Political Notebook: Annual Milk Day observance collides with federal LGBTQ rollbacks

This year’s Harvey Milk Day observance is taking place during a time of unprecedented attacks on the LGBTQ community by the levers of the U.S. government. Republican President Donald Trump and his appointees to lead federal agencies are systematically rolling back the hard-won rights of LGBTQ Americans, particularly those of transgender youth and adults.

The GOP-controlled Congress is idly standing by as the Trump administration cuts funding for everything from HIV prevention to queer arts groups and removes mention of LGBTQ history from the websites for national park sites. Meanwhile, the conservative packed U.S. Supreme Court is allowing military officials to drum out trans servicemembers and is poised to upend the teaching of LGBTQ curriculum in school classrooms.

It is reminiscent of the political fights Milk encountered during his rise as a civil rights leader and elected official in the 1970s. Back then conservatives were using the ballot box to strike down local LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws with the help of the late singer Anita Bryant.

During his year as a San Francisco supervisor, Milk helped lead the successful statewide campaign to defeat a ballot measure that would have banned LGBTQ people and their allies from being public school teachers in California. That fight echoes today in the heated debates over treating trans students with dignity and respect by using their preferred names and pronouns, and allowing them access to school facilities and athletics teams that align with their gender identity.

One of the reasons why Milk ran four times for elective office – once for a state legislative seat and three times for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors – is he knew the powerful platform that came with being a politician. Not just the public but the news media and other influential institutions and players became interested in what he had to say on any given matter.

“A lot of people throw bricks and vent their frustrations. They throw pies in the face of authority and kick the stone walls, and I guess all of that is needed. But if you really want to put long-term energies into changing things, do it through the system. Beat the system, as I did against tremendous odds,” Milk told a reporter for the underground weekly newspaper the Berkeley Barb 47 years ago.

As the first gay person elected to public office in the city and state with his successful 1977 supervisorial campaign, Milk understood the role he could play in not only shaping public opinion but also providing the courage for other LGBTQ people to come out of the closet and demand to be treated equitably and with respect.

So much of what Milk communicated back then rings true to this day. For one, he didn’t believe in having the LGBTQ community wait its turn to be granted the full rights and privileges they deserved under the U.S. Constitution. Rather than be assimilationist, LGBTQ people needed to be fighters, contended Milk.

“Rights are not won on paper. They are won only by those who make their voices heard,” Milk told a reporter from the San Francisco Examiner in 1978. “They are won by activists and militants. Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above. Rather, they are forced by pressures from below.”

His interview for the paper’s special series about “Gays in the City” ended up being published two days after he was assassinated the morning of November 27, 1978 along with then-mayor George Moscone. Although Milk's life and political career were tragically cut short, his legacy has lived on to inspire new generations across the globe.
 
Milk Day events
California legislators in 2009 declared his birthday each May 22 a day of special significance to annually be observed. This year would have been the civil rights leader's 95th birthday.

Various events are taking place across San Francisco to mark the occasion. In the Castro neighborhood Milk called home and operated his Castro Camera shop at 573 Castro Street, today a city landmark, civic leaders and community members will gather at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday evening at Jane Warner Plaza on 17th Street at the intersection of Castro and Market streets for the LGBTQ district’s annual event celebrating Milk.

Nodding to today’s political climate, this year’s theme is “Harvey Milk Day: A Protest of Joy.” Attendees are welcome to come early at 4:30 p.m. to make their own protest signs.

In addition to the usual speeches and performance by the San Francisco Pride Band, the city's official marching band, this year’s celebration will feature special musical performances by the Sacred & Profane Chamber Chorus, which will premiere a new choral work based on Milk’s famous Freedom Day Speech, and by the cast of Opera Parallèle’s “Harvey Milk Reimagined.”

As the Bay Area Reporter noted last week, the National Endowment for the Arts rescinded a $25,000 grant it had awarded the nonprofit performing arts group for its restaging of the opera about Milk by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie. It is still set to begin May 31 and run through June 7 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ Blue Shield of California Theater, with tickets available for purchase via the opera company’s website.

According to organizers of the Harvey Milk Day event, following the Castro celebration will be a community march to the Roxie Theater, which is hosting a special 40th anniversary screening that evening of the Academy Award-winning documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk.” The film’s gay director, Rob Epstein, is expected to attend the 7 p.m. showing, tickets for which can be bought online .

At the same time next Thursday, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club is hosting its annual Gayla fundraiser at the Bayview Opera House. For tickets to it and the “No Apologies: Uranus Afterparty honoring Harry Britt,” the late gay supervisor appointed to serve out Milk’s term, click here.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 24, the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Library, in the Castro at 1 Jose Sarria Court, is combining for the first time its annual Open House with a celebration of Milk's birthday. 

“We will have choral performance from the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ chorus; free LGBTQ+ book giveaways; hilarity and clowning from circus arts duo Coventry & Kaluza; and more,” noted the library staff. “Everyone is welcome!”

For those attending the San Francisco-based Opera Parallèle’s first staging of the Milk opera in the city since it debuted in 1996, there will be a special exhibit about the late gay leader’s life in the theater lobby. The GLBT Historical Society helped organize the display that showcases Milk’s personal artifacts, campaign materials, and photos from throughout his life and career.

“The most meaningful way to stand with us, and to honor the legacy of Harvey Milk, is to attend one of the upcoming performances at YBCA,” stated the opera company in light of the loss of its federal funding.

The most lasting message repeatedly reiterated by Milk was for anyone feeling oppressed or beaten down, be it by societal or governmental forces, to never give up and hold on to hope for better days. It was a mantra Milk repeated in countless media interviews and immortalized in the speech he delivered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall during a mass rally to celebrate California Gay Freedom Day on June 25, 1978.

Milk had sounded similar themes in the keynote address he gave March 10, 1978 to the Gay Caucus of the California Democratic Council during its meeting in San Diego. It became known as “The Hope Speech,” as detailed in this archival copy posted online by the University of Maryland here.

Lesbian California 2026 gubernatorial candidate and former state Senate president pro tempore Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, referenced it in her speech upon receiving the Harvey Milk Leadership Award May 8 at the 13th annual Harvey Milk Coachella Valley Diversity Breakfast.

“There was a time, not that long ago, when I thought maybe we had moved beyond needing to reference the ‘Hope Speech.’ But today, now, we need hope more than ever,” said Atkins. “My message to you is this: Find your hope. Hold onto it. Share it. Hope is a superpower. It is not a weakness. It’s a remarkable strength.”
 
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 an actor with LGBTQ ties seeking a Los Angeles area House seat.

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Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected].