Gay man milk
This June the National Archives is commemorating National Sapphic, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month, which honors the important contributions that LGBTQ+ Americans contain made to U.S. history and culture.Visit our website for more information.Today’s publish is from Jen Hivick at the National Personnel Records Center, and looks at civil rights activist Harvey Milk’s time in the military.
Did you comprehend that the National Personnel Records Center has uploaded military records for some very notable service members? They are online at the Persons of Exceptional Prominence (PEP) webpage and features veterans ranging from Bea Arthur to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
One “personal of exceptional prominence” is Harvey Bernard Milk. Although top known as the first openly gay man to be elected to office in California, before his tragically short-lived career in politics he served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 until 1955.
Milk’s military record gives us communication about his family, his childhood, and his service in the Navy. Documents in it include a copy of his birth certificate, his high institution transcript, and his application to become an officer.
Harvey Milk becomes the first openly same-sex attracted person elected to public office in California
Like many business owners and citizens of the largely-gay Castro District, Milk was harassed by police and local officials. Realizing the community’s burning craving to challenge the status quo, he decided to dash for the city’s Board of Supervisors shortly after opening his store. Despite alienating many Democrats, including other lgbtq+ activists, with his bombastic language and flower-child persona, he won the Castro district handily and came in 10 out of 32 candidates. Though he did not succeed his race, Milk established himself as a highly operative speaker and organizer. Over the next several years, he partnered with unions and other marginalized groups, creating coalitions that fought for everyday San Franciscans and educating the public about the plight of the LGBT community. Due to these tries, as well as his own talent for self-promotion, Milk became known as the Mayor of Castro Street.
Milk cleaned up his image, started wearing suits, and swore off marijuana as his political ambitions grew. He argued in favor of free public transportation, widespread oversight of the police, and other str
Historical Essay
by Darby West
Harvey Milk, Nov. 23, 1977, after successful Supervisor campaign.
Photo: Dan Nicoletta, Bancroft Library
Harvey Milk was more than just the first openly gay male elected to public office in California. He was an embodiment of a movement. His approachable demeanor paired with his empowering words of wisdom led Milk to gain supporters of all kinds, especially those who never felt like they had a voice before. Starting off as a small businessman working at his camera store in the Castro, Milk became involved in his neighborhood politics, and soon decided that his passions and ideas were too important not to share. Milk ran for office three times before he finally won a spot on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He made a large impact on the city even though he was only in office for 11 months before he was assassinated. However, Milk’s legacy did not die with him; he is still very important to the LGBT community today.
Harvey Milk in the 1978 Gay Identity festival Parade.
Photo: SF Gay History
This is an image of Milk at the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco in 1978, the year he was murdered. Milk knew that an assassi
The Fabulous of Harvey Milk: The First Openly Gay Gentleman to Win an Election in the United States
The empowering story of San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official, whose life came to a tragic end
San Francisco has long held a reputation as the ‘Gay Capital of the World’, with more of its citizens recognizing as lesbian, lgbtq+, bisexual or transgender than anywhere else in the Joined States. Every year the city hosts a huge parade celebration, with over 200 contingents taking part in the 2022 parade. A figure key in San Francisco’s Diverse past is a man called Harvey Milk – one of the first elected officials to be open about their homosexuality in the history of the United States. Milk’s career saw him fight passionately for LGBTQ+ rights, memorably campaigning against John Briggs’ Proposition 6 and introducing legislation which protected the rights of queer persons within San Francisco. However, on 27 November 1978 Milk was assassinated in a brutal killing which shocked and horrified the city that he loved so much.
Milk was born in the suburbs of New York on the 22 May 1930 to Jewish parents William Milk and Minerva Karns. The youngster struggled with his parents’ Judaism and wo