In an LA Times Blog story this afternoon it is reported that a bill introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno and State Senator Sheia Kuehl was narrowly approved Tuesday morning in the Senate that would require the Governor to proclaim May 22nd of each year as Harvey Milk Day in honor of slain gay civil rights activist and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Harvey Milk. The legislation still needs to go back to the Assembly for concurrence on some minor amendments before it is sent on to Governor Schwarzenegger.
The Times reports that not one Republican voted for the bill, which also says the day shall have special significance in public school and other educational institutions and “encourages those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.” Let’s see, not one Republican Senator voted in favor. No surprise really, given that these homophobic idiots vote in jack-booted lockstep on everything from the budget to prayer in schools. I am sure that Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), who told the Times “In school, we ought to concentrate, on writing, reading, and arithmetic,” would think differently if he were voting to require that schools set aside a few moments every school day for “optional prayer.”
God forbid we set aside one day a year to recognize a leader in the gay and lesbian civil rights movement. Please Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (whose children are allegedly home schooled) tell us what you have to say on this one. We’re dying to know.
I personally believe that Harvey Milk was more than just a leader in the gay and lesbian civil rights movement. Just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did more than just lift up the African American community, Milk proved that in running for office that he could represent everyone, not just his own “group” in office.
It’s an important lesson, especially as we approach the vote in November and people need to be reminded that Obama wants to run the Country for all of us, not just some of us.
Harvey Milk was extraordinary and definitely deserves his own day. A generation of gay men and lesbians found a leader in him, not just in San Francisco and California, but across the country. He gave us a place at the table.
Rent or add to your Netflix the Oscar-winning documentary film “The Times of Harvey Milk.”
The moderate Republicans have all been bitch-slapped and threatened by the radical right ideologues.