Biography

If not for the recent release of the Oscar-nominated film Milk, the story of Harvey Milk may have remained widely unknown to the American public. Thankfully though, the highly acclaimed film has brought to attention the story of a man who changed the lives of many others-- a man who believed in the rise of the underdog and the tolerance of differences. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay male to be elected into public office in California as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk played a key role in opening the doors to gays and lesbians in America by greatly pushing the civil rights movement. During a time when homosexuality was shunned and discriminated against, Milk inspired thousands to stand up break the barriers of prejudice.
Milk was born on May 22, 1930 in Woodmere, New York to parents William and Minerva Karns Milk. When examining Milk’s early life, one would have trouble foreseeing the eccentric, open-minded man he was to become much later on. Growing up, Milk was teased for his comical appearance; big protruding ears and an oversized nose easily identified him out of the crowd. Throughout high school Milk played football and though he acknowledged his own homosexuality, he kept it a guarded secret. Looking back, many of his close peers comment that they would have never guessed that Harvey was gay. After graduating high school in 1947, Milk went on to study at the New York State College for Teachers in Albany, New York. Shortly after earning his degree, he joined the navy, serving as a chief petty officer aboard a submarine rescue ship during the Korean War. After being discharged in 1955 with the rank of junior lieutenant, Milk returned to New York and started off on a career path.
The years following his discharge Milk spent dabbling in different jobs and relationships. He took his first teaching job at George W. Hewlett High School on Long Island. During this time Milk met Joe Campbell whom he lived openly with, though he still kept his homosexuality a secret. In 1963, a few odd jobs after his teaching gig, Harvey landed a job at a Wall Street investment firm Bache and Company and discovered that he had a real gift for finance and investment. At this point in Milk’s life, his political and social views were surprisingly rather conservative, despite his lifestyle. Harvey’s true inner views became more apparent, though, after he met new lover Jack Galen McKinley. Mckinley worked in the theater, where the presence of gays was very visible and being immersed in such an atmosphere really affected Harvey. During this time period Milk struggled to choose a lifestyle. He could either live the conservative mainstream life or he could quench his desire and passion to live a shame-free life in a society without unfair social standards. His decision to follow Mckinley to San Francisco in 1968 pushed Milk towards the latter lifestyle.
Mckinley had been offered a stage directing job in San Francisco and Milk decidedly followed him out west and picked up a finance job in town. It wasn’t long before the conflict between his personal desires and his professional life ignited and Milk made a brash decision. In 1970, during a protest of the American invasion of Cambodia, Milk stood up before a crown and burned his Bank of America Card. Milk was fired later that day and was now free to pursue a new life direction. Following this event Milk entered what has been called his hippie stage-- a very important stage which would eventually result in his entrance into politics. Milk let his hair grow out and met his new partner, Scott Smith. The two opened a camera shop on Castro Street called “Castro Camera”. This shop and street would soon become the heart of the gay civil rights movement and the focal point of Milk’s campaign trail.
As Harvey and Scott ran Castro Camera, the gay civil rights war was slowly building. In the late 1960s, the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) had begun working against the police prosecution of gay bars in San Fransisco. The police were arresting people for openly gay displays of affection and often picking out gay men in bars and physically beating them. In 1971, SIR members Jim Foster and Rick Stokes formed the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club known simply as “Alice” (named after the feminist writer). The Alice Club tried to get in with liberal politicians who could sponsor bills outlawing employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The club put forth Rick Stokes to run for a seat on a college board in hopes to garner more recognition and support for the bill. Stokes did not win the election because he was rather quiet and undefined, which was actually true of the Alice Club in general. It was for this reason that Milk would later receive opposition from the Alice Club. The Alice Club’s intentions were for social equality regardless of sexual orientation, but their methods in achieving such equality were safe, conservative, and by the book; Harvey Milk was none of these things.
Milk’s knack for politics and his passion to speak up became evident to anyone who walked in to Castro Camera. In 1973, a state bureaucrat walked into Milk’s shop demanding that he pay a $100 deposit against state sales tax. Milk rebutted with a fiery speech regarding the rights of small business owners and after weeks of complaining at state offices, the deposit was lowered to $30. Milk was also recalled screaming and kicking at the television in his shop when watching the Watergate hearings; Milk certainly wasn’t one to hide his views. The time finally came when Harvey realized that he could either speak up or shut up, and in late ’73 he decided that he would run for city supervisor.
Milk’s entrance onto the political scene was not an easy one. Harvey went first-off to Jim Foster of the Alice Club in hopes for endorsement for the position. Foster disliked Milk’s excited, ready-to-act, attitude and thought that his unshakable confidence would be the downfall of the gay rights movement. The Alice club believed that people would be drawn away from such an eccentric, openly gay candidate and that Milk’s running could really hurt the movement. The Alice Club wanted to ease into changes and give people time to get used to the idea of a new era, whereas Milk was done being a bystander-- he wanted to act. Without the support of the Alice Club, Milk began rallying followers right outside his shop. He made signs and stood on boxes, calling out to the people of Castro Street to listen. He spoke out in support of the reorganization of supervisor elections from city-wide ballots to district ballots. The switch would reduce the influence of money and would give neighborhoods a louder say in city government. Milk ran on a socially liberal platform opposing government interference in private sexual matters. Rallying by his side was partner Scott Smith and other Castro Camera usuals. Milk did not win the election, but he swept the Castro District and other liberal neighborhoods, guaranteeing his victory had the elections been reorganized to allow separate district supervisors. Placing 10th out of 32 candidates, Milk had ensured himself recognition and was now widely known for his fiery, flamboyant speeches.
