Back in 1947, Harvey Milk arrived in Albany, New York as a freshman at what was then known as the New York State College for Teachers. During his college years, he covered sports as a reporter for State College News and joined the Jewish fraternity Kappa Beta.
In a harbinger of his historic election three decades later as the first gay person to win public office in San Francisco and California, Milk turned his attention to the Empire State school's student government, though he lost his bid to be elected president of his freshman class. He found more success in athletics, wrestling on the school's intercollegiate team and playing intramural basketball, volleyball, and softball.
"He was also known for being outspoken — a trait that would later become a hallmark of his public life — and a prankster," noted the magazine for the school, now known as the University of Albany, in a package it created about Milk that can be found online at magazine.albany.edu/mini/harvey-milk.
Over the years, the college has honored its famous gay alumnus in various ways. It opened the Harvey House at the start of the 2021 fall academic year to provide supportive housing on campus to LGBTQ students.
"I've always looked up to Harvey Milk and everything he's done. The idea was that these students should have a place that's explicitly for them so that they can succeed and thrive," Harvey House founder Jake Evans, part of the university's 2022 class, told the UAlbany Magazine.
Each spring, during its Lavender Graduation ceremony for LGBTQ students, the university awards a former student its Harvey Milk Alumnus Award. It is in recognition of the social justice work they have done post their graduation.
This year, the university created the Harvey Milk Award for Student Leadership for a current enrollee who has worked to improve LGBTQIA+ inclusiveness on campus for their fellow students. Applications opened Monday, November 18, with any fulltime upperclassmen eligible to apply for it.
"Harvey Milk was a champion of LGBTQIA+ rights during a time when many in the LGBTQIA+ community had to hide who they truly were because of hatred. He fought for the right of the LGBTQIA+ community to exist and find acceptance in the United States," stated State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. in announcing the new award in June during Pride Month. "Across the SUNY system, countless students who have and will continue to follow in the footsteps of Harvey Milk and other pioneers to ensure LGBTQIA+ rights are not eroded, and all are welcome and feel included on SUNY campuses."
Gay New York state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat who was reelected this month to his seat representing Manhattan's West Side, had hailed the new honor for the university's gay alumnus now celebrated globally as an LGBTQ civil rights icon.
"As an out member of the NYS Senate, I'm hopeful that the new SUNY Harvey Milk Scholarship will help provide the resources for future generations of deserving SUNY students to complete their studies and continue to advance the cause of LGBTQIA + human rights," Hoylman-Sigal had stated in June.
Milk graduated from the public teachers college in 1951 with a mathematics degree and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as his parents had done. It would lead to his being stationed in San Diego, where he was a diving instructor.
After he was given an "other than honorable" discharge in 1955 due to his sexuality, Milk returned to his old haunts near his hometown of Woodmere, New York. He would return to California in the 1970s, this time moving to San Francisco. After establishing himself as a business owner and civic leader of the then-burgeoning LGBTQ Castro neighborhood, Milk won election to his supervisor seat in 1977.
Tragically, 11 months into his term, Milk was assassinated inside City Hall along with then-mayor George Moscone. The 1978 deaths of the two progressive politicians stunned the city and nation, and their indelible mark they left behind is annually honored during the Milk-Moscone candlelight vigil held around Thanksgiving week.
Hosted by the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, this year's event is taking place on the eve of the federal holiday. It will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 27, at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni station at the corner of Castro and Market streets.
"I think this memorial is always a reminder of the nonlinear path of history, you know, and the fact the queer community has seen real progress and real setbacks, you know, often happening within months of each other or years," said gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, a former Milk club president.
Serving in the seat that Milk had once held, when it was known as the District 5 seat, Mandelman plans to speak at this year's vigil. He told the Bay Area Reporter the somber memorial is taking on renewed meaning following the November 5 election that returned Republican President-elect Donald Trump to the White House.
The Trump administration next year is expected to unleash a broad assault against LGBTQ rights. Transgender Americans are particularly in its crosshairs, with the GOP leader pledging to curtail their access to gender-affirming health care and rescind their non-discrimination protections. (See related story.)
"This is a community that makes progress and experiences setbacks, and we persevere because we have to," said Mandelman. "But our history hasn't always moved forward in a way we want it to."
Perhaps no time is more important than today to recall Milk's now-famous mantras about providing those marginalized by society a reason not to despair and give up. As Milk said 46 years ago during his inauguration as a new supervisor, "I will fight to give those people who had once walked away hope, so that those people will walk back in."
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on local races with LGBTQ candidates around the great Bay Area region.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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