This holiday season, you will probably hear about a new film titled Milk, which stars Sean Penn. He’s been nominated for a Golden Globe and there is already Oscar buzz about his performance, but you may wonder who Harvey Milk was.
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. He had been born in New York, but moved to San Francisco when he was 42. He finally settled in the Castro District, eventually dubbing himself the “Mayor of Castro Street.” Milk was brash, outspoken, animated, and most of all, proud of his sexual orientation. Because of his popularity, he became the leader of the gay political movement that would fight against anti-gay initiatives. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1977.
Milk, who was encouraging gays to speak out for their rights, apparently scared many people. But, he was so charismatic; he began earning the support of such unlikely organizations as the teamsters, firefighters and construction worker unions. One of Milk’s first acts while on the board was to sponsor a civil rights bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation. It was soon put into law by the mayor. However, Milk’s tenure would be short and end tragically.
Just ten months after taking office, on November 27, 1978, he would be shot to death by a former board member. Dan White had resigned from the board on November 10, but just days later, asked Mayor George Moscone to come back. Moscone refused after some consideration and planned to announce White’s replacement on November 27th. Before he could do that, White entered City Hall and went to the mayor’s office. He shot the mayor four times, killing him, and then headed to his former office. He ran into Harvey Milk in the hallway and shot Milk five times.
To make matters worse, White’s attorneys argued the now infamous “Twinkie defense,” saying that their client had consumed large amounts of Twinkies and Coca-Cola and that the sugar intensified his depression, which led to the murders. White was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison. San Francisco erupted in rioting.
White only served five years in prison before being released. He feared retaliation for the murders and briefly moved to Los Angeles to service his parole. He moved back to San Francisco, but, with his marriage in shambles, committed suicide on October 21, 1985.