Tag Archives: Harvey Milk

Gay History – AUDIO: Listen to the Shocking Confession of Dan White, Murderer of Harvey Milk and George Moscone – 11/27/1978 Audio

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Mike Weiss, the author of the book “Double Play“, about the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, while doing research obtained a copy of the audiotape of  Milk and Moscone murderer’s Dan White’s confessional interview with officers of the San Francisco Police Department, conducted the day of the fatal shootings at San Francisco’s City Hall.

Weiss gave a copy of the audiotape to Randy Shilts when he was conducting research for his book “The Mayor of Castro Street”, and he placed his copy in his archive which is now housed at the San Francisco Public Library History Center where it has been kept since

This never before heard audio of White’s confession made on 11/27/1978 has now been made available for all to hear thanks to San Francisco queer activist and blogger Mike Petrelis of The Petrelis Files who obtained a CD version, and uploaded it to SoundCloud for all to hear

Listen to this very important and disturbing piece of LGBT history .

TRANSCRIPT:

“A Daniel James White. 
  
“Q – Now, Dan, before I go any further I have to advise you of the Miranda rights. Number 1 you have the right to remain silent. Number 2 Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Three- You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you are being questioned. 4. If you can­not afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning, if you wish one. Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you? 

“A  – I do. 
  
“Q  – And having these rights in mind, do you wish to ah. . .tell us about the incident involving Mayor George Moscone and Super­visor Harvey Milk at this time? 
  
“A –  I do. 
  
“Q –  Would you, normally in a situation like this ah. . .we ask questions, I’m aware of your past history as a police officer and also as a San Francisco fireman. I would prefer, I’ll let you do it in a nar­rative form as to what happened this morning if you can lead up to the events of the shooting and then backtrack as to why these events took place. 
  
“A –  Well, it’s just that I’ve been under an awful lot of pressure lately, financial pressure, because of my job situation, family pressure because of ah. . . .not being able to have the time with my family. It’s just that I wanted to serve the people of San Francisco well an I did that. Then when the pressures got too great, I decided to leave. After I left, my family and friends offered their support and said whatever it would take to allow me to go back in to office-well they would be willing to make that effort. So since I felt the responsibili­ty for the people that elected me I went to Mayor Moscone and told him that my situation had changed because of the support of family and friends and I’d like to be, retain my seat, to be appointed to my seat. Initially he told me that he felt that I was an elected represen­tative of District 8, that I was doing an outstanding job, people of District 8 were lucky to have me, and that if it came to a legal ruling that he would appoint me, reappoint me, because of the type of per­son I was. So with that in mind I tried to set my personal affairs in order, preparing to take my seat. And then it came out that Super­visor Milk and some others were working against me to get my seat back on the board. I learned of this I was in the City Attorney’s of­fice, when Supervisor Milk called, stating that he, he was of that mind. He didn’t speak to me, he spoke to the City Attorney but I was in the office and I heard the conversation and that he was going to try to prevent me from taking my seat again. I went back to the Mayor and he told me that he had had some comments made to him that he felt that some of the people in District 8 didn’t want me to, to serve, and I told him that these were people that had op­posed me in my election, had traumatized my family by taking me, taking, pressing charges against me at the District Attorney’s office twice on false charges. They put a lot of pressure on me and my family. 
  
“Q – Can you relate these pressures you’ve been under, Dan, at this time? Can you explain it to the Inspector Erdelatz and myself? 
  
“A – Well, it’s just that some of these people have charged me with taking money from big corporations and not recording it but I never did that. I never took money from anybody but the papers print it. Like, my constituents believe it. They, they asked me about it. These people that are irresponsible and bring these charges. Two months later the District Attorney said they’re unfounded but no one hears about it, that the charges are false. But my family suffers and I suf­fer for it, phone cans we get. 
  
“Q  – These meetings that you were having with the Mayor, were they an occurring last week or, or were they going into the weekend, this past weekend? 
  
“A –  No, I, I hadn’t spoke to the Mayor since last Saturday. This would be Saturday a week ago and he told me that I would have to show some support from the people of District 8 if I was going to be reappointed. I could see the game that was being played, they were going to use me as a scapegoat, whether I was a good supervisor or not, was not the point. This was a political opportunity and they were going to degrade me and my family and the job that I had tried to do and, and more or less hang me out to dry. And I saw more and more evidence of this during the week when papers reported that ah. . .someone else was going to reappointed. I couldn’t get through to the Mayor. The Mayor never called me. He told me he was going to call me before he made any decision, he never did that. An it was only on my, my own initiative when I went down today to speak with him. I was troubled, the pressure, my family again, my, my son’s out to a babysitter. My wife’s got to work, long hours, 50 and 60 hours, never see my family. 
  
“Q – Dan can you tell Inspector Erdelatz and myself, what was your plan this morning? What did you have in mind? 
  
“A –  I didn’t have any, any devised plan or anything, it’s, I was leaving the house to talk, to see the Mayor and I went downstairs, to, to make a phone can and I had my gun down there. 
  
“Q –  Is this your police service revolver, Dan? 
  
“A –  This is the gun I had when I was a policeman. It’s in my room an ah. . .I don’t know, I just put it on. I, I don’t know why I put it on, it’s just. . . 
  
“Q –  Where is this gun now, Dan? 
  
“A –  I turned it in to Officer ah. . .Paul Chignell who I turned myself in to at Northern Station. I, I. . . . . . . . 
  
“Q –  You turned yourself in, I wasn’t aware of that. 
  
“A –  I turned myself in at Northern Station to Officer Paul Chignell who, who I could trust and I, I know would do things properly. An then, an then I, I went to the, to the Mayor’s office. 
  
“Q –  You went directly from your residence to the Mayor’s office this morning? 
  
“A –  Yes, my, my aide picked me up but she didn’t have any idea ah. . .you know that 1 had a gun on me or, you know, I just was going to the Mayor to, to see if he was going to reappoint me and if not, the reasons why. And I went in to see him an, an he told me he wasn’t going to reappoint me and he, and he wasn’t going to, intending to tell me about it. He had some, he told me he had a press conference scheduled and he was going to announce it at the press conference. Didn’t even have the courtesy to call me or tell me that I wasn’t go­ing to be reappointed. Then ah. . .I got kind of fuzzy and then just my head didn’t feel right and I, then he said, Let’s go into the, the back room an, an have a drink and talk about it. An ah. . . . 
  
“Q –  Was this before any threats on your part, Dan? 
  
“A – I, I never made any threats. 
  
“Q –  There were no threats at all? 
  
“A –  I, I. . . .oh no. 
  
“Q –  When were you, how, what was the conversation, can you explain to inspector Erdelatz and myself the conversation that ex­isted between the two of you at this time? 
  
