Happy Harvey Milk Day!

Today would be Harvey Milk Day in California -- the anniversary of the politician's birthday, and just days after the anniversary of the White Night Riots -- however, Gov. Schwarzenegger did not sign the bill this year. The Senate, again, has passed a bill designating May 22 as a day of "special significance" for Milk, and it is currently in the Assembly.

Equality California seems to believe that it will pass somewhat easily, as the focus of their site is on contacting the Governator and encouraging him to support the day.

Regardless, Happy Harvey Milk Day!

In sort of related news, check the news coming from the ACLU where a sixth grader in California was censored by not allowing to present her report on Harvey Milk without permission from all of her class mates. Apparently, talking about historically important gay figures is somehow equivalent to sex education. The school sent letters home to all the parents in the class informing them that if they gave their child permission to hear the presentation, it would be held during lunch hour. The sixth grader who made the presentation received a 49 out of 50 points on the written report.

White Night Riots Remembered

Unbelievable footage of the White Night Riots on May 21, 1979.



The White Night Riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White, for the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979 in San Francisco.

LGBTQ San Franciscoians had a long-standing conflict with the police department. The struggle against the SFPD turned violent when White, who was himself a former policeman, was given the lightest possible sentence for the assassinations. This became known as "The Twinkie Defense" that contributed to the lighter sentence. Initial demonstrations took place at San Francisco's City Hall after the verdict of voluntary manslaughter was announced. The riots caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. We...were...angry!!!

Later that night, police made a retaliatory raid on a bar in the Castro District. Many patrons were severely beaten by police in full riot gear. Two dozen arrests were made, and several lawsuits were filed against the San Francisco Police Department. The show of strength that we led increased political power, which culminated in the re-election of Mayor Dianne Feinstein the following November. In response to a campaign promise, Feinstein appointed a pro-gay Chief of Police, which increased recruitment of gays in the police force and eased tensions.

KNOW YOUR HISTORY!

Juliet

Harvey Milk Day in California?

Thanks to QueersUnited, one of my favoritest activist blogs.

State Sen. Mark Leno (D) in California's State Senate has proposed SB 572, the official designation of May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in that state. Last year, AB2567 (warning: anti-gay website) passed both houses and was sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger, who vetoed it saying that Milk's "contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions."

In short: he's a local hero, not a state one.

I think, considering the success of MILK and the growing national understanding that Harvey Milk had on the movement -- "you gotta give them hope" -- that it is impossible for the Guvahnator to deny his influence (even Sean Penn is now championing the cause, btw) to the nation as a whole, let alone the state of California.

Equality California has set up a convenient online form for you to email the Governor your support. The reason we repost it here? Because Harvey Milk was the first person in the world I identified as a gay hero -- he was the first person I ever knew about that had done something great as a gay man. As a young kid in South Carolina, it was enough to remember him. I think all of us, all of us queers, knew about Milk long before the movie came out, and we all have our affinities for him, or stories about how we found out about him...

...which is why it's so wonderful that all of us get the chance to return the favor and thank Mr. Milk.

In related news, make sure you check out the growing movement, nationally, led by Equality Cincinnati's Dan Drent, to have a Harvey Milk postage stamp created.

"You Gotta Give Em Postage"

I reported on this a few weeks ago, but it has really taken off in the news!

Cincinnati native Daniel Drent, an Equality Cincinnati board member, started a group on Facebook to encourage the US Postal Service to issue a stamp in honor of Harvey Milk. You know, when I start stuff on Facebook, you're never quite sure where it's gonna go...

... I gotta give Dan credit on this one, it really took off. Check out stories on Towleroad (where the above pic comes from), and two pieces (story 1, story 2) from the SF Examiner. He had emailed me, said he was "excited that people are talking about it." 

Well done, Dan! So, join the Facebook group and email Dan (dpdrentec@aol.com) if you can help organize in your area!

Harvey Milk Stamp?

I know, I know, it seems I'm culling Facebook this morning for material, but this is worthwhile because it's an actual movement that's growing that's started by Equality Cincinnati's own Daniel Drent. That is, asking the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee of the US Postal Service to honor Harvey Milk with his own stamp.

What do you think the stamp should look like?

Out of Michigan (& Sean Penn)

An interesting story is developing in Michigan...

A Michigan Court of Appeals decision will allow a Berrien County lesbian couple to take their custody battle to court. Union Pier's Diane Giancaspro sued Union Pier's Lisa Congleton for custody of their three children in 2007, but Berrien County Circuit Judge Mabel Mayfield ruled for Congleton saying the state's 2004 gay marriage ban kept her from enforcing the women's parental rights. Friday the state Court of Appeals reversed that decision. Staff Attorney for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project of the ACLU of Michigan Jay Kaplan says the decision should have been a no-brainer.

Interesting legal bits here and there, isn't it? The crux, of course, being hate. And stupidity. And DOMA's. 

