Friday, May 21, 2010

Harvey Milk Day

Marisol Bello of USA TODAY is reporting that tomorrow, California will mark the official “Harvey Milk Day” in honor of the slain gay rights leader. Some 26 cities in 20 other states will unofficially mark the day with rallies and events.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office and icon of the gay-rights movement. He was depicted by Sean Penn of an Oscar winning performance in the film, Milk.”

In her article, Bello notes the importance of Milk’s legacy today:

The Milk events come as gay-rights advocates are pressuring Congress to pass a bill that ends job discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and to repeal the military ban on gays and lesbians serving openly.

Gay-rights activists stepped up their protests this week, rallying at the U.S. Capitol and in front of legislators' district offices and chaining themselves to the White House gates to call attention to their causes.

Robin McGehee, co-founder of GetEQUAL, one of the groups leading the rallies, says that despite gains since Milk served, gays and lesbians still lack full equality. "Thirty-two years later, sadly, we still wait," she says.

The USA Today website has posted a brief commemoration of Milk, narrated by his friend Cleve Jones:


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