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100-485: Harvey Milk , the site's namesake, was a gay man who moved to Castro District of San Francisco in 1972 and went on to become a beloved community activist. In 1977, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to represent District 5 (today, District 8), the district in which the plaza stands. Eleven months later, Milk was assassinated in his office at San Francisco City Hall . In response,

200-483: A "born politician". At first, his inexperience showed. He tried to do without money, support, or staff, and instead relied on his message of sound financial management, promoting individuals over large corporations and government. He supported the reorganization of supervisor elections from a citywide ballot to district ballots, which was intended to reduce the influence of money and give neighborhoods more control over their representatives in city government. He also ran on

300-471: A bill that would ban gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools throughout California. Briggs claimed in private that he had nothing against gays, telling gay journalist Randy Shilts , "It's politics. Just politics." Random attacks on gays rose in the Castro. When the police response was considered inadequate, groups of gays patrolled the neighborhood themselves, on alert for attackers. On June 21, 1977,

400-407: A civil rights bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation. The ordinance was called the "most stringent and encompassing in the nation", and its passing demonstrated "the growing political power of homosexuals", according to The New York Times . Only Supervisor White voted against it; Mayor Moscone enthusiastically signed it into law with a light blue pen that Milk had given him for

500-754: A culturally liberal platform, opposing government interference in private sexual matters and favoring the legalization of marijuana . Milk's fiery, flamboyant speeches and savvy media skills earned him a significant amount of press during the 1973 election. He earned 16,900 votes—sweeping the Castro District and other liberal neighborhoods and coming in 10th place out of 32 candidates. Had the elections been reorganized to allow districts to elect their own supervisors, he would have won. From early in his political career, Milk displayed an affinity for building coalitions. The Teamsters wanted to strike against beer distributors— Coors in particular —who refused to sign

600-554: A deal with the assembly speaker that another candidate should run— Art Agnos . Furthermore, by order of the mayor, neither appointed nor elected officials were allowed to run a campaign while performing their duties. Milk spent five weeks on the Board of Permit Appeals before Moscone was forced to fire him when he announced he would run for the California State Assembly. Rick Stokes replaced him. Milk's firing, and

700-482: A few weeks later and demanded Milk come home. When Milk arrived, he found Lira had hanged himself. Already prone to severe depression, Lira had attempted suicide previously. One of the notes he left for Milk indicated he was upset about the Anita Bryant and John Briggs campaigns. John Briggs was forced to drop out of the 1978 race for California governor, but received enthusiastic support for Proposition 6, dubbed

800-415: A gay man named Robert Hillsborough died from 15 stab wounds while his attackers gathered around him and chanted "Faggot!" Both Mayor Moscone and Hillsborough's mother blamed Anita Bryant and John Briggs. One week prior to the incident, Briggs had held a press conference at San Francisco City Hall where he called the city a "sexual garbage heap" because of homosexuals. Weeks later, 250,000 people attended

900-476: A helluva lot more nuns running around." Attendance at Gay Pride marches during the summer of 1978 in Los Angeles and San Francisco swelled. An estimated 250,000 to 375,000 attended San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day Parade; newspapers claimed the higher numbers were due to John Briggs. Organizers asked participants to carry signs indicating their hometowns for the cameras, to show how far people came to live in

1000-459: A lesbian friend to "have a front and each would not be in the way of the other". However, he decided to remain in New York, where he secretly pursued gay relationships. In 1962, Milk became involved with Craig Rodwell , who was 10 years younger. Though Milk courted Rodwell ardently, waking him every morning with a call and sending him notes, Milk was uncomfortable with Rodwell's involvement with

1100-670: A letter to President Jimmy Carter defending cult leader Jim Jones as "a man of the highest character" when asked. Milk's relationship with the Temple was similar to other politicians' in Northern California. According to The San Francisco Examiner , Jones and his parishioners were a "potent political force", helping to elect Moscone (who appointed him to the Housing Authority), District Attorney Joseph Freitas , and Sheriff Richard Hongisto. When Milk learned Jones

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1200-536: A local independent weekly magazine's headline: "Harvey Milk vs. The Machine". The Alice B. Toklas Club made no endorsement in the primary—neither Milk nor Agnos—while other gay-aligned clubs and groups endorsed Agnos or did dual endorsements. Milk's continuing campaign, run from the storefront of Castro Camera, was a study in disorganization. Although the older Irish grandmothers and gay men who volunteered were plentiful and happy to send out mass mailings, Milk's notes and volunteer lists were kept on scrap papers. Any time

