THE MILK MAN COMETH

When the senate voted 65 to 31 to end the “don’t ask don’t tell policy” in the military, I thought of Harvey Milk. Those of you too young to remember Harvey Milk should watch the fine movie Sean Penn made of his life.
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in the United States. Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the Haute Ashbury District he was shot and killed by a homophobic fellow supervisor. Before he died, Harvey Milk broke new ground in American politics.
I remember him standing on top a truck or any object that would enable him to be above the crowd shouting into his bullhorn, “I am Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you.” Recruit us he did. He recruited straights like me but more importantly he recruit gay men and women, giving them a sense of pride in their identity. Harvey knew the only way Gays would ever obtain equal rights was to break down the fear and distrust that the community had toward the homosexual and lesbian community. “ They had to get to know us,” he would say.
During the fight over a California Constitutional Amendment that would have made it illegal for homosexuals to teach in the public schools, Harvey Milk called on all Gays to come out of the closet. “Let the public see and know who we are and they will not be afraid of us any longer.”

The Gays have come out of the closet in large numbers and what did we see. We saw our sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and loved ones. Out of the closet they came. The manly athlete and the beautiful female movie star, telling us they lived in fear their terrible secret would be discovered.
The barriers against gays started to fall slowly at first, and then more rapidly as the public got to know them better. Harvey Milk was right the Gays had to come out of the closet. The people had to be able to put a face on homosexuality and lesbianism.
I recall Ghandi saying this about advocating for an unpopular cause.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then you win.”
They could not ignore Harvey Milk. He organized the gay community into a political force. They tried to laugh at him and subject him to ridicule, but that could not stop him. If you can see and hear us from where ever you are Harvey, YOU WON!