“A –  It was pretty much just, you know, I asked, was I going to be reappointed. He said, no I am not, no you’re not. And I said, why. He said, he said well I’ve had people in your district say they don’t want you and I, I reiterated that I told him before that these were people that had brought false charges against me and had been dog­ging me since I’ve been in office and that he had been in politics and he understood that there are going to be people that dislike you, you, not everybody as a 100% supporter but I told him that oh, you know, an overwhelming majority of the people in my district wanted me as their supervisor and I told him how a person told me last night that they had on their own gone out with neighbors and gathered over a thousand signatures in one day, my constituents, to keep me in of­fice. He knew that and he told me, it’s a political decision and that’s the end of it, and that’s it. 
  
“Q –  Is this when you were having a drink in the back room? 
  
“A –  No, no, it’s before I went to the back room and then he could obviously see, see I was obviously distraught and upset and then he said, let’s go in the back room and and, and have a drink and I, I’m not even a drinker, you know I don’t, once in a while, but I’m not even a drinker. But I just kinda stumbled in the back, went, went, went in the back room and he sat down and he was all, he was talk­ing and nothing was getting through to me. It was just like a roaring in my ears an, and then em. . . . .it just came to me, you know, he. 
. . . . 
  
“Q –  You couldn’t hear what he was saying Dan? 
  
“A –  Just small talk that, you know it just wasn’t registering. What I was going to do now, you know, and how this would affect my family you know an, an just, just all the time knowing he’s going to go out an, an lie to the press an, an tell ’em, you know, that I, I wasn’t a good supervisor and that people didn’t want me an then that was it. Then I, I just shot him, that was it, it was over. 
  
“Q –  Was he, was he using the telephone at the time or going to use the phone? 
  
“A –  No. 
  
“Q –  Not any time. . . . 
  
“A –  I, I don’t even know if there’s a phone in that back room. 
  
“Q –  What happened after you left there, Dan? 
  
“A –  Well, I, I left his office by one of the back doors an, an I started, I was going to go down the stairs and then I saw Harvey Milk’s aide across the hall at the Supervisors an then it struck me about what Harvey had tried to do an I said, well I’ll go talk to him. I said, you know, at least maybe he’ll be honest with me, you know, because he didn’t know I had, I had heard his conversation and he was all smiles and stuff and I went in and, like I say, I, I was still upset an ah. . . .then I said, I wanted to talk to him an, an, an just try to explain to him, you know, I, I didn’t agree with him on a lot of things but I was always honest, you know, and here they were devious and then he started kind of smirking cause he knew, he knew that I wasn’t going to be reappointed. And ah, . . . .it just didn’t make any impres­sion on him. I started to say you know how hard I worked for it and what it meant to me and my family an then my reputation as, as a hard worker, good honest person and he just kind of smirked at me as if to say, too bad an then an then I just got all flushed an, an hot an I shot him. 
  
“Q –  How long a conversation did you have with Mr. Milk? 
  
”A –  It wasn’t very long, I, I, he was in his office when I came in to the supervisors’ area and I said, Harvey can I talk to you? He got up or he was standing up, I can’t remember an he, and he walked into the room and I shut my door and he and I were in there, then. . . . 
  
“Q  – This occurred inside your room, Dan? 
  
”A –  Yeah, in my office, yeah. 
  
“Q –  And when you left there where did you go? 
  
”A –  Well let’s see. When I left there I went into my aide’s room and I, an I took her keys to her car, an, an I ran out and went in the back to where her car is parked in, in the well and I took her car and I drove over to the, where did I drive to? I didn’t even know what I was doing an I. . . . 
  
“Q –  Did you go back home? 
  
“A –  No, no, no I drove to the, the Doggie Diner on, on Van Ness and I called my wife and she, she didn’t know, she. . . . 
  
“Q –  Did you tell her Dan? 
  
”A –  I called up, I didn’t tell her on the phone. I just said she was work. . . .see, she was working, son’s at a babysitter, shit. I just told her to meet me at the cathedral. 
  
“Q –  Did she meet you? 
  
”A –  Yeah. She. . . . 
  
“Q –  St. Mary’s? 
  
”A –  She took a cab, yeah. She didn’t know. She had knew I’d been upset and I wasn’t even talking to her at home because I just couldn’t explain how I felt and she had no, nothing to blame about it, she was, she always has been great to me but it was, I couldn’t tell anybody I didn’t, there was just, just the pressure hitting at me an just my head’s all flushed and expected that my skull’s going to crack. Then when she came to the church I, I told her and she kind of slumped an just she, she couldn’t say anything. 
  
“Q –  How is she now do you, do you know is she, do you know where she is? 
  
”A –  I don’t know now. She, she came to Northern Station with me. She asked me not to do anything about myself, you know that she, she loved me an she’d stick by me and not to hurt myself an then we just walked to Northern Station and went an talked to Of­ficer Chignell and that’s it. 
  
“Q –  Is there anything else you’d like to add at this time? 
  
“A –  Just that I’ve always been honest and worked hard, never cheated anybody or, you know, I’m not a crook or anything an I wanted to do a good job, I’m trying to do a good job an I saw this city as it’s going, kind of downhill an I was always just a lonely vote on the board and try to be honest an, an I just couldn’t take it any more an that’s it. 
  
“Q –  Inspector Erdelatz? 
  
[Inspector Erdelatz]: “Q –   Dan, when you went to Northern Station, what did you tell Officer Chignell? 
  
“A –  I didn’t say anything, the police obviously knew. They all knew and I know most of them, I’ve worked with most of them, and sh. . . .they just, you know, checked me out, frisked me and I had the gun and took out my wallet and everything, an ah. . .that’s it, I told them I, I, I wasn’t going to say anything. 
  
“Q –  Dan, right now are you under a doctor’s care? 
  
“A –  No. 
  
“Q – Are you under any medication at all? 
  
“A –  No. 
  
“Q –  Have you. .have you carried a gun with you in the past, Dan, since you’ve been ah. . . .a Supervisor say? 
  
“A –  I have, because there were some threats on my life you know from people that I dealt with before the board. I never told my wife about it, I never told anybody cause it, you know, that’s something you don’t want to hurt anybody else, you know, bring anybody else but. . . . 
  
“Q –  When is the last time you had your gun with you prior to today? 
  
”A –  I guess it was a few months ago. I, I was afraid of some of the threats that were made and I had a committee hearing coming up where some of these people were going to appear and I, and I know they had a history of violence an I, I just wanted to make sure protect myself you know this, this city isn’t safe you know and there’s a lot of people running around an well I don’t have to tell you fellows, you guys know that. 
  
