Harvey Milk: Supervisor, Activist, And Martyr

Homosexual people have been misrepresented and refuted their basic civil rights in America over the years, especially during the late 1970s. During this time, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, was one of the most prominent spokesman on the issues surrounding gay rights. In 1978 he gave a speech impacting the gay citizens of San Francisco and America, the anti-gay right wing movement supporters, straight allies of the gay movement, and politicians in general. His speech known as the “Hope Speech” resonates with people even today as Milk attempted to address gay rights and the importance of electing gay officials in office, using various rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and elevated diction.

Stonewall Riots: the Events that Sparked the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement When most think of the gay rights movement of today, most realize that it is all very progressive, and many people, regardless of gender or sexuality, fully support the movement. Although this is the case now, things for the LGBTQ+ community have not always this accepting. According to a popular news website, "[The LGBTQ+ community] were viewed as some kind of freak show," said Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt. "Something to be avoided." (cbsnews.com) Around the mid 20th century and before, anyone who did not identify, or was suspected of not identifying as straight was highly discriminated against, and, in most cases, persecuted.

The conditions faced by queer people leading up to the stonewall riots were appalling. Laws and Statutes made it legal to discriminate against LGBT+ individuals based on dress and behavior and to limit other basic freedoms as well. In the 50’s and 60’s, 49 of 50 states in the United States had some form of law that stated homosexuality was illegal and was punishable by fines or imprisonment (Staff). Up until 1987, homosexuality was considered a mental illness in the DSM (American Classification of Mental Disorders). In following, it was illegal to serve gay people alcohol in New York City up until 1966, thirty three years after prohibition was repealed (History). Under the statement that the gathering

It was November 27th, 1978. There was a cheerful atmosphere in San Francisco’s City Hall that morning. Supervisor Harvey Milk’s good mood was due to Mayor George Moscone’s upcoming announcement to the press. He was going to publicize that he had decided not to reappoint the ultra-conservative "voice for the family", Dan White, back to the board of supervisors. Harvey Milk was a fierce advocate of this political move, for he was the first openly gay elected official, and thus, the most important political leader for homosexuals at the time. Dan White, on the other hand, enforced family values and therefore was not someone that supported this

However, gay activism was not an interest to him; until he was 40, after experiencing the counterculture of the 1960s. Milk was not open about his homosexuality in until he moved from New York to San Francisco and became a politician. Harvey Milk took advantage of the political and economic influence of the neighborhood to promote his interests. He ran for political office three times until he won his seat as a city supervisor in 1977. He served almost a year in office until his assassination in 1978. In his brief political career, Milk’s acts toward justice for the LGBT community deserves to be looked at for the hope of some degree of peace and

Milk’s message as a public figure during the 1970s around greater rights and freedoms for gay people was powerful and arguably, in many ways, remains relevant today. Pearson (2005) maintains that Milk was pivotal in the gay rights movement and that gay rights are still an issue in the United States and many other places around the world.

Throughout the late twentieth century people of different sexual orientations, weren't as legally secure as those of the hetrosexual population. Harvey Milk assisted with the gay rights movement, by protesting and using his political stance to make a difference. His stand impacted San Francisco, in the stupendous way of the increased amount of people out of the closet and in the world as their true selves. His stand led to the various strides for the LGBT community, including the legalization of homosexual marriage throughout all of America on June 26, 2015.

This newspaper article from The New York Daily News was extremely biased and homophobic which allowed us to realize how the public viewed the LGBT+ community back in 1969. The article also included interviews with police and participants of the riots that described the violence that took

According to Boslaugh, a LGBT activist, the Stonewall Riots was when “gay that they did not need to accept second-class status and they had sufficient strength in numbers to resist harassment”(Boslaugh 1). Due to the pride and confidence acquired from the Stonewall Riots, a movement of hope emerged, which is known as the Gay Liberation Movement. The Gay Liberation movement took place mostly in the 1960s - 1980s, however, it is still ongoing to this day. This movement urged the LGBT community to stand up for themselves and fight back against their discriminating enemies by conquering hatred and shame with pride and love. Ever since the formation of the LGBT community, they had struggled to become accepted and treated as equal counterparts to straight people. For example, they were not given the same right to marriage as straight people were, as it was illegal to marry someone of the same gender. The LGBT community was also treated unfairly in the work force. Numerous places refused to hire members of the gay community, depending on the places they visit. It was often that someone who went to a gay bar or restaurant, was not hired for the job even if they were well-qualified. The LGBT community also endured many violent hate crimes against them. In particular, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay commissioner on the San Francisco Board of Permits, who was quickly assassinated