1300-579: A loss for words". Milk graduated from Bay Shore High School in Bay Shore, New York , in 1947 and attended New York State College for Teachers in Albany (now the State University of New York at Albany ) from 1947 to 1951, majoring in mathematics. He also wrote for the college newspaper. One classmate remembered, "He was never thought of as a possible queer—that's what you called them then—he

1400-541: A newspaper. Several days later, Herb Caen , a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle , outed Sipple as gay and exposed him as a friend of Milk's. The announcement was picked up by national newspapers, and Milk's name was included in many of the stories. Time magazine named Milk as a leader in San Francisco's gay community. Sipple was besieged by reporters, as was his family. His mother,

1500-463: A position as a city commissioner. Milk came in seventh place in the election, only one position away from earning a supervisor seat. Despite the new leadership in the city, there were still conservative strongholds. In one of Moscone's first acts as mayor, he appointed a police chief to the embattled San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). He chose Charles Gain , against the wishes of the SFPD. Most of

1600-571: A representative of San Francisco's gay community expanded during this period. On September 22, 1975, President Gerald Ford , while visiting San Francisco, walked from his hotel to his car. In the crowd, Sara Jane Moore raised a gun to shoot him. A former Marine who had been walking by grabbed her arm as the gun discharged toward the pavement. The bystander was Oliver "Bill" Sipple , who had left Milk's ex-lover Joe Campbell years before, prompting Campbell's suicide attempt. The incident drew great attention to Sipple. On psychiatric disability leave from

1700-675: A researcher at the Wall Street firm Bache & Company . He was frequently promoted despite his tendency to offend the older members of the firm by ignoring their advice and flaunting his success. Although he was skilled at his job, co-workers sensed that Milk's heart was not in his work. Before Milk's thirty-fourth birthday, he started a romantic relationship with a 17-year-old boy (b. October 18, 1946) named Jack Galen McKinley after he left his hometown on October 22, 1963. Milk had recruited McKinley to work on conservative Republican Barry Goldwater 's 1964 presidential campaign . McKinley

1800-585: A roll of film Milk left at a local shop was ruined, he and Smith opened a camera store on Castro Street with their last $ 1,000. In the late 1960s, the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) and the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) began to work against police persecution of gay bars and entrapment in San Francisco. Oral sex was still a felony , and in 1970, nearly 90 people in the city were arrested for having sex in public parks at night. Mayor Alioto asked

1900-721: A staunch Baptist in Detroit, refused to speak to him. Although he had been involved with the gay community for years, participating in Gay Pride events, Sipple sued the Chronicle for invasion of privacy. President Ford sent Sipple a note of thanks for saving his life. Milk claimed that Sipple's sexual orientation was the reason he received only a note, rather than an invitation to the White House . Keeping his promise to Milk, newly elected Mayor George Moscone appointed him to

2000-689: A target for assassination, he recorded on tape his thoughts, and whom he wanted to succeed him if he were killed, adding: "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door". Milk's swearing-in made national headlines, as he became the first non-incumbent openly gay man in the United States to win an election for public office. He likened himself to pioneering African American baseball player Jackie Robinson and walked to City Hall arm in arm with Jack Lira, stating "You can stand around and throw bricks at Silly Hall or you can take it over. Well, here we are." The Castro District

2100-473: A teacher came into his store to borrow a projector because the equipment in the schools did not function. Friends also remember around the same time having to restrain him from kicking the television while Attorney General John N. Mitchell gave consistent "I don't recall" replies during the Watergate hearings . Milk decided that the time had come to run for city supervisor. He said later, "I finally reached

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2200-611: A valuable lesson when he criticized Milk's campaign speeches as "a downer ... You talk about how you're gonna throw the bums out, but how are you gonna fix things—other than beat me? You shouldn't leave your audience on a down." In the wake of his loss, Milk, realizing that the Toklas Club would never support him politically, co-founded the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club . The fledgling gay rights movement had yet to meet organized opposition in

2300-699: A warmer climate with milder winters, Milk and Campbell left New York in 1957 and moved to Dallas , Texas; after they struggled to find employment and were disappointed with the city's social scene compared to New York, they moved back to the latter. In New York, Milk worked as a public school teacher in Long Island and then a stock analyst in Manhattan . In 1961, Campbell and Milk separated after almost six years. Milk tried to keep his early romantic life separate from his family and work. Once again bored and single in New York, he thought of moving to Miami to marry