“Q –  When you left the Mayor’s office, Dan, you proceeded you say to Harvey Milk’s office? 
  
”A –  I, I didn’t even know if he was there. Like I said, I, I saw his aide come out of the door and I said, well I’m going to go over and talk to Harvey and kind of explain to him you know, he, I worked hard for that job and we disagreed on things but hell, I never was devious and I never lied, just tried to do my best. 
  
“Q –  To your knowledge was anybody aware of the fact that the shooting had occurred in the Mayor’s office? 
  
”A –  I, I have no idea. I don’t even know. 
  
“Q –  Was there anybody running about at that time or was any excitement? 
  
”A –  There wasn’t anybody in the hall ah. . .across the hall, like I say, was his aide an, an I, and then I passed two people in the hall that were walking an, an by the Mayor’s office, and they didn’t seem excited or anything. 
  
“Q –  How long did you converse with Supervisor Milk prior to the shooting? 
  
”A –  Oh it’s, maybe a minute or so, a minute and a half maybe. 
  
I, I don’t know, it was a short time. 
  
“Q –  Was there anybody else present at that time? 
  
”A –  No, no I wanted to talk to Harvey and see, make him under­stand but he kind of smirked at me, he knew I wasn’t getting the job back, 
  
“Q –  And this, when Inspector Falzon asked you about what had transpired when, when you were with the Mayor, you mentioned that there was a roaring in your ears, is that right? 
  
”A –  Yeah, it’s just like my head was going to burst, you know, I just. . . 
  
“Q –  Had that ever happened to you in the past, Dan? 
  
”A –  Yeah, it had, it had when I was under this pressure at home an at night I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t sleep last night. I wasn’t even with my wife in bed, I was on the couch cause I didn’t want to bother her. I couldn’t sleep, I never even slept. It’s just, I don’t know I, it felt like my head was going to burst. 
  
“Q –  When you left your home this morning Dan, and was it your intention to confront the Mayor, Supervisor Milk or anyone else with that gun? 
  
”A –  No, I, I, what I wanted to do was just, talk to him, you know, I, I ah, I didn’t even know if I was going to be reappointed or not be reappointed. Like I say, they didn’t contact me, they didn’t tell me ah. . .I just was going down there to talk to him, you know, an ah. . .why do we do things, you know, why did I, it, I don’t know, No, I, I just wanted to talk to him that’s all an at least have him be honest with me an tell me why he was doing it, not because I was a bad Supervisor or anything but, you know, I never killed anybody before, I never shot anybody. . . . 
  
“Q  – What did. . . . 
  
“A . . . . . . . . .I didn’t even, I didn’t even know if I wanted to kill him. I just shot him, I don’t know. 
  
“Q –  What type of gun is that you were carrying, Dan? 
  
“A –  It’s a 38, a 2 inch 38. 
  
“Q – And do you know how many shots you fired? 
  
”A –  Uh. . . .no I don’t, I don’t. I, out of instinct when I, I reload­ed the gun ah. . .you know, it’s just the training I guess I had, you know. 
  
“Q –  Where did you reload? 
  
“A –  I reloaded in my office when, when I was I couldn’t out in the hall. 
  
“Q –  When you say you reloaded, are you speaking of following the shooting in the Mayor’s office? 
  
”A –  Yeah. 
  
“Q –  What or where were you carrying that gun when you left your house this morning? 
  
”A –  I was carrying it in the holster on my hip, you know. . . .ah. . .ah. . . .under my vest. 
  
“Q –  And how many bullets did you have with you? 
  
”A –  I, I, I don’t know, I ah. . .the gun was loaded an, an I had some ah. .extra shots you know, I just, I, cause, I keep the gun with, with a box of shells and I just grabbed some. 
  
“Q –  Are you referring to some loose. . . . 
  
“A –  Yeah. . . . 
  
“Q . . . . . . . . .bullets? 
  
“A –  Yeah, yes. 
  
“Q –  Inspector Falzon? 
  
[Inspector Falzon]: “No, questions. Is there anything you’d like to add Dan before we close this statement? 
  
”A – Well it’s just that, I never really intended to hurt anybody. It’s just this past several months, it got to the point I couldn’t take it and I never wanted the job for ego or you know, perpetuate myself or anything like that. I was just trying to do a good job for the city. 
  
“Q –  Inspector Erdelatz and I ah. . .appreciate your cooperation and the truthfulness in your statement. At this time, we’ll close this statement, it’s now 12:30 in the afternoon. Thank you.”

November 8, 1977: Harvey Milk Is Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Gay History – November 8, 1977: Harvey Milk Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors [Video]

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November 8, 1977 – Harvey Milk is elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, making him the first openly gay man to be elected in a major U.S. city.  Although he was the most pro-gay politician in the United States at the time, politics and activism were not his early interests; he was neither open about his sexuality nor civically active until he was 40, after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960’s.

Despite being a newcomer to the Castro District, Harvey Milk had shown leadership in the small community. He was starting to be taken seriously as a candidate and decided to run again for supervisor in 1975. He reconsidered his approach and cut his long hair, swore off marijuana, and vowed never to visit another gay bathhouse again. Milk’s campaigning earned the support of the teamsters, firefighters, and construction unions. Castro Camera became the center of activity in the neighborhood.

Milk favored support for small businesses and the growth of neighborhoods. Since 1968, Mayor Alioto had been luring large corporations to the city despite what critics labeled “the Manhattanization of San Francisco”. As blue-collar jobs were replaced by the service industry, Alioto’s weakened political base allowed for new leadership to be voted into office in the city. George Moscone was elected mayor. Moscone had been instrumental in repealing the sodomy law earlier that year in the California State Legislature. He acknowledged Milk’s influence in his election by visiting Milk’s election night headquarters, thanking Milk personally, and offering him a position as a city commissioner. Milk came in seventh place in the election, only one position away from earning a supervisor seat.  

Moscone appointed him to the Board of Permit Appeals in 1976, making him the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States. Milk, however, considered seeking a position in the California State Assembly. The district was weighted heavily in his favor, as much of it was based in neighborhoods surrounding Castro Street, where Milk’s sympathizers voted. In the previous race for supervisor, Milk received more votes than the currently seated assemblyman. However, Moscone had made a deal with the assembly speaker that another candidate should run—Art Agnos. Furthermore, by order of the mayor, neither appointed nor elected officials were allowed to run a campaign while performing their duties.

By the time of Milk’s 1975 campaign, he had decided to cut his hair and wear suits. Here, Milk (far right) is campaigning with longshoremen in San Francisco during his 1976 race for the California State Assembly.
 

