Milk, Harvey

Milk, Harvey,

1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in the United States. A liberal Democrat, he supported equal rights for minorities and women. Former city supervisor Dan White assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

Milk, Harvey

(1930–78) public official; born in New York City. He moved to San Francisco in 1969 and at first operated a camera store. But as an experienced financial analyst, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977. Instrumental in passing the city's gay rights ordinance, he was the first acknowledged homosexual official in the city. He was shot to death by a former city supervisor, who also killed Mayor George Moscone. When their assassin was given a light sentence, San Francisco's homosexual community rioted.