Who was gay rights activist Harvey Milk?

Slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk was a political appointee for the city of San Francisco, where he enacted policy geared towards improving conditions for LGBTQ community members and working mothers.
Harvey was born in New York to Jewish parents who both served in the Navy during World War I, according to the Milk Foundation.
He attended New York State College for Teachers (now State University of New York) where he became well known for a column in the student newspaper addressing diversity within the country's armed forces before enlisting in the Navy in 1951.
Milk served for four years, but ultimately resigned over questions about his sexual orientation, as reported by the foundation.
However, he would go on to create legislation that supported LGBTQ openness in different facets of professional and private life during his tenure as a business owner and local official in California.
Milk moved to the West Coast in 1972, beginning a career as a camera store owner and operator on Castro Street. It was after two gay men were denied the opportunity to open shop in the area that Milk created the Castro Village Association, which became one of the nation's first organizations of predominantly LGBTQ businesses.
In 1975, Milk became the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States after being appointed to the Board of Permits. He then went on to be elected as the San Francisco City-County Supervisor in 1978 after three bids, which he on served with former senator Dianne Feinstein, who went on to become the city's mayor.
In one year, he helped defeat California ballot initiative Proposition 6, which would have banned openly gay individuals from working as public school teachers. He also promoted the conversion of military facilities into affordable housing alongside tax reform and the promotion of LGBTQ rights in speeches.
'We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions. We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I'm going to talk about it,' he said during one speech, as transcribed by the foundation.
'And I want you to talk about it. You must come out,' he added.
In November of 1978, Milk was assassinated by a former city supervisor alongside Mayor George Moscone. Feinstein was present at the time and was the one to find Milk's body.
'I was the one that found Supervisor Milk's body, and I was the one to put a finger in a bullet hole, trying to get a pulse,' she said in 2013.
His killer was acquitted of murder charges but sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter.
Milk was honored by the U.S. Navy in 2021, when the branch announced it would name one of its oil tankers in his honor. However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered that his name be removed from the ship, according to reports from USA Today.
'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos,' Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell previously said in a statement to The Hill when asked about potential renaming.
'Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.'
The move comes months after President Trump issued a January executive order that issued guidelines banning gender identity and expanded pronoun usage from military service.

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Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

'Part of the community'

Jun. 22—PULLMAN — For 14-year-old Obsidian Hunt, Saturday's Pride celebration was a joyful opportunity for connection. Their favorite part, Hunt said, was the rally they helped lead before parading downtown to Reaney Park. "(Pride) makes me feel like I'm actually a part of the community," Hunt said. "It makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with who I am and it makes me feel more empowered to be who I am rather than what society wants me to be." The celebration was the first of two Pride events in Pullman this month. Organizer Diana Whitney said including a rally felt important because of the historical and ongoing discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. "Back when HIV and AIDS was killing everybody and mostly being ignored by the mainstream, there was a saying that they used to say. It was, 'You bury your friends in the morning, you protest in the afternoon, and then you dance all night.' We're in no way at that point of time anymore, but this last year has been excruciating." Whitney, who has a transgender grandchild, referenced one example of current challenges to queer people in Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming health care for minors. Numerous sources, including a report commissioned by the Utah Legislature, which passed a ban on gender-affirming care for youth two years ago, have concluded that access to gender-affirming care was associated with positive mental health outcomes. Chris Albano said he recently began to be more open about his identity and experience. "I actually am transgender. I choose to be generally private about that, but I'm coming more and more to the understanding that people need to understand that there are a lot more of us than are open (about our identity) in society," Albano said. As a child, Albano said, stories of LGBTQ+ people like Matthew Shepherd, who was beaten, tortured and left for dead in an anti-gay hate crime, kept him from coming out. "I want a better world for young people," Albano said. "I've gotta use my voice to make that happen." Melissa Johnson came as a member of a support group called Queers with Kids. The group originated from parents who wanted to ensure their children would have a support system of other youth with LGBTQ+ parents. "(It was) so they could see that their family wasn't the only one who looked different from their peers," Johnson said. "They also have a unique experience that's worth being validated and celebrated." Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM Organizers made a special point to make the event inclusive for families and children, Whitney said. Anne Brown helped organize the youth portion of the events. She said her own child came out roughly a year ago. Brown said she wanted to create a space where children felt their voices were heard. "There's a lot of anxiety (for queer kids)," she said. "To be in a space where you can interact with all these people who are from your community and who are safe and happy to see you be who you are, like, that's really meaningful." Some of the activities included a button-making station where children could draw designs for their own personalized buttons. Brown showed off photos of some of the younger attendees' handiwork, including one with a drawing of cats and the slogan "Sounds gay, I'm in," and another with the words, "Always existed, always will." Brown said she wants more people to learn about the community before judging it. "Listen, listen, listen, listen, as much as you can," she said. "I think once you actually get to know this community and these people, it's hard to be afraid." Abby Catena, 14, had a table at the Pride event, giving away queer-inclusive books from Bruised Books in Pullman. Many of the books don't explicitly focus on a character's LGBTQ+ identity, Catena said, but help to normalize their existence. "Queer people (are) not some magical creature you've never met," Catena said. "It's just like, a common thing." Over 100 people attended the rally and celebration in the park. Next weekend, on June 29, the Pullman Pride Fest is planned for 1-5 p.m. at Reaney Park. The groups organizing the two events plan on joining forces next year. Sun may be contacted at rsun@ or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

