Harvey Milk's Legacy

Harvey Milk is known all over the world for his actions. He will always be remembered for changing the way homosexuality is viewed by the rest of the world. What he achieved for the LGBT community is fundamental for today’s standards, and even the smaller things he brought to attention are important and not to be overlooked. In this blog, I am going to look at the changes Harvey Milk has made to the world, and at how he is remembered today. 

27 November 1978 - A voice silenced

Harvey on his last birthday in 1978 throwing pies at his friends

By now you will have read about Harvey Milk's early life, his political career and his activism focused on making this world a better place for LGBT people.
My post is about telling you how it all ended.

And it would seem that Milk himself knew how it was going to end...

Being a supervisor on the San Fransisco advocating for gay rights, Milk knew that he was in a dangerous position and so suspecting what was coming, he recorded three copies of a will to be read only if he were assassinated.

I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you

Source

By now you will have met Harvey Milk. You'll have heard how he grew up, how his early political career started, about his activism, and about the views on LGBT at the time. You probably know Milk as the first openly gay elected official. That's how I knew him, before I started my research for this post. Just a name, an important, almost legendary name, of course, but I think that's why initiatives like Harvey Milk Week are important. They give that name a context.

“You can stand around and throw bricks at Silly Hall or you can take it over. Well, here we are.”

LGBT History in Harvey Milk's Time

Life for LGBTQ people in the time of Harvey Milk was vastly different than it is now. After the very liberal ideals of the Roaring Twenties, conservatism returned to America in the 1930s, the decade of Harvey Milk’s birth. Homosexuality went from being a silly tolerated behavior to completely illegal in the United States.

During WWII, many of America’s young men went across the ocean to fight, leaving the work force depleted of its muscle.

What did Harvey Milk do for us?

Although Harvey Milk didn't venture into gay activism until the later part of his political career, you would probably be surprised by how much he managed to do in those last few years of his life.

Let's go back to 1976, it's not that long ago. Some of you might have been born then, or your parents were at least. Yet, back then the gay rights movement was something very new and they faced little organised opposition. No 'One Million Moms' or 'Concerned Women of America'. As for the Westboro Baptist Church, they only started attacking LGBT people in 1991.

"So it was easy", one would think. Think again.

Milk's early political career

A button from Milk's first campaign, Still sporting
his Hippy hairstyle.

Harvey Milk's interest in politics grew after he found himself experiencing policies he disliked; In 1973 a local government official came into Castro Camera and told Milk that he owed the state 100 dollars as a deposit against the Sales Tax. Harvey Milk was outraged at this, and proceeded to exchange shouts with the man. After weeks of complaining the fine was reduced to 30 dollars. But Harvey Milk's annoyance at current policies had arose.

The Early Life of Mr. Milk

Harvey (right) and his brother Robert.

Harvey Milk, one of the most famous LGBT leaders in America, admired throughout the political world for his amazing style of witty self-promotion, beloved by many as "The Mayor of Castro Street"... was an all-American football player.

I know, I was shocked too. I grew up putting eyeliner on all the gay kids before they went out to dance on stage, I didn't expect Harvey Milk to be a total Karofsky! But yes, the man played football.

And he was in the U.S. Navy, too. The man was born to mess with people's heads.