2400-527: Is Democrat Cecilia Aguiar-Curry ( 4th – Winters ), while the minority leader is Republican James Gallagher ( 3rd – Yuba City ). Members are allowed, by current term limits , to serve 12 years in the legislature in any combination of four-year State Senate or two-year State Assembly terms. However, members elected to the Legislature prior to 2012 are restricted to three two-year terms (six years). Few, if any, legislators remain from this era, though

2500-533: Is today, and what it is becoming, reflects both the energy and organization of the gay community and its developing effort toward integration in the political processes of the American city best known for innovation in life styles. — The New York Times , November 6, 1977 Anita Bryant's public campaign opposing homosexuality and the multiple challenges to gay rights ordinances across the United States fueled gay politics in San Francisco. Seventeen candidates from

2600-512: The Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club , known as simply "Alice". Alice befriended liberal politicians to persuade them to sponsor bills, proving successful in 1972 when Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon obtained Feinstein's support for an ordinance outlawing employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Alice chose Stokes to run for a relatively unimportant seat on the community college board. Though Stokes received 45,000 votes, he

2700-528: The Briggs Initiative . The proposed law would have made firing gay teachers—and any public school employees who supported gay rights—mandatory. Briggs' messages supporting Proposition 6 were pervasive throughout California, and Harvey Milk attended every event Briggs hosted. Milk campaigned against the bill throughout the state as well, and swore that if Briggs won California, he would still not win San Francisco. In their numerous debates, which toward

2800-540: The California State Assembly . Due to his growing popularity, he led the gay rights movement in battles against anti-gay initiatives. Milk was elected city supervisor in 1977 after San Francisco began to choose neighborhood representatives rather than city-wide ones. During Milk's almost eleven months in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing, and employment. The Supervisors passed

2900-477: The United States after the federal House of Representatives . Members of the California State Assembly are generally referred to using the titles Assemblyman (for men), Assemblywoman (for women), or Assemblymember (gender-neutral). In the current legislative session, Democrats have a three-fourths supermajority of 62 seats, while Republicans control a minority of 17 seats. The speaker presides over

3000-462: The "number one queen" and dictated to Moscone that he would have to go through Milk instead of the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club if he wanted the city's gay votes—a quarter of San Francisco's voting population. Milk also became Moscone's closest ally on the Board of Supervisors. The biggest targets of Milk's ire were large corporations and real estate developers. He fumed when a parking garage

3100-504: The 1977 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, the largest attendance at any Gay Pride event to that point. In November 1976, voters in San Francisco decided to reorganize supervisor elections to choose supervisors from neighborhoods instead of voting for them in citywide ballots. Harvey Milk quickly qualified as the leading candidate in District 5, surrounding Castro Street. The nongay community has mostly accepted it. What San Francisco

Harvey Milk Plaza - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-511: The 20th anniversary of Harvey Milk's election to the SF Board of Supervisors, a flagpole dedicated to Milk and the openly LGBTQ+ politicians who followed was added to the site. The flagpole flies the iconic Rainbow Flag designed by SF-based artist Gilbert Baker that has become a world-wide symbol for the LGBTQ+ community . In 2006, photographs from various stages of Milk's life were installed in

3300-455: The Board of Permit Appeals in 1976, making him the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States. Milk considered seeking a position in the California State Assembly . The district was weighted heavily in his favor, as much of it was based in neighborhoods surrounding Castro Street, where Milk's sympathizers voted. In the previous race for supervisor, Milk received more votes than the currently seated assemblyman. However, Moscone had made

3400-471: The Castro , a neighborhood that was experiencing a mass immigration of gay men and lesbians. He ran for city supervisor in 1973 but the existing gay political establishment resisted him. Milk's campaign was compared to theater due to his personality, earning media attention and votes, although not enough to be elected. He campaigned again in the next two supervisor elections, dubbing himself the "Mayor of Castro Street". The voter response caused him to also run for

3500-414: The Castro District entered the next race for supervisor; more than half of them were gay. The New York Times ran an exposé on the veritable invasion of gay people into San Francisco, estimating that the city's gay population was between 100,000 and 200,000 out of a total 750,000. The Castro Village Association had grown to 90 businesses; the local bank, formerly the smallest branch in the city, had become

3600-498: The Castro District. Milk rode in an open car carrying a sign saying "I'm from Woodmere, N.Y. " He gave a version of what became his most famous speech, the "Hope Speech", that The San Francisco Examiner said "ignited the crowd": On this anniversary of Stonewall , I ask my gay sisters and brothers to make the commitment to fight. For themselves, for their freedom, for their country ... We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets ... We are coming out to fight