Milk spent five weeks on the Board of Permit Appeals before Moscone was forced to fire him when he announced he would run for the California State Assembly. Rick Stokes replaced him. Milk’s firing, and the backroom deal made between Moscone, the assembly speaker, and Agnos, fueled his campaign as he took on the identity of a political underdog.

Milk’s continuing campaign, run from the storefront of Castro Camera, was a study in disorganization. Although the older Irish grandmothers and gay men who volunteered were plentiful and happy to send out mass mailings, Milk’s notes and volunteer lists were kept on scrap papers. Any time the campaign required funds, the money came from the cash register without any consideration for accounting.

Milk spent long hours registering voters and shaking hands at bus stops and movie theater lines. He took whatever opportunity came along to promote himself. He thoroughly enjoyed campaigning, and his success was evident. With the large numbers of volunteers, he had dozens at a time stand along the busy thoroughfare of Market Street as human billboards, holding “Milk for Assembly” signs while commuters drove into the heart of the city to work.

In the end Harvey Milk lost the Assembly seat by fewer than 4,000 votes.

Anita Bryant’s public campaign opposing homosexuality and the multiple challenges to gay rights ordinances across the United States fueled gay politics in San Francisco. Seventeen candidates from the Castro District entered the next race for supervisor; more than half of them were gay. The New York Times ran an exposé on the veritable invasion of gay people into San Francisco, estimating that the city’s gay population was between 100,000 and 200,000 out of a total 750,000.

Milk’s most successful opponent was the quiet and thoughtful lawyer Rick Stokes, who was backed by the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club. Stokes had been open about his homosexuality long before Milk had, and had experienced more severe treatment, once hospitalized and forced to endure electroshock therapy to ‘cure’ him.  Milk, however, was more expressive about the role of gay people and their issues in San Francisco politics. Stokes was quoted saying, “I’m just a businessman who happens to be gay,” and expressed the view that any normal person could also be homosexual. Milk’s contrasting populist philosophy was relayed to The New York Times: “We don’t want sympathetic liberals, we want gays to represent gays … I represent the gay street people—the 14-year-old runaway from San Antonio. We have to make up for hundreds of years of persecution. We have to give hope to that poor runaway kid from San Antonio. They go to the bars because churches are hostile. They need hope! They need a piece of the pie!”

On election day, November 8, 1977, he won by 30% against sixteen other candidates, and after his victory became apparent, he arrived on Castro Street on the back of his campaign manager’s motorcycle—escorted by Sheriff Richard Hongisto—to what a newspaper story described as a “tumultuous and moving welcome”.

Since the race for the California State Assembly, Milk had been receiving increasingly violent death threats. Concerned that his raised profile marked him as a target for assassination, he recorded on tape his thoughts, and whom he wanted to succeed him if he were killed, adding: “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door”.

Sadly, we all know how this story ends.

Gay History – November 7, 1978: California’s Prop 6 aka The Briggs Initiative Against Gay Teachers Defeated

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California’s Proposition 6 was an initiative on the California State ballot on November 7, 1978.  More commonly known as The Briggs Initiative, sponsored by John Briggs, a conservative state legislator from Orange County. The failed initiative would have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported gay rights, from working in California’s public schools.

The Briggs Initiative came on the heels of successful anti-gay campaign headed by Anita Bryant and her organization Save Our Children in Dade County, Florida, to repeal it’s local gay rights ordinance.

The initiative provided that a public school teacher, teacher’s aide, administrator, or counselor could be fired if the employee was found to have engaged in either (1) “public homosexual activity,” which the initiative defined as an act of homosexual sex which was “not discreet and not practiced in private, whether or not such act, at the time of its commission, constituted a crime,” or (2) “public homosexual conduct,” which the initiative defined as “the advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting of private or public homosexual activity directed at, or likely to come to the attention of, schoolchildren and/or other employees.”

The employee would be terminated if the school board, after a hearing, determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the employee had engaged in “public homosexual activity” or “public homosexual conduct” and “that said activity or conduct render[ed] the employee unfit for service. The factors that the board would consider in the determination of “unfitness for service” would “include, but not be limited to: (1) the likelihood that the activity or conduct may adversely affect students or other employees; (2) the proximity or remoteness in time or location of the conduct to the employee’s responsibilities; (3) the extenuating or aggravating circumstances which, in the judgment of the board, must be examined in weighing the evidence; and (4) whether the conduct included acts, words or deeds, of a continuing or comprehensive nature which would tend to encourage, promote or dispose schoolchildren toward private or public homosexual activity or private or public homosexual conduct.”

The initiative further provided that a person could not be hired as a public school teacher, teacher’s aide, administrator, or counselor if the person had “engaged in public homosexual activity or public homosexual conduct should the board determine that said activity or conduct render[ed] the person unfit for service

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk along with a coalition of gay and lesbian activists including including Sally Gearhart, Bill Kraus, Tom Ammiano, and Hank Wilson mobilized under the slogan “Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!” and worked fiercely to defeat the initiative. Gay men and lesbians went door to door in their cities and towns across the state to fight and to talk about the harm the initiative would cause.

In the beginning of September, the ballot measure was ahead in public-opinion polls, with about 61% of voters supporting it while 31% opposed it. The movement against it initially succeeded little in shifting public opinion, even though major organizations and ecclesiastical groups opposed it.

A diverse group of politicians opposed the bill including Jerry Brown, Gerald Ford, then-president Jimmy Carter who publicly opposed the bill, citing its potential infringement on individual rights.

Surprisingly the former state Governor of California and later US President Ronald Reagan (who would later go down in gay history as murderous villain during the AIDS Crisis) Ronald Reagan moved to publicly oppose the measure. Reagan issued an informal letter of opposition to the initiative, a week before the election

Reagan’s November 1 editorial stated, in part, “Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual’s sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child’s teachers do not really influence this.” 

It is not known if Carter’s or Reagan’s involvement is what helped sway the final vote but the Briggs Initiative was defeated by over a million votes on November 7, 1978. 

Briggs’s own Orange County, a conservative stronghold voted against the initiative.

In 2008 (the same year MILK came out and in which he was featured) Briggs stated  he was not an “intolerant person.” He stated that he continued to regard singer Anita Bryant as “a hero,” but he also said that, “with the passage of over thirty years, America has changed — including me.  Briggs went on to say that he and his wife “not only stood for our principles, but fought for principles as we then saw them.” But he also said that the 1970’s and 1980’s were “a much different America,” in which “President Reagan and the country shamefully neglected the AIDS epidemic causing the deaths of thousands.”

