Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978)

Thu May 22, 1930

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Harvey Milk, born on this day in 1930, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”

Although Milk was among the most pro-LGBT American politicians at the time, politics was something he came to later in life, after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

In 1972, Milk moved from New York City to the Castro District of San Francisco and took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his activism. Milk unsuccessfully ran for office three times, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.

Milk was assassinated after only eleven months in office by Dan White, a disgruntled ex-supervisor and former police officer. During Milk’s short time in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. After his death, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr for the gay community.

“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”

- Harvey Milk