3700-587: The EVMA members were stunned; they did more business at the Castro Street Fair than on any previous day. Although he was a newcomer to the Castro District, Milk had shown leadership in the small community. He was starting to be taken seriously as a candidate and decided to run again for supervisor in 1975. He reconsidered his approach and cut his long hair, swore off marijuana, and vowed never to visit another gay bathhouse again. Milk's campaigning earned

3800-657: The Eureka Valley Merchants Association (EVMA) attempted to prevent them from receiving a business license. Milk and a few other gay business owners founded the Castro Village Association, with Milk as the president. He often repeated his philosophy that gays should buy from gay businesses. Milk organized the Castro Street Fair in 1974 to attract more customers to the area. More than 5,000 attended, and some of

3900-807: The Institute chose San Francisco as its focus. Milk and McKinley were among the thousands of gay men attracted to San Francisco. McKinley was a stage manager for Tom O'Horgan , a director who started his career in experimental theater, but soon graduated to much larger Broadway productions. They arrived in 1969 with the Broadway touring company of Hair . McKinley was offered a job in the New York City production of Jesus Christ Superstar , and their tempestuous relationship came to an end. The city appealed to Milk so much that he decided to stay, working at an investment firm. In 1970, increasingly frustrated with

4000-591: The New York Mattachine Society , a gay-rights organization. When Rodwell was arrested for walking in Riis Park, and charged with inciting a riot and with indecent exposure (the law required men's swimsuits to extend from above the navel to below the thigh), he spent three days in jail. The relationship soon ended as Milk became alarmed at Rodwell's tendency to agitate the police. Milk abruptly stopped working as an insurance actuary and became

4100-532: The State Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The speaker is nominated by the caucus of the majority party and elected by the full Assembly. Other leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders , are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber. The current speaker is Democrat Robert Rivas ( 29th– Hollister ). The majority leader

Harvey Milk Plaza - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-706: The State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento . The Assembly consists of 80 members, with each member representing at least 465,000 people. Due to a combination of the state's large population and a legislature that has not been expanded since the ratification of the 1879 Constitution , the Assembly has the largest population-per-representative ratio of any state lower house and second largest of any legislative lower house in

4300-614: The US. In 1977 a few well-connected gay activists in Miami, Florida, were able to pass a civil rights ordinance that made discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal in Dade County . A well-organized group of conservative fundamentalist Christians responded, headed by singer Anita Bryant . Their campaign was titled Save Our Children , and Bryant claimed the ordinance infringed her right to teach her children Biblical morality. Bryant and

4400-511: The United States". Anne Kronenberg , his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Harvey Bernard Milk was born in the New York City suburb of Woodmere , to William Milk and Minerva Karns. He

4500-486: The back of his campaign manager's motorcycle—escorted by Sheriff Richard Hongisto —to what a newspaper story described as a "tumultuous and moving welcome". Milk had recently taken a new lover, a young man named Jack Lira, who was frequently drunk in public, and just as often escorted out of political events by Milk's aides. Since the race for the California State Assembly, Milk was receiving increasingly violent death threats. Concerned that his raised profile marked him as

4600-461: The backroom deal made between Moscone, the assembly speaker, and Agnos, fueled his campaign as he took on the identity of a political underdog. He railed that high officers in the city and state governments were against him. He complained that the prevailing gay political establishment, particularly the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, were shutting him out; he referred to Jim Foster and Stokes as gay " Uncle Toms ". He enthusiastically embraced

4700-498: The bill by a vote of 11–1, and Mayor George Moscone signed it into law. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Moscone were assassinated by Dan White , a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk's bill. Despite his short political career, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the LGBTQ community. In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significant openly LGBTQ official ever elected in

4800-588: The campaign gathered 64,000 signatures to put the issue to a county-wide vote. With funds raised in part by the Florida Citrus Commission, for which Bryant was the spokeswoman, they ran television advertisements that contrasted the Orange Bowl Parade with San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day Parade , stating that Dade County would be turned into a "hotbed of homosexuality" where "men ... cavort with little boys". Jim Foster, then

4900-415: The campaign required funds, the money came from the cash register without any consideration for accounting. The campaign manager's assistant was an 11-year-old neighborhood girl. Milk himself was hyperactive and prone to fantastic outbursts of temper, only to recover quickly and shout excitedly about something else. Many of his rants were directed at his lover, Scott Smith, who was becoming disillusioned with

5000-475: The cast of flower children wore away much of Milk's conservatism. A contemporary New York Times story about O'Horgan described Milk as "a sad eyed man—another aging hippie with long, long hair, wearing faded jeans and pretty beads". Craig Rodwell read the description of the formerly uptight man and wondered if it could be the same person. One of Milk's Wall Street friends worried that he seemed to have no plan or future, but remembered Milk's attitude: "I think he

5100-539: The chairs. I've never seen you put up the chairs." Milk was furious that Foster had snubbed him for the position, and the conversation marked the beginning of an antagonistic relationship between the "Alice" Club and Milk. Some gay bar owners, still battling police harassment and unhappy with what they saw as a timid approach by Alice to established authority in the city, decided to endorse him. Milk had drifted through life up to this point, but he found his vocation, according to journalist Frances FitzGerald , who called him

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5200-698: The city despite what critics labeled "the Manhattanization of San Francisco". As blue-collar jobs were replaced by the service industry, Alioto's weakened political base allowed for new leadership to be voted into office in the city. In 1975, state senator George Moscone was elected mayor. Moscone had been instrumental in repealing the sodomy law earlier that year in the California State Legislature. He acknowledged Milk's influence in his election by visiting Milk's election night headquarters, thanking Milk personally, and offering him

5300-493: The community sought to recognize Milk by renaming the above-ground construction related to the Castro Muni Station , which opened in 1980, to be "Harvey Milk Plaza". In 1985, the plaza was officially dedicated to Harvey Milk. In attendance were Mayor Dianne Feinstein , Harvey Milk's successor to the SF Board of Supervisors, Harry Britt , and President of the Board of Supervisors, John Molinari. In 1997, to celebrate

5400-544: The conservative views of the San Francisco Police Department , and also actively appealed to the gay community, which responded by raising significant funds for his campaign for sheriff. Though Feinstein was unsuccessful, Hongisto's win in 1971 showed the political clout of the gay community. SIR had become powerful enough for political maneuvering. In 1971 SIR members Jim Foster , Rick Stokes, and Advocate publisher David B. Goodstein formed

5500-475: The criteria of the term limits described above. According to Article 4, Section 2(c) of the California Constitution , the candidate must have one year of residency in the legislative district and California residency for three years. The chief clerk of the Assembly, a position that has existed since the Assembly's creation, is responsible for many administrative duties. The chief clerk is

5600-405: The crowd pulled others out of bars along Castro and Polk Streets to "deafening" cheers. Milk led marchers that night on a five-mile (8 km) course through the city, constantly moving, aware that if they stopped for too long there would be a riot. He declared, "This is the power of the gay community. Anita's going to create a national gay force." Activists had little time to recover, however, as

5700-562: The custodian of all Assembly bills and records and publishes the Assembly Daily Journal , the minutes of floor sessions, as well as the Assembly Daily File , the Assembly agenda. The chief clerk is the Assembly's parliamentarian , and in this capacity gives advice to the presiding officer on matters of parliamentary procedure . The chief clerk is also responsible for engrossing and enrolling of measures, and

5800-589: The development of a board of civilians to oversee the police. He advanced important neighborhood issues at every opportunity. Milk used the same manic campaign tactics as in previous races: human billboards, hours of handshaking, and dozens of speeches calling on gay people to have hope. This time, the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed him for supervisor. On election day, November 8, 1977, he won by 30% against sixteen other candidates, and after his victory became apparent, he arrived on Castro Street on

5900-400: The end had been honed to quick back-and-forth banter, Briggs maintained that homosexual teachers wanted to abuse and recruit children. Milk responded with statistics compiled by law enforcement that provided evidence that pedophiles identified primarily as heterosexual, and dismissed Briggs' assertions with one-liner jokes: "If it were true that children mimicked their teachers, you'd sure have

6000-564: The end of World War II, the major port city of San Francisco had been home to a sizable number of gay men who had been expelled from the military and decided to stay rather than return to their hometowns and face ostracism. By 1969 the Kinsey Institute believed San Francisco had more gay people per capita than any other American city; when the National Institute of Mental Health asked the institute to survey homosexuals,

6100-556: The entire country was educated about homosexuality to a greater extent than ever before. The first step is always hostility, and after that you can sit down and talk about it." California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature , the upper house being the California State Senate . The Assembly convenes, along with

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6200-425: The force disliked Gain for criticizing the police in the press for racial insensitivity and alcohol abuse on the job, instead of working within the command structure to change attitudes. By request of the mayor, Gain made it clear that gay police officers would be welcomed in the department; this became national news. Police under Gain expressed their hatred of him, and of the mayor for betraying them. Milk's role as

