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Harvey Milk's birthday, May 22, likely to become a day of special significance
By: John Howard
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk named to California Hall of Fame
Harvey Milk has been named as one of thirteen new inductees to the California Hall of Fame.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver unveiled the 2009 list on Tuesday, saying the latest inductees "embody California's innovative spirit and have made their mark on history." Maria Shriver founded the Hall of Fame at the California Museum in 2006.
Milk, who was assassinated in 1978, was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk, who was assassinated in 1978, was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Although he only served eleven months in office, he passed a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city, becoming an icon there. Milk is generally accepted to be the most famous and significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States.
Harvey Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, at a ceremony at the White House on August 12, but last year Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would designate a day each year to honour him.
Harvey Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, at a ceremony at the White House on August 12, but last year Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would designate a day each year to honour him.
A nearly identical bill by San Francisco's Senator, Mark Leno, designating Milk's birthday, May 22, as a "day of special significance", but not an official holiday, has passed the Senate and is expected to be taken up by the Assembly in the next few weeks.