I think Sean Penn had something to say about that the other night:

I think of anyone at that ceremony, I would have thought he would be wearing a WhiteKnot. But seriously. It's a pretty good speech. Or, at least, a good comment or two. I can't find Felicity Huffman's from her win for TransAmerica, but that one is equally fabulous and should be heralded.

And he sort of thanked me. Well, not really. But I still am holding out that the "Barry" was me :-).

Harvey Milk's Last Words

Delivered posthumously via audio tape in the anticipation of his assassination.



Whoa. Thanks to HarveyMilk on Twitter for this bit.

Also, found this on my favorite site ever, Hulu.com. The full version of the Oscar-winning documentary, TheTimes of Harvey Milk.



I have not had a chance to watch it yet, but I will :-). And I'll review it... poorly.

Busy little blogger this AM.

Gay Predictions for 2009

From The Edge: Boston, we get our first gay list of predictions for 2009...

10. NJ Gay Marriage -- the legislature's for it, the governor's for it, the people are for it... what else? QC.com Comment: We may also see some surprises in New Hampshire and Iowa this year as well...

9. Major League Baseball Player Comes Out -- this is one of the most shockingly well thought out things I have ever read, actually...

8. Anderson Cooper Comes Out -- If not, Perez Hilton will throw a shit fit.

7. Cher Comes Out of Retirement -- Yea, yea, yea.

6. Europe Gets An Openly Gay Head of State -- Also, congratulations to Portland Mayor Sam Adams on being the first openly gay person to be the mayor of a major city... and may be the highest ranking non-national elected official to be out (that is, not House or Senate).

5. Milk Wins an Oscar or Two -- It should; this isn't really going out on a limb.

4. The Leader of an African Country Has HIV -- This hasn't happened yet?

3. Obama Starts Slowly Phasing Out DADT -- Grr... If it isn't 2011 by now.

2. Dick and Lynne Cheney Endorse Gay Marriage -- I would actually not be surprised if this happened; and it may be the single catalyst for changing the movement forever. Though I argue it may be a few more years before it happens.

1. Their number one is personal to the author, so I ask you, my dear readers...

What's your prediction for gay in 2009???

Queerty also has a good list...

MILK by Gus Van Sant

I am so obscenely excited to see this movie. I have not been to see a movie in a theatre ... well, I want to say since the last Harry Potter movie. Really. I wait until it comes out on DVD.

This time, I'm going :-). Who's coming with me.



And if you ever wanted to hear the quote that's flying around the world from Milk... in his own voice... thanks to QueersUnited.



We honor you, Milk.

A moment for Harvey Milk

From Pam's House Blend...

"Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio there is a young gay person who all the sudden realizes that he or she is gay; knows that if their parents find out they will be tossed out of the house, their classmates will taunt the child, and the Anita Bryant's and John Briggs' are doing their part on TV. And that child has several options: staying in the closet, and suicide.

And then one day that child might open the paper that says "Homosexual elected in San Francisco" and there are two new options: the option is to go to California, or stay in San Antonio and fight. Two days after I was elected I got a phone call and the voice was quite young. It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And the person said "Thanks".

And you've got to elect gay people, so that thousand upon thousands like that child know that there is hope for a better world; there is hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, not only gays, but those who are blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us's: without hope the us's give up. I know that you can't live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope." 

-Harvey Milk, 1978

LGBT HISTORY: Harvey Milk Murder Date

So Joe.My.God. clued me into this video, but it wasn't the video that caught my eye...

It was the statement by No on 8 that it is being released statewide on the 30th anniversary of Supervisor Harvey Milk's and Mayor George Moscone's murder in San Francisco. It was released on October 27, 2008.

Well, many appreciations to No on Prop 8 for all the hardwork they are doing to defeat Proposition 8 in California, but your history is a little wrong.

Harvey Milk and George Moscone were murdered on November 27, 1978. 

For those who don't know, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay or lesbian person elected to (major) public office in the US, and was recently named as one of the 100 most influential people of the century by Time Magazine. Mayor Moscone was a close friend and supporter of Milk and his views on equality. There are some reports of backroom deals, but the long and the short of it came down to this: Dan White, another Supervisor in SF, became frustrated with the Moscone-Milk friendship and decided to kill them both. Fun fun fun. White later got a lighter sentence after his lawyers made the now infamous Twinkie defense -- that twinkies, coca-cola, and depression caused violent mood swings and meant that he could not have been guilty of premeditation.

Anyways, Wikipedia is a great source of information on both Milk and Moscone (and White). 

California recently tried to pass an annual holiday -- Harvey Milk Day on May 22 -- in honor of his place in gay history (it would be the only annual holiday that honors a person for their contributions to the LGBT rights movement, by the way), but the Governator vetoed it.

The above screenshot is from the upcoming movie, Milk, by Gus Van Sant starring Sean Penn about the man and the events precipitating his death.