Harvey Milk Day

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I know there's lots going on in the Presidential Primaries, but I wanted to take a second to recognize an historic state-level announcement.

Assemblymember Mark Leno today announced that he will be introducing legislation in the California Assembly to recognize May 22nd as "Harvey Milk Day." If Leno's bill passes, this will be the first time a LGBT Civil Rights Leader will be recognized with an annual state holiday.  While the holiday is "non-fiscal" (meaning that schools and government workers are not given the day off), it still will be a recognized state holiday.  Hopefully this will engender more discussion in schools and in the community about Harvey Milk's life.

More about Harvey Milk on the flip. . .

For those of you not familiar with Harvey Milk's life, is is summarized as follows:

Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930 and settled in the Castro district of San Francisco in 1972 where he and his partner opened a camera store. His belief that all people should be treated with respect paved the way of the populist movement he pioneered for LGBT rights, creating a legacy that inspires the LGBT community to this day. In 1977, Milk became the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the United States, and only the third openly gay elected official in the nation. Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in San Francisco on November 27, 1978.

Harvey Milk's life and tragic death are the subject of a biopic starring Sean Penn and being filmed on location in the Castro as we speak.

Harvey Milk is an inspiration to countless LGBT folks, young and old.  I am thrilled that he will be remembered not only in this film, but also annually through the state-recognized holiday Mark Leno's legislation envisions.  Thanks Mark for once again pushing the envelope to protect civil rights!