On May 22, we celebrate the lasting impact of legislator Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician in California and an important voice in the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1999 Time magazine included Harvey Milk on their “The 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century” list. Milk was an advocate not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but for all minorities. Read more about his life and legacy, and ways you can learn and celebrate here.
Many events nationwide will celebrate the achievements of Harvey Milk but there’s an online celebration of his life taking place on June 21st hosted by the National Museum of the United States Navy (Harvey served as a diver in the US Navy 1951-1955) where Stuart Milk, Harvey’s nephew and founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation will join and talk about his famous uncle, the work the Harvey Milk Foundation does to educate the public on LGBTQ+ issues, and his thoughts on the Department of Defense naming a ship in his uncle’s honor.
For those keen to experience some of Harvey’s powerful and inspiring words, you may enjoy this extraordinary reading of his famous ‘Hope’ speech by another icon, Sir Ian McKellen.