6300-645: The formation of The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, a group of community members advocating for community involvement in the redesign effort. In 2017, the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza and the American Institute of Architects (AIASF) launched an international design competition to reimagine the plaza in response to decades of conversation around improving the site to better represent Harvey Milk, who by now had become an internationally recognized LGBT civil rights icon. In 2017, designs were submitted to renovate

6400-421: The gay street people—the 14-year-old runaway from San Antonio . We have to make up for hundreds of years of persecution. We have to give hope to that poor runaway kid from San Antonio. They go to the bars because churches are hostile. They need hope! They need a piece of the pie!" Other causes were also important to Milk: he promoted larger and less expensive child care facilities, free public transportation, and

6500-404: The growing clout and organization of homosexuals in the city, and courted their votes by attending meetings of gay and lesbian organizations. Brown pushed for legalization of sex between consenting adults in 1969 but failed. SIR was also pursued by popular moderate Supervisor Dianne Feinstein in her bid to become mayor, opposing Alioto. Ex-policeman Richard Hongisto worked for 10 years to change

6600-519: The largest and was forced to build a wing to accommodate its new customers. Milk biographer Randy Shilts noted that his campaign was fueled by "broader historical forces". Milk's most successful opponent was the quiet and thoughtful lawyer Rick Stokes, who was backed by the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club. Stokes was open about his homosexuality long before Milk had, and had experienced more severe treatment, once hospitalized and forced to endure electroshock therapy to 'cure' him. Milk, however,

6700-572: The law. Christian conservatives were inspired by their victory, and saw an opportunity for a new, effective political cause. Gay activists were shocked to see how little support they received. An impromptu demonstration of over 3,000 Castro residents formed the night of the Dade County ordinance vote. Gay men and lesbians were simultaneously angry, chanting "Out of the bars and into the streets!", and elated at their passionate and powerful response. The San Francisco Examiner reported that members of

6800-479: The lies, the myths, the distortions. We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I'm going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out. Come out to your parents, your relatives. Despite the losses in battles for gay rights across the country that year, he remained optimistic, saying "Even if gays lose in these initiatives, people are still being educated. Because of Anita Bryant and Dade County,

6900-422: The man who was no longer the laid-back hippie he had fallen in love with. If the candidate was manic, he was also dedicated and filled with good humor, and he had a particular genius for getting media attention. He spent long hours registering voters and shaking hands at bus stops and movie theater lines. He took whatever opportunity came along to promote himself. He thoroughly enjoyed campaigning, and his success

7000-452: The military, Sipple refused to call himself a hero and did not want his sexuality disclosed. Milk, however, took advantage of the opportunity to illustrate his cause that the public perception of gay people would be improved if they came out of the closet. He told a friend: "It's too good an opportunity. For once we can show that gays do heroic things, not just all that ca-ca about molesting children and hanging out in bathrooms." Milk contacted

7100-471: The most powerful political organizer in San Francisco, went to Miami to assist gay activists there as election day neared, and a nationwide boycott of orange juice was organized. The message of the Save Our Children campaign was influential, and the result was an overwhelming defeat for gay activists; in the largest turnout in any special election in the history of Dade County, 70% voted to repeal

7200-466: The new design lead for the project. 37°45′45″N 122°26′07″W  /  37.762401°N 122.435339°W  / 37.762401; -122.435339 Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors . Milk

7300-514: The newspaper". He invited the press to Duboce Park to explain why it was necessary, and while cameras were rolling, stepped in the offending substance, seemingly by mistake. His staffers knew he had been at the park for an hour before the press conference looking for the right place to walk in front of the cameras. It earned him the most fan mail of his tenure in politics and went out on national news releases. Milk had grown tired of Lira's drinking and considered breaking up with him when Lira called

7400-527: The occasion. Another bill Milk concentrated on was designed to solve the number one problem according to a recent citywide poll: dog excrement. Within a month of being sworn in, he began to work on a city ordinance to require dog owners to scoop their pets' feces. Dubbed the "pooper scooper law", its authorization by the Board of Supervisors was covered extensively by television and newspapers in San Francisco. Anne Kronenberg, Milk's campaign manager, called him "a master at figuring out what would get him covered in

7500-525: The plaza and "blessed" by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence . The Castro Muni Station and Harvey Milk Plaza were designed by the architectural firm Reid & Tarics Associates. Howard Grant AIA is reported to have been in charge of design. In 2016, SFMTA announced plans for a large project to increase accessibility for the Castro Muni Station located under the plaza. The announcement led to

7600-545: The plaza. The winning submission belonged to architecture firm Perkins Eastman who went on to produce some initial design concepts for the project. In 2019, the Harvey Milk Plaza project secured a $ 1M grant from the State of California intended to “support construction of LGBTQ space in Harvey Milk Plaza.” In 2021, the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza announced the selection of landscape architecture firm SWA to serve as

7700-501: The point where I knew I had to become involved or shut up". Milk received an icy reception from the gay political establishment in San Francisco. Jim Foster, who had by then been active in gay politics for ten years, resented that the newcomer had asked for his endorsement for a position as prestigious as city supervisor. Foster told Milk, "There's an old saying in the Democratic Party. You don't get to dance unless you put up

7800-515: The police to target the parks, hoping the decision would appeal to the Archdiocese and his Catholic supporters. In 1971, 2,800 gay men were arrested for public sex in San Francisco. By comparison, New York City recorded only 63 arrests for the same offense that year. Any arrest for a morals charge required registration as a sex offender . Congressman Phillip Burton , Assemblyman Willie Brown , and other California politicians recognized

7900-421: The political climate after the U.S. invasion of Cambodia , Milk let his hair grow long. When told to cut it, he refused and was fired. Milk drifted from California to Texas to New York, without a steady job or plan. In New York City he became involved with O'Horgan's theater company as a "general aide", signing on as associate producer for Lenny and for Eve Merriam 's Inner City . The time he had spent with

8000-561: The restriction could affect future candidates running after a hiatus from office. Every two years, all 80 seats in the Assembly are subject to election. This is in contrast to the State Senate, in which only half of its 40 seats are subject to election every two years. The chamber's green tones are based on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom . The dais rests along a wall shaped like an "E", with its central projection housing

8100-481: The rostrum. Along the cornice appears a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and a Latin quotation: legislatorum est justas leges condere ("It is the duty of legislators to pass just laws"). Almost every decorating element is identical to the Senate Chamber. To run for the Assembly, a candidate must be a United States citizen and a registered voter in the district at the time nomination papers are issued, and meet

8200-567: The scenario replayed itself when civil rights ordinances were overturned by voters in Saint Paul, Minnesota ; Wichita, Kansas ; and Eugene, Oregon , throughout 1977 and into 1978. California State Senator John Briggs saw an opportunity in the Christian fundamentalists' campaign. He was hoping to be elected governor of California in 1978, and was impressed with the voter turnout he saw in Miami. When Briggs returned to Sacramento , he wrote

8300-661: The service rather than be court-martialed because of his homosexuality. Milk's early career was marked by frequent changes; in later years he would take delight in talking about his metamorphosis from a middle-class Jewish boy. He began teaching at George W. Hewlett High School on Long Island . In 1956, he met Joe Campbell at the Jacob Riis Park beach, a popular location for gay men in Queens . Milk pursued Campbell passionately. Milk continued to write Campbell romantic notes and poems after they moved in together. Seeking

8400-453: The support of the teamsters, firefighters, and construction unions. His store, Castro Camera, became the center of activity in the neighborhood. Milk would often pull people off the street to work his campaigns—many discovered later that they just happened to be the type of men Milk found attractive. Milk favored support for small businesses and the growth of neighborhoods. Since 1968, Mayor Joseph Alioto had been luring large corporations to

8500-418: The transmission of legislation to the governor. The Assembly also employs the position of chaplain , a position that has existed in both houses since the first legislative session back in 1850. Currently, the chaplain of the Assembly is Imam Mohammad Yasir Khan, the first chaplain historically that practices Islam . The position of sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly has existed since 1849; Samuel N. Houston

8600-498: The union contract. An organizer asked Milk for assistance with gay bars; in return, Milk asked the union to hire more gay drivers. A few days later, Milk canvassed the gay bars in and surrounding the Castro District, urging them to refuse to sell the beer. With the help of a coalition of Arab and Chinese grocers the Teamsters had also recruited, the boycott was successful. Milk found a strong political ally in organized labor , and it

8700-610: Was a man's man". After graduation, Milk joined the United States Navy during the Korean War . He served aboard the submarine rescue ship USS  Kittiwake  (ASR-13) as a diving officer . Milk later transferred to Naval Station, San Diego to serve as a diving instructor. In 1955, he resigned from the Navy at the rank of lieutenant, junior grade , forced to accept an "other than honorable" discharge and leave

8800-528: Was around this time that he began to style himself "The Mayor of Castro Street". As Castro Street's presence grew, so did Milk's reputation. Tom O'Horgan remarked, "Harvey spent most of his life looking for a stage. On Castro Street he finally found it." Tensions were growing between the older citizens of the Most Holy Redeemer Parish and the gays who were entering the Castro District. In 1973, two gay men tried to open an antique shop, but

8900-489: Was backing both him and Art Agnos in 1976, he told friend Michael Wong, "Well fuck him. I'll take his workers, but, that's the game Jim Jones plays." But to his volunteers, he said: "Make sure you're always nice to the Peoples Temple. If they ask you to do something, do it, and then send them a note thanking them for asking you to do it." The race was close, and Milk lost by fewer than 4,000 votes. Agnos taught Milk

9000-426: Was born and raised in New York. He acknowledged his homosexuality in adolescence but secretly pursued sexual relationships well into adulthood. The counterculture of the 1960s caused him to shed many of his conservative views about individual freedom and sexual expression. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and opened a camera store. Although he held an assortment of jobs and frequently changed addresses, he settled in

9100-536: Was evident. With the large numbers of volunteers, he had dozens at a time stand along the busy thoroughfare of Market Street as human billboards, holding "Milk for Assembly" signs while commuters drove into the heart of the city to work. He distributed his campaign literature anywhere he could, including one of the most influential political groups in the city, the Peoples Temple . Milk accepted Temple volunteers to work his phones. On February 19, 1978, Milk wrote

9200-413: Was faced with civic problems and policies he disliked. One day in 1973, a state bureaucrat entered Milk's shop Castro Camera and informed him that he owed $ 100 as a deposit against state sales tax. Milk was incredulous and traded shouts with the man about the rights of business owners; after he complained for weeks at state offices, the deposit was reduced to $ 30. Milk fumed about government priorities when

9300-413: Was happier than at any time I had ever seen him in his entire life." Rosa von Praunheim 's documentary short film Homosexuals in New York shows Milk exuberant as a protester on Christopher Street Day 1971 in New York City. Milk met Scott Smith , 18 years his junior, and began another relationship. Milk and Smith returned to San Francisco, where they lived on money they had saved. In March 1973, after

9400-424: Was located two miles south of the Castro, that a mental health facility for troubled adolescents should not be placed there. After Milk learned more about the facility, he decided to switch his vote, ensuring White's loss on the issue—a particularly poignant cause that White championed while campaigning. White did not forget it. He opposed every initiative and issue Milk supported. Milk began his tenure by sponsoring

9500-403: Was more expressive about the role of gay people and their issues in San Francisco politics. Stokes was quoted saying, "I'm just a businessman who happens to be gay," and expressed the view that any normal person could also be homosexual. Milk's contrasting populist philosophy was relayed to The New York Times : "We don't want sympathetic liberals, we want gays to represent gays ... I represent

9600-614: Was not the only neighborhood to promote someone new to city politics. Sworn in with Milk were also a single mother ( Carol Ruth Silver ), a Chinese American ( Gordon Lau ), and an African American woman ( Ella Hill Hutch )—all firsts for the city. Dan White , a former police officer and firefighter, was also a first-time supervisor, and he spoke of how proud he was that his grandmother was able to see him sworn in. Milk's energy, affinity for pranking, and unpredictability at times exasperated Board of Supervisors President Dianne Feinstein. In his first meeting with Mayor Moscone, Milk called himself

9700-579: Was prone to depression and sometimes threatened to commit suicide if Milk did not show him enough attention. To make a point to McKinley, Milk took him to the hospital where Milk's ex-lover, Joe Campbell, was himself recuperating from a suicide attempt after his lover Billy Sipple left him. Milk had remained friendly with Campbell, who had entered the avant-garde art scene in Greenwich Village , but Milk did not understand why Campbell's despondency caused to him consider committing suicide. Since

9800-450: Was quiet and unassuming, and did not win. Foster, however, shot to national prominence by being the first openly gay man to address a political convention. His speech at the 1972 Democratic National Convention ensured that his voice, according to San Francisco politicians, was the one to be heard when they wanted the opinions, and especially the votes, of the gay community. Milk became more interested in political and civic matters when he

9900-400: Was slated to take the place of homes near the downtown area, and tried to pass a commuter tax so office workers who lived outside the city and drove into work would have to pay for city services they used. Milk was often willing to vote against Feinstein and other more tenured members of the board. In one controversy early in his term, Milk agreed with fellow Supervisor Dan White, whose district

10000-462: Was the younger son of Litvak parents and the grandson of Morris Milk, a department store owner who helped to organize the first synagogue in the area. As a child, Milk was teased for his protruding ears, big nose, and oversized feet, and tended to grab attention as a class clown. While he was in school, he played football and developed a passion for opera. Under his name in the high school yearbook, it read, "Glimpy Milk—and they say WOMEN are never at

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