Harvey Milk
Quote: “I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad, but I hope they will take that frustration and that madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise.”
Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930.
Died: November 27, 1978
Milk new he was homosexual when he was a teenager, but he always stayed quiet about it. He went to high school, in 1951 went into The U.S. Navy for around four years, came back and decided to become a teacher. But in 1977, he became a Supervisor for the San Francisco Board; Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official in the United States. He was assassinated on November 27, 1978 by Dan White.
Primary Source:
“Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio there is a young gay person who all the sudden realizes that he or she is gay; knows that if their parents find out they will be tossed out of the house, their classmates will taunt the child, and the Anita
Bryant’s and John Briggs’ are doing their part on TV. And that child has several options: staying in the closet, and suicide. And then one day that child might open the paper that says “Homosexual elected in San Francisco” and there are two new options: the option is to go to California, or stay in San Antonio and fight. Two days after I was elected I got a phone call and the voice was quite young. It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And the person said “Thanks”. And you’ve got to elect gay people, so that thousand upon thousands like that child know that there is hope for a better world; there is hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, not only gays, but those who are blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us’s: without hope the us’s give up. I know that you can’t live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope.” -Harvey Milk, 1978, Day he was elected.
Impact:
Harvey Milk showed that people could come out, and it'd be okay. He showed people that it's okay to be who they are and they can fall in love with who they want. Milk showed people of all ages, that you can be working for the government and be homosexual. Harvey Milk showed people that it's okay to be who you are, and even this reflects the people who are coming out today.