Below see long lost photos of Harvey Milk debating, Republican state Sen. John Briggs of Orange County,  on Sept. 15, 1978, at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek. over the Briggs Initiative 

Long Lost Photos of Harvey Milk Unearthed

SAN DIEGO: Construction Begins on Historic Naval Vessel USNS Harvey Milk

Navy Launches Ship Named for Gay Rights Leader Harvey Milk

Featured, Gay History, , , ,

The USNS Harvey Milk was christened and launched today out of San Diego. It is the first U.S. Navy ship named for an openly gay leader.

Harvey Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro watched the traditional launching ceremony.

The secretary of the Navy needed to be here today, not just to amend the wrongs of the past, but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ community leaders who served in the Navy, in uniform today and in the civilian workforce as well too, and to tell them that we’re committed to them in the future. For far too long, sailors like Lt. Milk were forced into the shadows or, worse yet, forced out of our beloved Navy,” Del Toro said. “That injustice is part of our Navy history, but so is the perseverance of all who continue to serve in the face of injustice.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro –
USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) (cropped).jpg

Gay History Month- October 21, 1985: Dan White The Man Who Murdered Harvey Milk Commits Suicide – Read His Full Confession

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Dan White and Harvey Milk

October 21, 1985:  Dan White, the man who murdered both Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, commits suicide.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay individual to be elected to office in California. White a fellow San Francisco supervisor assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at San Francisco’s City Hall.  In a controversial verdict that led to the coining of the legal slang the”Twinkie Defense,” White was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. White served five years of an only seven-year prison sentence.

White’s release was carried out with great secrecy. The afternoon before his scheduled release, he was transferred 200 miles south to a facility in the Tehachapi mountains north of Los Angeles. The next morning, he was handed over to the Los Angeles Parole Department which had arranged for an apartment for him somewhere in LA. He was given $200 in cash, the standard amount given to released prisoners. The press was given no information other than that White had been secretly released and his parole was not to exceed one year. White remained in hiding for a period of nine months During that period, he contacted his old friend, San Francisco Detective Frank Falzon, whom he had not talked to since the trial. White invited Falzon to join him in L.A., saying that he wanted to explain the whole thing.

Falzon claimed that at that meeting, White confessed that not only was his killing of Moscone and Milk premeditated, but that he had actually planned to kill Carol Silver and Willie Brown as well. Falzon quoted White as having said, “I was on a mission. I wanted the four of them. Carol Ruth Silver, she was the biggest snake … and Willie Brown, he was masterminding the whole thing. (Meaning his not being to withdraw his resignation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.)

Less than two years after his release, Dan White returned to San Francisco, methodically taped a garden hose to the tailpipe of his car , stuck the other end through a car window, turned on the ignition and died. In his hands, he clutched photographs of his three children and his wife.

Dan White did not kill himself out of guilt.  He did it because his killing Harvey Milk was going to follow him for the rest of his entire life.

Scott Smith, Milk’s lover and business partner, said he was “stunned” by White’s death but not upset. “He got away with murder,” Smith said. “I suppose what goes around comes around.”

Many refer to Dan White even today as ” The most hated man in San Francisco’s history.” 

And rightfully so.

Please take a few minutes to read Dan White’s confession to the murder of  Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk. Also watch the video below: Dan White News Footage Of Arrest, Trial & The White Night Riots.

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Transcript of Dan White’s Taped Confession (Milk and Moscone Murders) (November 27, 1978)

People’s Exhibit 54 in the Trial of Dan White

“Today’s date is Monday, November 27th, 1978. The time is presently 12:05. We’re inside the Homicide Detail, room 454, at the, Hall of Justice. Present is Inspector Edward Erdelatz, Inspector Frank Falzon and for the record, sir, your full name?

“A Daniel James White.

“Q Now, Dan, before I go any further I have to advise you of the Miranda rights. Number 1 you have the right to remain silent. Number 2 Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Three- You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you are being questioned. 4. If you can­not afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning, if you wish one. Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?

“A I do.

“Q And having these rights in mind, do you wish to ah. . .tell us about the incident involving Mayor George Moscone and Super­visor Harvey Milk at this time?

“A I do.

“Q Would you, normally in a situation like this ah. . .we ask questions, I’m aware of your past history as a police officer and also as a San Francisco fireman. I would prefer, I’ll let you do it in a nar­rative form as to what happened this morning if you can lead up to the events of the shooting and then backtrack as to why these events took place.

“A Well, it’s just that I’ve been under an awful lot of pressure lately, financial pressure, because of my job situation, family pressure because of ah. . . .not being able to have the time with my family. It’s just that I wanted to serve the people of San Francisco well an I did that. Then when the pressures got too great, I decided to leave. After I left, my family and friends offered their support and said whatever it would take to allow me to go back in to office-well they would be willing to make that effort. So since I felt the responsibili­ty for the people that elected me I went to Mayor Moscone and told him that my situation had changed because of the support of family and friends and I’d like to be, retain my seat, to be appointed to my seat. Initially he told me that he felt that I was an elected represen­tative of District 8, that I was doing an outstanding job, people of District 8 were lucky to have me, and that if it came to a legal ruling that he would appoint me, reappoint me, because of the type of per­son I was. So with that in mind I tried to set my personal affairs in order, preparing to take my seat. And then it came out that Super­visor Milk and some others were working against me to get my seat back on the board. I learned of this I was in the City Attorney’s of­fice, when Supervisor Milk called, stating that he, he was of that mind. He didn’t speak to me, he spoke to the City Attorney but I was in the office and I heard the conversation and that he was going to try to prevent me from taking my seat again. I went back to the Mayor and he told me that he had had some comments made to him that he felt that some of the people in District 8 didn’t want me to, to serve, and I told him that these were people that had op­posed me in my election, had traumatized my family by taking me, taking, pressing charges against me at the District Attorney’s office twice on false charges. They put a lot of pressure on me and my family.

“Q Can you relate these pressures you’ve been under, Dan, at this time? Can you explain it to the Inspector Erdelatz and myself?

“A Well, it’s just that some of these people have charged me with taking money from big corporations and not recording it but I never did that. I never took money from anybody but the papers print it. Like, my constituents believe it. They, they asked me about it. These people that are irresponsible and bring these charges. Two months later the District Attorney said they’re unfounded but no one hears about it, that the charges are false. But my family suffers and I suf­fer for it, phone cans we get.

“Q These meetings that you were having with the Mayor, were they an occurring last week or, or were they going into the weekend, this past weekend?

