Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials who represent more than just a official of government but a change in the civil rights movement for homosexuals showing they are just as equal as any other human being and are good enough to govern their country. Milk born May 22, 1930, in Wood mere, New York. Having one sibling, Robert, was employed in their parents store, “Milks”; his birth father, William, served in the U.S. Navy and as did his mother Minerva, both of Lithuanian heritage. Harvey came from a small middle-class Jewish family that was well known in the New York “Litvaks” community for their civic engagement. In a website's called Miks Foundation it said, “He[Harvey Milk] knew he was gay by the time he attended Bayshore high school, where he was a popular student with wide-ranging interests, from opera to playing football.”

When he grew up he went to college in “New York State College for Teachers in Albany (now known as University of New York).” He studied math and history hoping to pursue a career in teaching or finance, eventually he was driven away from that direction, but he did become really involved throughout the campus having a place in the newspaper and questions the decisions made in policies with the wars. He did follow the footsteps of his parents going in to a driver officer in the Navy where once questioned on his sexually orientation, he resigned and left his job no matter how of a good position he had.

In the 1960s and 70s when Harvey Milk become more involved into politics and activist in civil rights, he became aligned with anti war movement against the Vietnam war. If it wasn't for his love in comedy theater, Milk would have never stepped foot in San Francisco where with also the increase acceptance of the gay and homosexual community, Harvey instantly admired the city and decided to start a new life there. Where he was known for his sense of humor and exaggerated character. Which lead to him wanted to be involved in how the government was working. He mainly began his political career being greatly known for his means in cleaning up the city streets of San Francisco and promoting/creating a law we still have today, The popper scooper law, where residents with dogs were required to carry around with them bags with them to clean up after their pets have done their business. Later founding and organizing new jobs and businesses that were open and not denied to the LGBTQ communities in the US. He was also able to get George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, on board with his plans since he was an early supporter of gay rights and took action. Moscone ended up abolishing the anti-somody law in the city and appointed many gay and lesbian people in high profile jobs in their city. He also got support from a gay neighborhood in SF called Castro Camera who heard his voice and saw him as a leader/activist.

     Harvey Milk gave a chance for LGBTQ citizens to have an open and equal opportunity that many did not have before. He also gave them a voice in order for them to come out from hiding and express themselves because there was a new hope of being accepted seeing that at the time homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Unfortunately, in the end, Milk was assassinated by a man named Dan White, a supervisor that worked with Moscone, disagreed with what was being done in the city of and believed that Milk and Moscone were going to fail the city . So on November 27 1978 White entered City Hall with a revolver and shot Moscone four times and Milk five times because Moscone would refuse to reappoint him when he continued to ask and Milk supported that decision. White was sent to trial yet only convicted for voluntary manslaughter instead of murder so he would only serve 6 years in prison.
       Once the outcome of White’s trial had been released, Castros’ set demonstrations outside of City Hall went from peaceful to violent. There were more than 5,000 policemen that responded and around 189 people were injured in what was known as “The White Night Riots”. Nevertheless, Harvey Milk’s legacy continued and his movement has endured because of what he did as the voice and as a leader the LGBTQ community.

http://www.biography.com/people/harvey-milk-9408170
http://www.biography.com/news/harvey-milk-biography-facts
http://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography/