“If a bullet goes through my brain, let that bullet destroy the doors of all the closets,” Harvey Milk said and recorded on tape when he realized he was being threatened, without knowing that he would end up becoming a symbol for the gay cause. And today, the echo of his fight for LGBT+ rights continues to resonate loudly.
In November 1977, Harvey Milk made history by being elected the first openly gay man to public office in the United States.
His position as municipal supervisor on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors lasted only about 11 months because his colleague Dan White shot him at point-blank range on 5 occasions, two of those shots to the head, which caused his instant death.
Harvey Bernard Milk was born in Woodmere, New York in May 1930, a time when being out as homosexual was repressed and considered a crime. In 1962, gays were considered worthy of being convicted and sent to jail for sodomy throughout the United States, as same-sex relationships were prohibited.
The life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician and activist, was an example for many LGBTI people, as he assumed his sexual identity and fought for his rights, although at the beginning he dedicated himself to various jobs such as naval officer, teacher, theater producer and even bank executive.
Castro Street is emblematic of Milk's career. In 1972, he moved to California with Scott Smith and opened a photography shop in the heart of the Castro district, the future headquarters of his political career.
As soon as he was able, Milk enacted one of the most important ordinances for the LGBTI community, protecting gay men and women from discrimination in housing, employment, and other public spaces.
This ordinance was threatened by "anti-Harvey" conservatives such as senator and conservative legislator John Briggs and Anita Bryants, a singer and political activist who was a staunch opponent of LGBTI rights and who promoted "Proposition 6" or the "Briggs Initiative" seeking to censor this promulgation of rights and freedoms for the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.
The feud between Harvey and Briggs came to an end when Harvey challenged his opponent to a live television debate, which was a resounding success, prompting organizations such as Antiproposition 6 to march with the slogan “come out! come out! wherever you are!”
Milk also gave one of the most emblematic speeches in the fight for gay rights in 1978, entitled "The Speech of Hope," in which he says in one of its fragments:
“Gays here and across the country, young people who are coming out of the closet and who hear the religious right on the media, what they need is hope. You have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, a better tomorrow, a place to go if the pressures at home become unbearable. Not just for gays but for blacks, Latinos, the elderly, the crippled… If you help elect more gays, you will be sending a clear signal to those who feel outside, a signal that it is possible to move forward. If a gay can do it, the doors are open to everyone.”
Harvey Milk and his colleague Jim Rivaldo, a veteran San Francisco political consultant, gay rights activist and manager of Harvey's political career, founded the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club in 1976, later the Harvey Milk Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club. https://www.milkclub.org/.
By June 1977, Harvey's advocacy career was under serious threat as a result of a tough campaign led by Anita Bryant that repealed the gay rights law in Florida and passed it in several other states.
Harvey fought back, running for a third time for alderman, winning District 5, which includes the Castro neighborhood, hence becoming known as the "Mayor of Castro Street" with his famous greeting, "Hi, I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you."
A few months later, in November of the same year, the worst of the mishaps would occur, perpetrated by Dan White, a corrupt councilman who flouted the security protocol of San Francisco City Hall, killing his opponent, Mayor George Richard Moscone, whom he shot four times, causing his death, and then taking the life of Councilman Harvey Milk.
The double murder outraged the entire LGBTI community and brought together a total of 40,000 people spontaneously to march in silence to San Francisco City Hall, calling that day “Black Monday.”
Today, Harvey's legacy continues. More and more politicians are open about their sexuality and make the rights of millions of people belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community the basis of their careers, because they know that the battle is not over yet.
You may be interested in: Annual Pride Celebration Returns to San Mateo County
