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Community Corner

Harvey Milk Day Observances Planned

City has special observances planned to commemorate the birthday of the first openly gay man elected to public office in America. Harvey Milk served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1977 until his assassination in Nov. 1978.

West Hollywood will observe the third annual Harvey Milk Day with several events on Monday and Tuesday.

In 2009, the California State Legislature designated May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, commemorating the birthday of the first openly gay man elected to public office in America. Milk served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1977 until his death by assassination in November 1978.

On Monday, during the City Council meeting, the book The Harvey Milk Story will be presented to area elementary schools. That presentation will be followed by the unveiling of a special Harvey Milk banner designed by artist Jeff Tsuji. The City Council meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the street level of the West Hollywood Library.

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On Tuesday, a panel discussion about Milk’s legacy, “Got Milk – The Collision of the Arts & Social Justice in the Post-Harvey Milk Era,” will take place. Tony Valenzuela, the executive director of the Lambda Literary Foundation will moderate the panel which includes actor Peter Page (Queer as Folk) and Jon Imparato, director of Cultural Arts at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.

Film clips from Academy-Award-winning 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk will be shown, as will a student film on Milk’s legacy. The panel discussion starts at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber. A dessert reception will follow.

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“Perhaps more than any other modern figure, Harvey Milk's life and political career embody the rise of the LGBT civil rights movement,” Mayor Jeffrey Prang said in a press statement.

“At a time when society forced many to lead closeted lives, Harvey Milk dared to hope for a time when LGBT people could live openly, freely, equally," Prang continued. "So, each year we celebrate the life of Harvey Milk to remind us all to embrace our diversity, and to keep alive his vision for equal rights for all.”

“Harvey Milk initiated an entirely new way of conceptualizing LGBT people - as political activists with a point of view,” Councilmember John D’Amico said in a statement. “He invented and taught us a new political language for us to use as we work to acquire our place in the American landscape.”

“We are fortunate to live in a city that celebrates the legacy of Harvey Milk in all of our activities,” said Councilmember John Heilman, while Mayor Pro Tem Abbe Land called Milk’s legacy one of “perseverance and hope.”

as the state has designated it a “day of significance,” not a state holiday.

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