“A No, I, I hadn’t spoke to the Mayor since last Saturday. This would be Saturday a week ago and he told me that I would have to show some support from the people of District 8 if I was going to be reappointed. I could see the game that was being played, they were going to use me as a scapegoat, whether I was a good supervisor or not, was not the point. This was a political opportunity and they were going to degrade me and my family and the job that I had tried to do and, and more or less hang me out to dry. And I saw more and more evidence of this during the week when papers reported that ah. . .someone else was going to reappointed. I couldn’t get through to the Mayor. The Mayor never called me. He told me he was going to call me before he made any decision, he never did that. An it was only on my, my own initiative when I went down today to speak with him. I was troubled, the pressure, my family again, my, my son’s out to a babysitter. My wife’s got to work, long hours, 50 and 60 hours, never see my family.

“Q Dan can you tell Inspector Erdelatz and myself, what was your plan this morning? What did you have in mind?

“A I didn’t have any, any devised plan or anything, it’s, I was leaving the house to talk, to see the Mayor and I went downstairs, to, to make a phone can and I had my gun down there.

“Q Is this your police service revolver, Dan?

“A This is the gun I had when I was a policeman. It’s in my room an ah. . .I don’t know, I just put it on. I, I don’t know why I put it on, it’s just. . .

“Q Where is this gun now, Dan?

“A I turned it in to Officer ah. . .Paul Chignell who I turned myself in to at Northern Station. I, I. . . . . . . .

“Q You turned yourself in, I wasn’t aware of that.

“A I turned myself in at Northern Station to Officer Paul Chignell who, who I could trust and I, I know would do things properly. An then, an then I, I went to the, to the Mayor’s office.

“Q You went directly from your residence to the Mayor’s office this morning?

“A Yes, my, my aide picked me up but she didn’t have any idea ah. . .you know that 1 had a gun on me or, you know, I just was going to the Mayor to, to see if he was going to reappoint me and if not, the reasons why. And I went in to see him an, an he told me he wasn’t going to reappoint me and he, and he wasn’t going to, intending to tell me about it. He had some, he told me he had a press conference scheduled and he was going to announce it at the press conference. Didn’t even have the courtesy to call me or tell me that I wasn’t go­ing to be reappointed. Then ah. . .I got kind of fuzzy and then just my head didn’t feel right and I, then he said, Let’s go into the, the back room an, an have a drink and talk about it. An ah. . . .

“Q Was this before any threats on your part, Dan?

“A I, I never made any threats.

“Q There were no threats at all?

“A I, I. . . .oh no.

“Q When were you, how, what was the conversation, can you explain to inspector Erdelatz and myself the conversation that ex­isted between the two of you at this time?

“A It was pretty much just, you know, I asked, was I going to be reappointed. He said, no I am not, no you’re not. And I said, why. He said, he said well I’ve had people in your district say they don’t want you and I, I reiterated that I told him before that these were people that had brought false charges against me and had been dog­ging me since I’ve been in office and that he had been in politics and he understood that there are going to be people that dislike you, you, not everybody as a 100% supporter but I told him that oh, you know, an overwhelming majority of the people in my district wanted me as their supervisor and I told him how a person told me last night that they had on their own gone out with neighbors and gathered over a thousand signatures in one day, my constituents, to keep me in of­fice. He knew that and he told me, it’s a political decision and that’s the end of it, and that’s it.

“Q Is this when you were having a drink in the back room?

“A No, no, it’s before I went to the back room and then he could obviously see, see I was obviously distraught and upset and then he said, let’s go in the back room and and, and have a drink and I, I’m not even a drinker, you know I don’t, once in a while, but I’m not even a drinker. But I just kinda stumbled in the back, went, went, went in the back room and he sat down and he was all, he was talk­ing and nothing was getting through to me. It was just like a roaring in my ears an, and then em. . . . .it just came to me, you know, he.
. . . .

“Q You couldn’t hear what he was saying Dan?

“A Just small talk that, you know it just wasn’t registering. What I was going to do now, you know, and how this would affect my family you know an, an just, just all the time knowing he’s going to go out an, an lie to the press an, an tell ’em, you know, that I, I wasn’t a good supervisor and that people didn’t want me an then that was it. Then I, I just shot him, that was it, it was over.

“Q Was he, was he using the telephone at the time or going to use the phone?

“A No.

“Q Not any time. . . .

“A I, I don’t even know if there’s a phone in that back room.

“Q What happened after you left there, Dan?

“A Well, I, I left his office by one of the back doors an, an I started, I was going to go down the stairs and then I saw Harvey Milk’s aide across the hall at the Supervisors an then it struck me about what Harvey had tried to do an I said, well I’ll go talk to him. I said, you know, at least maybe he’ll be honest with me, you know, because he didn’t know I had, I had heard his conversation and he was all smiles and stuff and I went in and, like I say, I, I was still upset an ah. . . .then I said, I wanted to talk to him an, an, an just try to explain to him, you know, I, I didn’t agree with him on a lot of things but I was always honest, you know, and here they were devious and then he started kind of smirking cause he knew, he knew that I wasn’t going to be reappointed. And ah, . . . .it just didn’t make any impres­sion on him. I started to say you know how hard I worked for it and what it meant to me and my family an then my reputation as, as a hard worker, good honest person and he just kind of smirked at me as if to say, too bad an then an then I just got all flushed an, an hot an I shot him.

“Q How long a conversation did you have with Mr. Milk?

”A It wasn’t very long, I, I, he was in his office when I came in to the supervisors’ area and I said, Harvey can I talk to you? He got up or he was standing up, I can’t remember an he, and he walked into the room and I shut my door and he and I were in there, then. . . .

“Q This occurred inside your room, Dan?

”A Yeah, in my office, yeah.

“Q And when you left there where did you go?

”A Well let’s see. When I left there I went into my aide’s room and I, an I took her keys to her car, an, an I ran out and went in the back to where her car is parked in, in the well and I took her car and I drove over to the, where did I drive to? I didn’t even know what I was doing an I. . . .

“Q Did you go back home?

“A No, no, no I drove to the, the Doggie Diner on, on Van Ness and I called my wife and she, she didn’t know, she. . . .

“Q Did you tell her Dan?

”A I called up, I didn’t tell her on the phone. I just said she was work. . . .see, she was working, son’s at a babysitter, shit. I just told her to meet me at the cathedral.

“Q Did she meet you?

”A Yeah. She. . . .

“Q St. Mary’s?

”A She took a cab, yeah. She didn’t know. She had knew I’d been upset and I wasn’t even talking to her at home because I just couldn’t explain how I felt and she had no, nothing to blame about it, she was, she always has been great to me but it was, I couldn’t tell anybody I didn’t, there was just, just the pressure hitting at me an just my head’s all flushed and expected that my skull’s going to crack. Then when she came to the church I, I told her and she kind of slumped an just she, she couldn’t say anything.

“Q How is she now do you, do you know is she, do you know where she is?

