Activist Harvey Milk birthday to be honoured
California has acted to dedicate 22 May ‘Harvey Milk Day’, following a wave of publicity in 2009 for the late activist.
Milk was posthumously inducted into the California Hall of Fame after being portrayed by Sean Penn in the film Milk, and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama this year.
Arnold Schwarzenegger denied a request to honour Milk’s birthday in 2008, suggesting honours were better made at the local level for the state supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978,.
Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, winning a post on the Board of Supervisors as a result of changes in the social makeup of San Francisco after three unsuccessful attempts to gain office.
Having finally been elected in 1977, Milk only held his position for 11 months before being assassinated by Dan White, a former colleague who had lost his position in city administration.
Milk has been described as a martyr for gay rights and a visionary. Penn received a best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Milk.