Determined to succeed, the loss of his first campaign didn’t phase Milk. In fact, Milk was to run two more times for a Supervisor position before he succeeded in 1977. Each failed attempt was not in vain though; Milk was creating something in San Francisco that was much bigger than anyone could have ever imagined. During his campaigns, Milk became known as the “Mayor of Castro Street”. The Castro Village Association grew to 90 businesses and the local bank, once the smallest in the city, was forced to expand as it had now become the largest. The gay population in San Francisco climbed to an estimated 200,000 out of 750,000. All over the country homosexuals migrated to San Francisco and Castro Street to join a movement that Milk was bringing to life. Many kids left homes where they were being shunned and repressed for their sexual orientation. Milk received countless letters from many homosexuals admitting thoughts of suicide prior to them hearing Milk speak. Milk’s heart and soul would tear and twist when he thought about the young gay community hiding in the dark. At one rally on Castro Street, a crowd roared and yelled as Milk shouted out,
“We don't want sympathetic liberals, we want gays to represent gays ... I represent the gay street people—the 14-year-old runaway from San Antonio. We have to make up for hundreds of years of persecution. We have to give hope to that poor runaway kid from San Antonio. They go to the bars because churches are hostile. They need hope! They need a piece of the pie!”
During the time of Milk’s final run for supervisor, a large anti-gay rights movement began to stir in Florida. A group of conservative fundamentalist Christians, headed by singer Anita Bryant, landed a campaign entitled “Save Our Children”. The campaign opposed a civil rights ordinance that had been recently passed in Florida making discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal. Bryant claimed that such an ordinance would turn communities into unsafe places where “men [would] cavort with little boys”. The Save Our Children campaign was overwhelmingly successful, and 70% voted to repeal the ordinance. Anita Bryant’s hardcore anti-gay rights views gave Milk an opportunity to rally gay men and lesbians together. Milk began leading parades and marches through the streets of San Francisco with men and women shouting, “Out of the bars and into the streets!” Leading up to the 1977 Supervisor election, Milk had ignited the gay community and the streets were alive with passion. What was more, on this final and successful campaign, Milk had acquired the help of a fierce, determined woman named Anne Kronenberg. Anne was an openly lesbian political activist whom Milk met when she walked into Castro Camera to drop off film for development. Kronenberg was immediately drawn into Milk’s campaign and she was to stay with him as his aide throughout his election.
Milk held strong to his platform that was centered on making government responsive to individuals, gay liberation, and the importance of neighborhoods to the city. It was with this strong platform and with his fiery charisma that Milk, in 1977-on his fourth try, was elected onto the Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay elected official in San Francisco’s history.
Milk’s flamboyancy and personality did not simmer down once he was sworn-in. Upon his first entrance into the City Hall, Milk actually skipped up the steps, arm-in-arm with his then-partner Jack Lira. His energy and enthusiasm often tired out other board-members, but Milk was sure to form allies. He teamed up with Mayor Moscone, telling him that if he wanted support from the gay community, Milk was the one to go to, not the Alice Club. One board member that Milk had particular trouble with was Dan White. Dan White had wanted Milk to side with him on an issue concerning White’s district (two miles south of Castro). White opposed the placement of a mental health facility for troubled adolescents in an old convent within his district. Milk originally agreed to oppose this, but after having learned more about the facility he decided to vote in favor of it. White never forgot this move and from then-on he opposed every initiative that Milk supported.
During his position as Supervisor, Milk would oppose and defeat a Proposition, a defeat that today is remembered as perhaps his greatest achievement. Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, proposed a law that would make firing openly gay teachers- and any public school employees who supported gay rights- mandatory. John Briggs, the man who put forth the proposition claimed that homosexual teachers sought out to sexually abuse children. In a one-on-one debate with Briggs, Milk rebutted with law enforcement statistics showing that pedophiles identified primarily as heterosexual. Milk didn’t stop with debates; he reached out to get more support in the places he new best-- the streets. At San Francisco Gay Freedom Day, despite numerous assassination threats, Harvey stood up in front of an estimated 375,000 people and gave his famous “Hope Speech”,
“I ask my gay sisters and brothers to make the commitment to fight. For themselves, for their freedom, for their country ... We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets ... We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions. We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I'm going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out!”
On November 7, 1978, Proposition 6 lost by over 1,000,000 votes; 75% had voted against it. Of the Board members, all sided with Milk against the Proposition, with the exception of one man: Dan White.
Dan White resigned from his position on November 10, three days after the decision against Proposition 6. Emotionally distraught and unstable, White then returned to City Hall days later requesting that he have his job back. Mayor Moscone initially agreed, but after further thought decided to give the position to another man. On November 27, 1978 Dan White slipped into the City Hall, evading metal detectors on his way to Moscones office. Shouting was heard in the Mayor’s office and then gunshots. White quickly left Moscone’s office, the mayor lying dead on the ground. He headed toward his old office, intercepting Milk on the way. White pulled Milk aside and asked to speak with him inside his office. Harvey Milk was found dead in White’s office moments later with 5 gunshot wounds, two of them close-range to the back of his head.
The next day, thousands of people flooded the streets of San Francisco, mourning the loss of the great Mayor of Castro Street. Harvey Milk was a man of unfathomable passion. He inspired millions to step out of the darkness and express and accept who they really were. He showed a prejudice society how crucial it was to overcome bigotry and embrace equality. Milk himself had grown up hiding who he really was inside. He knew all about shame and how it felt to be discriminated against. What he found and expressed to millions was the freedom in accepting identity, the sheer ecstasy in living a life of truth, and the importance of shouting that truth out to anyone and everyone.