”A I don’t know now. She, she came to Northern Station with me. She asked me not to do anything about myself, you know that she, she loved me an she’d stick by me and not to hurt myself an then we just walked to Northern Station and went an talked to Of­ficer Chignell and that’s it.

“Q Is there anything else you’d like to add at this time?

“A Just that I’ve always been honest and worked hard, never cheated anybody or, you know, I’m not a crook or anything an I wanted to do a good job, I’m trying to do a good job an I saw this city as it’s going, kind of downhill an I was always just a lonely vote on the board and try to be honest an, an I just couldn’t take it any more an that’s it.

“Q Inspector Erdelatz?

[Inspector Erdelatz]: “Q Dan, when you went to Northern Station, what did you tell Officer Chignell?

“A I didn’t say anything, the police obviously knew. They all knew and I know most of them, I’ve worked with most of them, and sh. . . .they just, you know, checked me out, frisked me and I had the gun and took out my wallet and everything, an ah. . .that’s it, I told them I, I, I wasn’t going to say anything.

“Q Dan, right now are you under a doctor’s care?

“A No.

“Q Are you under any medication at all?

“A No.

“Q Have you. .have you carried a gun with you in the past, Dan, since you’ve been ah. . . .a Supervisor say?

“A I have, because there were some threats on my life you know from people that I dealt with before the board. I never told my wife about it, I never told anybody cause it, you know, that’s something you don’t want to hurt anybody else, you know, bring anybody else but. . . .

“Q When is the last time you had your gun with you prior to today?

”A I guess it was a few months ago. I, I was afraid of some of the threats that were made and I had a committee hearing coming up where some of these people were going to appear and I, and I know they had a history of violence an I, I just wanted to make sure protect myself you know this, this city isn’t safe you know and there’s a lot of people running around an well I don’t have to tell you fellows, you guys know that.

“Q When you left the Mayor’s office, Dan, you proceeded you say to Harvey Milk’s office?

”A I, I didn’t even know if he was there. Like I said, I, I saw his aide come out of the door and I said, well I’m going to go over and talk to Harvey and kind of explain to him you know, he, I worked hard for that job and we disagreed on things but hell, I never was devious and I never lied, just tried to do my best.

“Q To your knowledge was anybody aware of the fact that the shooting had occurred in the Mayor’s office?

”A I, I have no idea. I don’t even know.

“Q Was there anybody running about at that time or was any excitement?

”A There wasn’t anybody in the hall ah. . .across the hall, like I say, was his aide an, an I, and then I passed two people in the hall that were walking an, an by the Mayor’s office, and they didn’t seem excited or anything.

“Q How long did you converse with Supervisor Milk prior to the shooting?

”A Oh it’s, maybe a minute or so, a minute and a half maybe.

I, I don’t know, it was a short time.

“Q Was there anybody else present at that time?

”A No, no I wanted to talk to Harvey and see, make him under­stand but he kind of smirked at me, he knew I wasn’t getting the job back,

“Q And this, when Inspector Falzon asked you about what had transpired when, when you were with the Mayor, you mentioned that there was a roaring in your ears, is that right?

”A Yeah, it’s just like my head was going to burst, you know, I just. . .

“Q Had that ever happened to you in the past, Dan?

”A Yeah, it had, it had when I was under this pressure at home an at night I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t sleep last night. I wasn’t even with my wife in bed, I was on the couch cause I didn’t want to bother her. I couldn’t sleep, I never even slept. It’s just, I don’t know I, it felt like my head was going to burst.

“Q When you left your home this morning Dan, and was it your intention to confront the Mayor, Supervisor Milk or anyone else with that gun?

”A No, I, I, what I wanted to do was just, talk to him, you know, I, I ah, I didn’t even know if I was going to be reappointed or not be reappointed. Like I say, they didn’t contact me, they didn’t tell me ah. . .I just was going down there to talk to him, you know, an ah. . .why do we do things, you know, why did I, it, I don’t know, No, I, I just wanted to talk to him that’s all an at least have him be honest with me an tell me why he was doing it, not because I was a bad Supervisor or anything but, you know, I never killed anybody before, I never shot anybody. . . .

“Q What did. . . .

“A . . . . . . . . .I didn’t even, I didn’t even know if I wanted to kill him. I just shot him, I don’t know.

“Q What type of gun is that you were carrying, Dan?

“A It’s a 38, a 2 inch 38.

“Q And do you know how many shots you fired?

”A Uh. . . .no I don’t, I don’t. I, out of instinct when I, I reload­ed the gun ah. . .you know, it’s just the training I guess I had, you know.

“Q Where did you reload?

“A I reloaded in my office when, when I was I couldn’t out in the hall.

“Q When you say you reloaded, are you speaking of following the shooting in the Mayor’s office?

”A Yeah.

“Q What or where were you carrying that gun when you left your house this morning?

”A I was carrying it in the holster on my hip, you know. . . .ah. . .ah. . . .under my vest.

“Q And how many bullets did you have with you?

”A I, I, I don’t know, I ah. . .the gun was loaded an, an I had some ah. .extra shots you know, I just, I, cause, I keep the gun with, with a box of shells and I just grabbed some.

“Q Are you referring to some loose. . . .

“A Yeah. . . .

“Q . . . . . . . . .bullets?

“A Yeah, yes.

“Q Inspector Falzon?

[Inspector Falzon]: “No, questions. Is there anything you’d like to add Dan before we close this statement?

”A Well it’s just that, I never really intended to hurt anybody. It’s just this past several months, it got to the point I couldn’t take it and I never wanted the job for ego or you know, perpetuate myself or anything like that. I was just trying to do a good job for the city.

“Q Inspector Erdelatz and I ah. . .appreciate your cooperation and the truthfulness in your statement. At this time, we’ll close this statement, it’s now 12:30 in the afternoon. Thank you.”

[End of Tape]

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October 11 - National Coming Out Day: Learn It's History Because Together We Are POWERFUL!

October 11 – Today is National Coming Out Day: Learn It’s History

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National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg, a psychologist from New Mexico and founder of the personal growth workshop, The Experience, and Jean O’Leary, an openly-gay political leader from Los Angeles and then head of the National Gay Rights Advocates. October 11th. was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights where over half a million LGBT’s and our straight allies participated in.  It was the second such demonstration in our nation’s capital and resulted in the founding of a number of LGBT organizations.

NCOD’s first headquarters was located in the West Hollywood, California offices of the National Gay Rights Advocates. 18 states participated in the first NCOD, which was covered in the national media. In its second year, the headquarters moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and participation grew to 21 states. After a media push in 1990, NCOD was observed in all 50 states and seven other countries.

The goal of the day is for gay, lesbians, bi,  and trans people and their allies to celebrate coming out and encourage those who haven’t to make their voices heard.

