Tony Bodelson's List: Harvey Milk Sources

• Milk had a powerful idea: he would reach downward, not upward, for support. He  convinced the growing gay masses of "Sodom by the Sea" that they could have a  role in city leadership, and they turned out to form "human billboards" for him  along major thoroughfares.
• While his first three tries for office failed, they lent Milk the credibility  and positive media focus that probably no openly gay person ever had.
• "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
• It was Nov. 27, 1978, in city hall, and Mayor George Moscone was also killed.  Fellow supervisor Daniel White, a troubled anti-gay conservative, had left the  board, and he became unhinged when Moscone denied his request to return. White  admitted the murders within hours.
• A jury gave him just five years with parole. Defense lawyers had barred anyone  remotely pro-gay from the jury and brought a psychologist to testify that junk  food had exacerbated White's depression.
• More than 160 people ended up in the hospital.

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• Harvey Milk was gay, and his election was the first of an openly gay elected  official in the United States. To win the election, Milk had to gain the support  of all segments of his district.
• "This is not my victory -- it's yours. If a gay man can win, it proves that  there is hope for all minorities who are willing to fight."
• Under his urging, the city council passed a Gay Rights Ordinance in 1978 that  protected gays from being fired from their jobs.
• With chilling foresight Milk made a tape recording on November 18, 1977, with  instructions to have it read only if he died by assassination. In it he says,  "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."  On November 27, 1978, Supervisor Milk and Mayor Moscone were assassinated by Dan  White, a former police officer who had clashed with Milk over gay issues. After  shooting the mayor, White entered Milk's office and shot him five times at his  desk.
• Many San Franciscans were outraged at his light sentence. Demonstrations at  City Hall erupted into riots on May 21, 1979 (the eve of what would have been  Milk's 49th birthday), which became known as "White Night."
• Milk once said, "...you've got to keep electing gay people...to know there is  better hope for tomorrow. Not only for gays, but for blacks, Asians, the  disabled, our senior citizens and us. Without hope, we give up. I know you  cannot live on hope alone, but without it life is not worth living. You and you  and you have got to see that the promise does not fade."

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• The late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk received the presidential Medal of  Freedom award today with 15 other recipients ranging across the professional and  ideological spectrum
• President Obama said all the recipients "share one overarching trait: Each has  been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it,  often overcoming great obstacles along the way. Their relentless devotion to  breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to  which we all should strive."
• "coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social  equality...Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT  civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal  rights."

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• Mr. Milk was elected in November 1977 to the district that represented  Haight-Ashbury and upper Market Street areas where much of San Francisco's gay  population was centered.
• Born in New York City, Mr. Milk and received a bachelor's degree in 1951 from  from Albany State College for Teachers. He had worked as a financial analyst in  New York City before moving to San Francisco in 1969