Each year on May 22, we celebrate and honor the life and legacy of Harvey Milk, former San Fransisco Supervisor and gay rights activist, through remembrance and teaching about Milk’s life and work to stand up for the LGBTQ+ community. Milk is an important figure in the LGBTQ community because not only was he an advocate for us but he was also the first openly gay elected official in California state history.
Despite his short political career, Milk helped pass the first gay rights ordinance in the country which sparked the legal LGBTQ-rights movement throughout the United States. Without his help in passing the first gay rights ordinance, many rights that LGBTQ members have today, such as a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, may never have happened. Harvey Milk may have only been a local San Francisco politician that held office for less than a year, but his impact and legacy is still being felt over forty years after his death.
- Lauren LaVigne
LGBTQ+ Caucus Chair