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The first gay supervisor elected in San Francisco, his name is Harvey Milk.
First off, congratulations and, I've never seen anything like this.
Oh it's all over the city tonight.
What does this mean, your election, your activity now on the board of supervisor of San Francisco,
does that mean as many straights are concerned that maybe the gays are taking over San Francisco.
Are you going to be a supervisor for all the people?
I have to be, that's what I was elected for, I have to be there to open up the dialogue
to the sensitivity of all people, all the problems.
The problems that effect this city effect all of us.
Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972.
Born in Woodmere, NY on May 22nd, 1930, he spent most of his life in the closet, until
deciding to start a new life with long time partner Scott Smith, eventually becoming the
first non-incumbent openly gay man to be elected to office in United States history, and while
he only served in office for the less than one year before his assassination, he forever
altered the trajectory of the gay rights movement, the ripples of which we can still see today.
But to understand the significance of what Harvey Milk accomplished, we first need a
better understanding of the historical context that preceded him.
San Francisco had long been a haven for the LGBT community, due to many veterans being
given a "blue discharge", neither honorable nor dishonorable, it was disproportionally
used to discharge homosexuals from service until 1947 when it was discontinued.
Upon receiving this "blue ticket", many decided to stay in these port cities like San Francisco,
rather than return home where they'd likely face shame or persecution.
Fast forward a decade and you've got the Beat poets challenging the social norms of middle
class conservative values, a cultural shift was happening in urban areas all over the
country as the youth flocked to these places where a different sort of lifestyle would
be permissable.
But while many found sanctuary in places like San Francisco, it wasn't exactly paradise.
If you open those doors, the Merchant's Association will have the police pull your license.
Under what law?
Excuse me?
There's man's law, and there's God's law in this neighborhood and in this city.
You know we pay taxes.
San Francisco police force is happy to enforce either.
Have a good day.
From 1952 until 1973, homosexuality was listed as a "mental disorder" by the American Psychiatric
Association, citing a "pathological hidden fear of the opposite sex caused by traumatic
parent-child relationships."
Worse than that, homosexual acts themselves were illegal in every state until 1962 when
Illinois became the first state to change that, nearly a decade before any other state.
It wasn't until 2003, with the Supreme Court Case Lawrence vs. Texas that sodomy laws were
finally repealed on a federal level.
For decades, the narrative was that homosexuality was a form of sexual perversion, comparable
to pedophilia or beastiality, and anyone caught engaging in homosexual activity was treated
as sub-human by nearly every aspect of society.
What Jimmy didn't know was that Ralph was sick, a sickness that was not visible like
smallpox but no less dangerous and contagious, a sickness of the mind.
You see, Ralph was a homosexual.
Many were denied housing, employment, they were often threatened or arrested or beaten,
and often times even murdered simply for being gay, not to mention the horrific medical procedures
that claimed to "cure" homosexuality.
This invovled showing the gay man pictures of nude males and shocking him with a strong
electric current, and in a short period of time he will be unable to get sexually aroused
to the pictures.
Gay people who were sentenced to medical institutions because they were found to be sexual psychopaths
were subjected sometimes to sterilization, occassionally to castration, sometimes to
medical procedures such as lobotomies which were felt by some doctors to cure homosexuality
and other sexual diseases.
It seemed that no matter where they went, they were faced with hateful rhetoric from
conservative or religious organizations that denied their very humanity, but San Francisco
was different, the Kinsey Institute believed there to be more gay people per capita than
any other American city, and with so many openly gay men and women living in the area,
many continued to flock to the city, to find solace within a growing sense of community
for the first time in their lives.
Then in 1969, there was the Stonewall Uprising in New York City.
Tired of being persecuted in the one place they felt safe, the many gay men and women
who frequented the Stonewall Inn of Greenwich Village fought back for the first time.
One year later, to commemorate the the one year anniversary of the event, the country's
first Gay Pride parades took place simultaneously in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
By 1972 the annual march had seen cities like Washington D.C., Detroit, and San Francisco
join the movement.