Harvey Milk said, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”(Aretha 83). Harvey Milk was the first gay politician that moved people’s hearts. He changed the way people thought about gay people back in the 1970’s. Defending homosexuals from criticism, he civilized them with the people. Since the background of homosexuality was harsh which affected Harvey Milk’s early life, he took the action to process of becoming civilized as an officer, and he left many legacies.

Another huge social and cultural change during this time was the gay liberation movement. During the 1960’s, many groups decided to fight for their rights and equality. One of these groups was the gay and lesbian members of society. Many of these individuals were discriminated against and had no rights, but they decided enough was enough. In the 1960’s, gays decided to begin the fight for their own rights. One example of this was made after New York officers decided to raid the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York’s very own Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969. This type of raid was not unusual, being that many police officers made it a habit of raiding gay and lesbian bars. This became known as the “Stonewall Riot”, which many view as the starting point of the gay liberation movement. The gay liberation movement was the fight by gays and lesbians for equal rights, one of these rights being the right to not be discriminated against, and most importantly, to be able to openly “come out” to their family and friends. The gay liberation movement helped to impact our current times greatly. Today, a gay person has rights just like anyone else. A gay

In 1961, Illinois allowed homosexuals to do private acts between two consenting adults (Kranz and Cusick 122). This states that the fight that was occurring in Illinois at this time was working. It worked so well that they were able to actually do private acts and no one can do anything about it. Private acts are for example, kissing, hugging, holding hands, and having sexual interactions between the two. In 1964 the Society for Individuals Rights, a social and political club for gays and lesbians was opened (Kranz and Cusick 122). During the 1960’s not alot was available for the LGBTQ community, so for them to have a place to discuss politics and to just interact, it’s phenomenal. During 1965, seven gay men and three lesbians stood outside the White House in the first gay rights protest in U.S. History (Kranz and Cusick 122). This is vital when understanding that gay right protests have started and still are occurring. At the time of 1968, the first Gay Church in the united states was founded by Reverend Troy Perry (Kranz and Cusick 124). Meanwhile in 1970, 10,000 people commemorate the Stonewall uprising by marching in the “Christopher Street Liberation Day” which occurred in New York City (Kranz and Cusick 124). In 1972, East Lansing, Michigan adopts the very first law that states the Discrimination toward gay men and lesbians in city hiring would not be okay (Kranz

Harvey Milk, though he had “known since high school that he was gay” (Biography), was initially outwardly ambivalent to legislation passed against the LGBTQ community. This all changed after he befriended a group of “gay radicals” in his mid-forties. They propelled him into the politically charged world of activism, in which he developed his voice, and stood out as a leader in the LGBTQ community. Milk stood on the steps of the San Francisco’s City Hall to celebrate Gay Freedom, but also to

Civil Rights activist Harvey Milk was praised by many, and was influential to the LBGT community while it wasn’t accepted by many, Milk has plenty of characteristics that make him an over all an amazing leader: Courage, integrity, along with served justice. Harvey Milk lived up to being a good leader until his very last day.

Over the next two decades, half the states decriminalized homosexual behavior, and police harassment grew less frequent and obvious to the public. Also in 1975, it became legal for gays to hold federal jobs. However all this headway also made room for more opposition. In 1977, Anita Bryant was so successful at obtaining a repeal of a recent gay ordinance in her home state of Florida that by 1980, a league of anti gay clubs had come together to make a force, led in part by Jesse Helms. The AIDS scare that began in the eighties did not help the gay image either, but more citizens joined their ranks in order to combat the oppression and fund a search for the cure, so in the end it actually made the movement stronger. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999, the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay citizens the right to same sex marriages. Gay rights has come a long way as a social movement, and though it still has a long way to go, it makes a good topic to analyze the process of the social movement.