Finally, the jury heard what the prosecution hoped it would be its most damaging piece of evidence—Dan White's tape-recorded confession which was taped the day after the murders. What was notable about this confession was that the police didn't seem to ask White any questions about the crime and just let him talk. Instead, White tearfully talked of how Moscone and Milk refused to give him his supervisor's job back.

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 attorneys had excluded candidates they deemed "pro-gay."

White Night Riots

Further information: White Night Riots

After the sentence, the local gay community erupted in what came to be 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. By 8:00 PM, a sizable crowd had formed. According to the documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, the enraged crowd began 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, and smashing windows of cars and stores. Buses had their overhead wires ripped down, and physical violence broke out against the outnumbered police officers.

Many rioters were arrested but 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

File:Harvey milk plaza.JPG
An inscription at the Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Harvey Milk.

Harvey Milk was named in the "Heroes & Icons" section of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century. Many institutions and organizations are named for Milk, including the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Centre, Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, the Harvey Milk Institute, the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library,and the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered Democratic Club in San Francisco.

Outside of San Francisco are a number of alternative schools named for Milk in the United States, including Harvey Milk High School in New York City. Oakes College at the University of California, Santa Cruz has an on-campus apartment building named Harvey Milk.

In February 2007, the city of San Francisco agreed to erect a bust of Harvey Milk in City Hall in tribute to his service and memorialize his life's work. A lengthy process to choose a design took place and a gala installation event is planned for 2008.

Depictions

Milks political life is depicted in the 1984 Academy Award-winning documentary film, The Times of Harvey Milk, 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 [1], among others.

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 TV film Execution of Justice based on the 1983 play (of the same title) written by Emily Mann reenacts 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 Gus Van Sant is directing a film titled Milk, which is currently filming on location in San Fransisco. It stars Sean Penn as the late Harvey Milk, Josh Brolin as White and James Franco as Smith. Director Bryan Singer has also begun work on a project based on the Randy Shilts biography The Mayor of Castro Street. Singer's film, however, is currently on hold pending the resolution of the WGA strike.

References

  1. ^ Cloud, John. "Time:100", Time, June 14, 1999. Accessed December 10, 2007.
  2. ^ Caught in Fate's Trajectory, Along With Gerald Ford, Lynne Duke, Washington Post, December 30, 2006
  • 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.

See also

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