Can you explain sacrifice? – In English 110, Catherine Carmona chose to write her historical research paper on Harvey Milk, this country’s first openly-gay politician. For his relentless advocacy of a better and more equitable society, he was murdered in cold blood. “Hope will never be silent,” he famously said.
Harvey Milk: A Pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement
In the ‘70s things in San Francisco were not as liberal as they are today. Gay men and women were still establishing themselves in the Castro District of San Francisco and Harvey Milk and his lover had just moved to the city from New York to escape his uptight, Wall Street, conservative life. Upon moving to San Francisco though, Milk was disappointed with the progress gay people had made in what was supposed to be the most liberal city in America, so he decided to take things into his own hands and run for public office. He didn't win the first or the second time or even the third time, but in 1977 he was finally elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, reigning over the Castro District (Patterson).
At this time, the gay rights movement was especially serious with Anita Bryant and John Briggs gaining a following of people who wanted to strip gays and lesbians of their civil rights. Harvey Milk, in turn received many death threats on a regular basis because he was openly, and flamboyantly gay, and never tried to censor himself to anyone. He had a deep-seated feeling that he would be assassinated. He believed this so fervently that he once said, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Milk believed that to really end prejudice against gay people everyone should 'come out' because that would show heterosexual people that gay people are just like them. That gay people are people they know and interact with on a regular basis. It would show heterosexual people that gay people aren't the boogeyman that is waiting to abduct their children and convert them to their deviant lifestyles, as the Anita Bryants and John Briggs' of the world attempted to have society believe. In the end, Harvey Milk did get assassinated, and his death was widely publicized, and it caused a HUGE uproar in the gay community. In San Francisco specifically there were riots in the streets, but there was also a lot of unnecessary violence that I know Milk, sadly, would not have approved of.
Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. He sponsored a bill that banned discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. He also helped defeat the Briggs Initiative, which was a Proposition that would've banned gays, lesbians, and their allies from working in the public school system. In the 1970s Harvey Milk’s courageous fight for gay rights led to ugly political opposition and his tragic murder.
- To read Catherine's complete research paper, please click on the following link: Milk.
- To learn about the life and tragic death of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, please click on the following video:
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In this first section of Friends of the Earth,
students take the time to introduce themselves through their reading.
Instead of the brief mention of their hobbies and pets, they reflect on
a memorable literary experience. You might not judge a book by its cover, but here we learn
what is often hidden inside of others.
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