By Eamon Incognito 42Fifty Staff Writer
Harvey Milk Day is celebrated on May 22, in honor of his birthday.
Harvey Milk was was one of the first openly gay government officials. He was once in the U.S. Navy, was a school teacher, helped produce a musical on broadway, worked on Wall Street, and was a stock analyst. In 1973 he decided to run to be a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He lost the first election, but tried again two years later. He was elected into San Francisco’s board of Supervisors in 1977.
In the 1970’s the gay rights movement began. Being gay was no longer medically considered a mental illness in 1973, but many people still believed it to be one.
The year following his election, he was assassinated by a fellow supervisor named Dan White. He believed having Milk as a Supervisor was breaking down traditional values. White had resigned before the assassination because his pay wasn’t enough for him, but then tried to return to his position. He was refused. He thought that people like Milk were ruining “his” country.
On November 27, 1977 White assassinated San Francisco’s mayor and Harvey Milk. Mayor Moscone was shot twice in the chest and twice in the head. Milk twice in the chest, once in the back, and twice in the head. Afterwards, White turned himself into the police.
White argued his violent actions were caused by sugary junk food. He served six years in prison for voluntary manslaughter then committed suicide a year after he was released.
Eamon Incognito covers LGBTQ events and Oswego High School community events. He can be reached at 42fifty@sd308.org
Student Publication of Oswego High School, Oswego, IL