But even then, their safe spaces were anything but safe.
Fruit was walking home with his trick and got jumped, name's Robert Hillsborough, you
know him?
Thinking that the gay community should be represented in public office, in 1973, Harvey
Milk announced his run for City Supervisor.
My fellow degenerates.
I would like to announce my candicacy for San Francisco City Supervisor.
And he lost.
But he tried again two years later, coming closer than ever.
In 1976 he ran for State Assembly, losing again, but...
More votes than ever!
That used to make you laugh.
Despite losing, he had become a pillar of the community, a voice for the voiceless during
an incredibly challenging time.
Even though more gay men and women were living out in the open than ever before in American
history, people like John Briggs and Anita Bryant were spearheading a fervor of their
own.
I believe that more than ever before, that there are evil forces, round about us, even
perhaps disguised as something good, that would want to tear down the very foundation
of family unit that holds this country together.
But that never deterred the gay rights movement, it only emboldened it.
Anita Bryant did not win tonight, Anita Bryant brought us together.
She is going to create a national gay force!
And finally in 1977, Harvey Milk was elected as San Francisco City Supervisor, the first
openly gay elected official in the state of California, and the first non-incumbent openly
gay man to win an election to office in the history of the United States.
Inaugurated on January 9th, 1978, he made it his goal to be the voice for all, not just
the gay community but the black community, the elderly, anyone who felt their voice wasn't
being heard.
It didn't take long after his inauguration to confront his first major challenge in the
form of the John Briggs Initiative, or Proposition 6.
A proposed law that would ban any and all gay or lesbian teachers from working in California
schools, as well as anyone who was known to even just support homosexuality.
If passed, it would likely set a precedent to allow legislated bigotry across the nation,
setting the gay rights movement back by decades.
By every indication the polls showed Prop 6 leading by a wide margin, but Harvey Milk
had a plan.
Exposure.
You must come out!
Come out to your parents, come out to your friends if indeed they are your friends, come
out to your neighbors, come out to your fellow works, once and for all, let's break down
the myths, and destroy the lies and distortion!
He understood the power inherent in sheer numbers, that if those who supported Prop
6 knew just one gay person, it could change everything.
So he set out to challenge those living in the closet to come out, once and for all.
As well as tackling some of the leading misconceptions about homosexuality in public debate with
John Briggs.
I was born of heterosexual parents, I was taught by heterosexual teachers, in a fiercely
heterosexual society, television ads and newspaper ads, fiercely heterosexual, a society that
puts down homosexuality, then why am I homosexual?
If I'm effected by role models?
I should have been a heterosexual, and no offense but if teachers are effectual as role
models there'd be a lot of nuns running around the streets today.
While Prop 6 had initially been showing strong signs of support from all over the country,
the opposition was growing stronger every day, even winning support from politicians
like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
And then they got the results.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long after this historic win, that everything was about to change.
As President of the Board of Supervisors it's my duty to make this announcement you that
both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed.
Thousands of people gathered for a candelit march to be held in their honor, filling up
all of Market Street on the way to City Hall.
Even though Harvey Milk only served in public office for ten months, he helped to propel
the Gay Rights agenda to a national stage, which helped change the conversation in households
across the country.
Because he understood that the only way to change the misconceptions about homosexuality
was to create a dialogue, and for better or worse that's exactly what he did, in life
and in death.
And look at how far we've come?
On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Obergefell vs.
Hodges that same-sex marriage is protected by the 14th Ammendment of the Constitution.
A dream I'm sure many thought they would never be alive to see.
But all this reminds us that history is being made, every single day, and you can be a part
of it.
Harvey Milk spent 40 years living a life of secrecy until deciding to do something, and
look at how much he accomplished in just a few years.
It also reminds us that progress is slow, breaking down centuries or millenia even,
of misconceptions and fears isn't going to be done overnight, it takes time, patience,
and creating a dialogue, but all it takes is a look at our history to see that the side
that fights for love, peace, and understanding always wins out, eventually.