harvey milk

US politician and

gay rights activist Member of the San Francisco

Board of Supervisors

from District 5 In office

January 8 – November 27, 1978 Preceded by District Created Succeeded by Harry Britt

(appointed) Constituency The Castro,

Haight-Ashbury,

Duboce Triangle,

Noe Valley Born May 22, 1930(1930-05-22)

Woodmere, New York Died November 27, 1978 (aged 48)

San Francisco, California Nationality American Political party Democratic Residence San Francisco, California Alma mater State University of New York at Albany Profession Politician, business owner

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. Politics and gay activism were not Milk's early interests; he did not feel the need to be open about his homosexuality or participate in civic matters until around age 40, after his experiences in the counterculture of the 1960s.

Milk moved from New York City to settle in San Francisco in 1972 amid a migration of gay men moving to the Castro District in the 1970s. He took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his interests, and ran unsuccessfully for political office three times. His theatrical campaigns earned him increasing popularity, and Milk won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977, a result of the broader social changes the city was experiencing.

Milk served 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned and wanted his job back. Conflicts between liberal trends that were responsible for Milk's election and conservative resistance to those changes were evident in events following the assassinations.

Despite his short career in politics, Milk has become an icon in San Francisco and "a martyr for gay rights", according to University of San Francisco professor Peter Novak.[1] In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States".[2] Writer John Cloud remarked on his influence, "[After Milk] many people—straight and gay—had to adjust to a new reality he embodied: that a gay person could live an honest life and succeed."[3] Contents [hide] 1 Early life 1.1 Early career 1.2 Rise of Castro Street 1.3 Changing politics 2 Campaigns 2.1 Mayor of Castro Street 2.2 Serious candidate 2.3 Race for State Assembly 3 Broader historical forces 3.1 Just politics 3.2 Last campaign 4 Supervisor 4.1 Briggs Initiative 5 Assassination 5.1 "City in agony" 5.2 Trial 5.3 White Night riots 5.4 Aftermath 6 Legacy 6.1 Politics 6.2 Tributes and media 7 Notes 8 Citations 9 Bibliography 10 External links //

Early life