The late great Harvey Milk firmly believed that the only way for us to break down  homophobia–“the last major dam of prejudice in this country”– and to gain our equality was for us the LGBT community, and our straight allies to make themselves ourselves visible: to step out of the closet, and  into the consciousness of the nation.  Unless an  individual makes the conscious decision to overtly express who they are we remain a member of an invisible uncounted minority.  Harvey argued that this invisibility only fosters homophobic stereotypes, fear, ignorance and hatred.

He was right.

Every gay person must come out, As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. And once they realize that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do, you will feel so much better.” – Harvey Milk

San Francisco International Airport Set To Name Terminal In Honor of Harvey Milk

Gay History – May 22: Harvey Milk Day “You have to give people hope.”

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“Without knowing, understanding and embracing our past.

We can not move forward in the future….”

Harvey Bernard Milk  (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and served 11 months in office.

The “Hope Speech” became Harvey Milk’s stump speech. He gave a skeletal version when he declared his candidacy in 1977 and an expanded version in 1978 for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, later known as the Gay Pride Parade. For that parade, Milk commissioned his friend Gilbert Baker to come up with a logo; Baker created the gay pride Rainbow Flag, which first waved at that parade. Chicago native and science fiction writer Frank Robinson, also Milk’s speechwriter and a close adviser, helped pen the “Hope Speech.”

In the speech, Milk references adversaries Anita Bryant and California legislator John Briggs, who campaigned nationally against gay rights. Addressing gay youths across the United States afraid to come out, Milk cites his own election as a gay politician in San Francisco as a testament of hope. For those youths contemplating suicide or staying in the closet, there were two new options, Milk said: “Go to California, or stay … and fight.”

On November 27, 1978, Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back.  White was unstable and highly homophobic. Milk’s election was made possible by and was a key component of a shift in San Francisco politics. The assassinations and the ensuing events were the result of continuing ideological conflicts in the city.

In August 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to the gay rights movement stating “he fought discrimination with visionary courage and conviction”. Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk accepted for his uncle.  Not long after that, Stuart co-founded the Harvey Milk Foundation.

Harvey Milk became an icon and a martyr for the gay community and is”the most famous and most significantly open gay official ever elected in the United States”.  Anne Kronenberg , his final campaign manager, wrote of him: “What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us

In 2009 then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger designated May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day”, and inducted Milk in the California Hall of Fame. The Harvey Milk Foundation began coordinating global recognition and celebration of Harvey Milk Day.

Harry Britt summarized Milk’s impact the evening Milk was shot in 1978:

“No matter what the world has taught us about ourselves, we can be beautiful and we can get our thing together … Harvey was a prophet … he lived by a vision … Something very special is going to happen in this city and it will have Harvey Milk’s name on it.”

In College Tucker Carlson Claimed To Belong To The “Dan White Society” Named For Harvey Milk’s Killer

In College Tucker Carlson Claimed To Belong To The “Dan White Society” Named For Harvey Milk’s Killer

Featured, Religious Morons and Anti-Gay Idiots, , , , ,

The Hill reports:

Tucker Carlson blasted The Washington Post and its media columnist, Erik Wemple, on Tuesday for looking into his background and contacting Carlson’s college acquaintances.

“Jeff Bezos had one of his minions, a mentally unbalanced middle-aged man called Erik Wemple, pull our dusty college yearbook and call around and see if we’d done anything naughty at the age of 19,” Carlson told viewers, referring to the Amazon CEO, who also owns the Post. “Let us know if you hear any good stories.”

According to Carlson, “quite a few old college classmates” had contacted him Tuesday and told him Wemple had been asking questions.

Also listed as an affiliation on Carlson’s yearbook page is the Christian Fellowship and the Jesse Helms Foundation (Helms was a long-serving North Carolina senator with outspoken anti-gay beliefs.)

White and Helms is not the inspiring figure you would typically find mentioned in a college yearbook. Unless that is you are a student at Adolph Hitler U.

WATCH: Jane Fonda Speak Out For Gay Rights In 1979 Following The The White Night Riots [VIDEO]

WATCH: Jane Fonda Speak Out For Gay Rights In 1979 Following The The White Night Riots [VIDEO]

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In a resurfaced video from 1979 Jane Fonda was being interviewed following the White Night Riots in San Francisco, and the death of her friend Harvey Milk.

Fonda was interviewed by a TV reporter. Firing back the most brilliant and eloquent of thoughts after being asked if gay people were ‘using’ her organization, the Campaign for Economic Democracy.

Asked: ‘Do you feel that the gays in San Francisco, who are very powerful and very strong, need support? Are they still being discriminated against?’ Fonda emphatically replied: ‘Oh, absolutely. Culturally, psychologically, economically, politically – gays and lesbians are discriminated against. ‘They are a very powerful movement, especially in San Francisco, they don’t need me, but they like me, they like our organisation, the Campaign for Economic Democracy, because they know that working together we can be stronger than either entity is by itself.’

Gay History 1979 – WATCH: KPIX 5 Special Report: Has San Francisco Gay Power Gone Too Far? ~ The Aftermath Of Milk & Moscone Murders [VIDEO]

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Watch the Emmy Award winning KPIX People’s 5 report with Don Knapp presented on the 1 year Anniversary of slain Mayor Moscone & Supervisor Harvey Milk’s murders.

The 25 minute special report opens joyously with the Village People song about San Francisco, with street scenes in SF’s Castro neighborhood but interviews are spliced in of people on the street obviously uncomfortable with the growing homosexual community. The camera pans out to a giant gay bathouse billboard for 330 Ritch and an interview soon follows with Cleve Jones.

The young activist discusses how to many citizens, the signs of simple gay affection like handholding are considered flaunting & “throwing it in people’s faces”. He sees the idea that homosexuals will take over local politics as “ridiculous” and the threat of a growing potential influence of the gay community “nonsense”. People’s opinions on the flamboyant out gay lifestyle and and growing political ambitions of the gay community in San Francisco are discussed.

Footage from a spirited 1978 debate between Harvey Milk and conservative John Briggs, moderated by Richard Hart, shows Milk calling the bigoted Briggs a liar, and the men clashing over issues relating to Proposition 6 and the rights of gays and lesbians to teach in California classrooms.

Several lesbians (including Ann Kronenberg) describe the challenges they face being accepted in society and also explain how their priorities and life experiences diverge from those of gay men.

San Francisco’s late mayor George Moscone is seen briefly playing basketball in 1978 and discussing what he considers to be appropriate behavior for politicians.

The program ends with views of a candlelight march from the Castro to San Francisco City Hall on November 27th 1979 to remember Milk and Moscone, on the first anniversary of their murders.”