On Saturday, communities around California – and the country – will observe the inaugural Harvey Milk Day. The day of special significance honors the first openly gay man elected to office in a major U.S. city. As many people know, Harvey Milk was tragically assassinated just 11 months after taking his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by a disgruntled ex-supervisor named Dan White, who also killed Mayor George Moscone.
Milk , and President Barack Obama's decision to posthumously honor Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the country's highest civilian honor – the governor's argument rang hollow, which he acknowledged when he signed Leno's bill last fall.
The spotlight on Milk this week is all the more important because of the slowness of Congress' voting on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and moving forward with a repeal of the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is committed to both these issues, but it's clear that there are not enough votes in the House now to pass ENDA, otherwise she would have scheduled a vote.
This week's action in support of ENDA at the new federal building in San Francisco was fine for drawing attention locally to the issue. While such actions are necessary, it is more productive and crucial to lobby lawmakers who are on the fence about ENDA than to chant outside a building in San Francisco. The website Act on Principles (http://www.actonprinciples.org/enda-house/) has a public whip count on the ENDA bill in the House. The list indicates exactly who is supportive (co-sponsor), as well as which lawmakers are leaning yes and leaning no. It includes dates and the sources for the lawmakers' positions. This is where LGBT activists should be turning their attention: lobbying the members of Congress who are undecided. That's the grunt work of politics. It is decidedly less sexy than chaining oneself to the White House fence or staging sit-ins, but it's personal lobbying with a lawmaker or his/her staff that will change minds and votes.
There's a parallel, of course, to the campaign for marriage equality in California. After Proposition 8 passed in November 2008, there were huge rallies up and down the state, thousands of people took to the streets. And what was the result? No change in public opinion on same-sex marriage. Nearly two years later, public opinion has shifted in our favor, with marriage equality supported by 50 percent of state residents, according to a recent statewide poll. That shift is the result of outreach to and the utilization of our straight allies, the network of field offices throughout the state, and the hard work of talking to people one on one about the issue.
A number of LGBT organizations are pushing for a House vote on ENDA this month, in honor of Milk's birthday. While that is a laudable goal, it is unlikely the House will vote unless the leadership is certain it has the votes. Taking a vote on a bill as significant as ENDA without assurances that it will pass would be devastating for the community, much like the failed marriage votes in the New York and New Jersey legislatures earlier this year. As was demonstrated, some lawmakers ended up voting against the marriage bill once they saw it going down – they would not expend their political capital on a losing vote. The New York and New Jersey debacles only served to energize the anti-gay marriage groups like the National Organization for Marriage.
We agree that it is past time to send ENDA to the president. We also know that there will continue to be street demonstrations and rallies that will serve to mobilize the base, in this case, LGBT and allied supporters. But when the rally is over, don't just go home and post your photos on Facebook, taking comfort in the fact that you spent a couple of hours holding a sign as supporters drive by and honk. Take the next step. Visit Act on Principles and see exactly which lawmakers need to be moved on ENDA. If you don't live in a particular legislator's district, find someone who does and urge them to make that phone call or visit.
That's an effective way to honor Harvey Milk's legacy.