He drew the support of several political luminaries, including President Jimmy Carter and former California Governor Ronald Reagan, and Prop 6 was soundly defeated by more than 1 million votes in November.
However, he was forced out after announcing his candidacy for the California State Assembly, which led to another campaign defeat. With his charisma, energy and natural political skills, Milk was soon known as the “Mayor of Castro Street.”Īfter coming up short in another bid for the Board of Supervisors in 1975, Milk landed a post in new Mayor George Moscone‘s administration on the Board of Permit Appeals. Milk co-founded the Castro Village Association to unite gay business owners, and launched the inaugural Castro Street Fair in 1974.Īdditionally, Milk forged an alliance with the Teamsters Union by supporting a boycott of Coors beer, and the union returned the favor by promising to hire more gay drivers.
Still, he garnered 17,000 votes to finish a respectable 10th out of 32 candidates, providing a reason to continue his political efforts. Milk was spurned by much of the city’s more influential gay electorate, who felt the outspoken New Yorker should tone down his act and wait his turn. A financial analyst by day, he joined friends to march in protests of the Vietnam War while enjoying the city’s thriving gay social scene after hours.įired for partaking in an antiwar rally in the spring of 1970, Milk returned to New York, where he served as an assistant to O’Horgan for productions of “ Jesus Christ Superstar” and “ Lenny.” However, after he befriended experimental theater director Tom O’Horgan, Milk eventually became involved with a more progressive, avant-garde crowd.Īfter his lover joined an O’Horgan-directed production of “Hair” in San Francisco, Milk moved to the Bay Area in 1969. Well compensated and politically conservative-he campaigned for Republican presidential hopeful Barry Goldwater in 1964-the straight-laced Milk was content to live a closeted life in those days. Kittiwake during the Korean War until his honorable discharge in 1955. Milk went on to attend Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and served as a diving instructor and chief petty officer aboard U.S.S. The second son of William and Minerva Milk, he came from a family with prominent ties to the community: His Lithuanian-born grandfather Morris owned Milk’s Dry Goods, which became the largest department store on Long Island, and had helped organize the area’s first synagogue. Harvey Bernard Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. Milk was murdered in November 1978 by a former colleague, Dan White. Winning a seat on the city’s Board of Supervisors, he emerged as one of the country’s preeminent openly gay elected officials, spearheading an important anti-discrimination measure. After moving to San Francisco in the early 1970s, Milk established himself as a leading political activist for the gay community. Keeping his homosexuality a secret at first, Milk became more openly gay through his exposure to New York City’s bohemian theater scene. Navy before working at a Wall Street investment firm. Harvey Milk, a native of Long Island, New York, served in the U.S.