Sarah Finney

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Michael Broschinsky
Politics 1100
17 April 2016

A Profile Essay on Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was symbol of activism for the LGBT community, a San Francisco
politician who fought hard for the civil rights of gays and lesbians in the United States. Not only
did he fight for LGBT rights but he fought in a large variety of areas such as education, child
care, transportation, and housing options for low income households. Tragically, in 1978 Milk
was murdered early on in his career.
In his early teens Milk was well aware of his sexuality however he chose to stay quiet
about it as there was a large hostility against homosexuals and most people classified it as a
mental illness. It was very normal at the time for homosexuals to repress themselves and try to
live life as a heterosexual. In high school Milk immersed himself activities, including several
sports he was also a bit of a class clown and a prankster. Milk also secretly enjoyed opera and
would often go watch shows alone at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan. He later discovered
that the Metropolitans standing section was a gay hangout.
His mother told him to stay away from the homosexual men, she warned him that
homosexual men do horrible things to little boys. Milk was upset and torn over what his mother
had told him, as thats where he felt accepted and had a feeling of belonging. Milk said in a
speech that he came out to a few people when he was 14, although he wanted to respect his
family it was hard to keep part of him hidden. He said that even though he lived there, it didnt
feel like a home, as he was not free to be himself or free to love another human being.

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Later when Milk moved to San Francisco he completely freed himself from the closet.
In his lifetime Milk worked a variety of jobs retail clerk, deep-sea diver, teacher, statistician,
research analyst, theater man he owned a camera store and he considered himself a writer.
Despite all of these very different careers Milk never planned on being a politician. Because of
all of Milks random careers he had impressive skills and a large resume.
In the summer of 1973 Milk watched the Senate Watergate hearings on T.V. it was
obviously that Former Attorney General John Mitchell was telling lies. This disturbed Milk, and
he decided to revolutionize the political system by running for office. Harvey Milk stated
Having a small business and being one of thousands of people whom no one in government will
listen to, I have decided to run for supervisor as a person,(2) Milk was tired of taxes, politicians
who are only in it to benefit themselves, and leaders who lack respect. Harvey Milk had this to
say about politics,
I stand for all those who feel that the government no longer understands the
individual and no longer respects individual rights. I will vote to stop the endless,
useless and senseless spending of our government . . . the waste of money spent
trying to enforce victimless crime laws while our schools need improvement and
while there is still a need for decent housing. (San Francisco Examiner, 2)
Milk hoped to cause great change in Politics, using the gay community as his voting base Milk
became the first openly gay man to run for a spot on the council. He also worked to develop
alliances with other minorities in San Francisco. Though Milk ended up losing the election, it put
him on the map for other political endeavors as he gained a lot of support. Milk became known
as The Mayor of Castro Street after he lost he worked hard on his next election campaign. He

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launched up the Castro Street Fair, and conducted voter registration fairs that ended up signing
up two thousand new voters. In order to appeal more to the masses Milk cut his long hair,
stopped smoking weed and visiting gay bathhouses. He worked with advocate groups and labor
unions on their issues for endorsement. Running for the second time in 1975, Milk made bonds
with George Moscone who was running to be the mayor of San Francisco, the two of them
supported each other in their campaigns.

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However despite his
new found support,
Milk was unsuccessful
in his campaign.
Moscone appointed
Milk to the Board of
Permit Appeals, the
first openly gay man to
hold a position in
office. It didnt last
long, however, as a few weeks later Milk announced he would be running for state assembly and
was removed from the city post. Once again Milk lost but this time by only four thousand votes.
He had established a political machine, the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club. After his third
lose Harvey Milk told The San Francisco Chronicle in an interview:
My first priority is trying to get this camera store back into shape, he said. I
dont know if Ill run again. My next political effort will probably be helping
Carol Silver run for city attorney. Milk blamed the so-called gay leadership
and Governor [Jerry] Brown, both of whom actively support his opponent, Art
Agnos, for his defeat.
Milk ran as an upfront gay. Agnos, a straight, talked about gay issues more than
Milk, however, especially in front of gay audiences, and has a long record of
supporting gay issues.(The San Francisco Chronicle, 7)

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After four long years of hard work and three failures under his belt, Milk crushed sixteen
competing candidates and won his fourth campaign. Milk was elected supervisor for District 5,
the district he lived and worked in. It quickly became national news, Milk became a working
symbol for homosexuals everywhere.
On November 10th, Moscone received a letter from a police officer Dan White about
resigning from his police position, however shortly after White changed his mind but it was
already too late. It was up to Moscone to appoint someone new to Whites former position, he
considered reappointing White. Instead he took a different point of view, Moscone realized that
White consistently opposed his points of view and his legislation. Moscone thought it would be
better to appoint someone more liberal to replace White.
November 27th the former police man cleaned and loaded is gun, hiding underneath his
suit coat. Stuffing ten extra bullets in his pocket he called Denise Apcar, his city hall aid and
asked for a ride. He told Apcar several time he wanted to speak with not only Moscone but Milk
as well. At city hall he climbed through the back windows to avoid the metal detectors. Meeting
Moscone in the private study he shot him twice in the body and twice point blank into the skull.
Leaving the mayors office through the back, White ran an entire block to the supervisors office,
reloaded his gun and shot Milk three times in the body and twice execution style in the head.
White fled but later turned himself into the police and confessed to the double murder of
Moscone and Milk.

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The city was overfilled with sadness, 25,00 people carried lit candles along Castro Street to City
Hall. Harry Britt had this to say about Milk, Havery was a prophet. Like Dr. King, he lived by a
vision. As I look out over this crowd, I think this city has brought this vision. Something very
special is going to happen in this city, and it will have Harveys name on it.
In trial for the murders White claimed his judgement was impaired from depression and
eating too much junk food. This would later become known as the Twinkie Defense. They
claimed he had no control over his judgment or actions. Outrageously he was only convicted of
voluntary manslaughter, despite the clear revenge and anger showed in the multiple and direct
shootings. White only had to serve a mere 5 years in prison before being paroled. Later on
October 21st 1985 White committed suicide.
Milks work will never be forgotten, as he has become an amazing symbol for the gay
community to look up to, not only from what he achieved but also what has come from it. The
San Francisco Gay Democratic Club was renamed to the Harvey Milk Democratic Club. Each
year the Harvey Milk Memorial Parade commemorates the courageous acts of Harvey Milk.

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Works Cited
1. Milk, Harvey. The Harvey Milk Interviews : In His Own Words. [Place of publication not
identified]: Vince Emery Productions, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 18
Apr. 2016.

2. "Shopowner Runs for Supervisor" The San Francisco Examiner July-Aug. 1973: 3. Print.
3. Shilts, Randy. The Mayor of Castro Street. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982.
4. Weiss, Mike. Double Play: The San Francisco City Hall Killings. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1984.

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5. Krakow, Kari. The Harvey Milk Story. Ridley Park, PA: Two Lives Publishers, 2002.
6. "Remember Them: Harvey Milk." Remember Them. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
7. "The Summing Up: Harvey Milk Blames 2 Factors in Defeat." Interview by Ron
Moskowitz. San Francisco Chronicle June-July 1976: n. pag. Print.