CNN

3 hours ago

• CNN

Pride Month marches on, despite frustration and worry from LGBTQ community over government actions

Pride Month is designed to bring attention to the LGBTQ community in the United States, and this year's events included the same parades, music, laughter and rainbow-colored displays of every kind across the nation. But Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling on gender-affirming care for transgender youth was the kind of attention many advocates didn't want and the capper to a month of discouragement. 'The decision itself does land like a punch in the gut during Pride Month, a time that's meant to celebrate liberation, joy and survival,' said Dallas Ducar, executive vice president of the Boston-based trans health provider Fenway Health. 'It showcases that while our resilience is not any weaker, the attacks are calculated.' The high court decision upholding Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors may grease the wheels for court approval of similar laws already enacted in two dozen other states. And it comes with concern for a community used to a summer of celebration. The annual event – marking the anniversary month of the Stonewall riots, which are considered the birth of the US gay rights movement – is now the backdrop for a wave of government actions and cultural backlash that has many LGBTQ advocates and the people affected concerned. From historic sites losing ties to LGBTQ roots and Pride performances being canceled at the Kennedy Center to adverse changes playing out in both courtrooms and social media accounts, many advocates say they're winded, but ready to continue the battle. 'Pride was made for moments like this,' said Ducar, referring to the Supreme Court decision on the Tennessee transgender care ban. 'Decisions like Skrmetti remind us of why we marched in the first place and why we still must.' As Pride enters its home stretch, here are some of the government actions taken this month that LGBTQ advocates say have taken the country backward. 'I am deeply afraid for what this decision will unleash — politically and socially,' Samantha Williams, mother of a transgender student who was one of the plaintiffs in the Tennessee case, wrote in a New York Times op-ed. 'Now that the Supreme Court has denied the rights of young people like my daughter and families like ours, what's next?' The actions affecting trans children this month go beyond the Supreme Court ruling, seeding worry for families and those in the community. Continuing his battle to ban transgender women from competing in women's athletics, President Donald Trump put California directly in his sights after the success of a teenage transgender track and field athlete. Trump said on social media 'large scale fines will be imposed' as a result, after previously threatening to withhold federal funding from the state. The ability to compete in athletics in accordance with their gender identity is protected under a state law that was passed more than a decade ago. Although Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has expressed his own misgivings about transgender athletes, there is no sign California officials intend to change it. US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon called the law unconstitutional, adding, 'you have an obligation to comply with the Equal Protection Clause,' she wrote in a June 2 letter to more than 1,600 California public schools. So far, the federal government has not taken the threatened action, and most California schools are on summer break. The Department of Health and Human Services is dropping the specialized support for LGBTQ youth on the government-funded 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline next month. 'Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,' the government said in a statement, but a program to connect LGBTQ callers with specially trained counselors is being dropped despite getting more than a million calls since it started in July 2022. A 2024 study associated with The Trevor Project – a crisis intervention organization focused on LGBTQ young people – found suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary teenagers increased in the wake of restrictive laws passed by states. The group also said nearly 40% of LGBTQ youth surveyed in 2023 seriously considered suicide in the past year. Pride – an unapologetically boisterous event – has been met by virtual silence from the White House. 'There are no plans for a proclamation for the month of June,' said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on June 3. But the Department of Education announced its own plan to recognize June as 'Title IX Month,' referencing the law that protects women and girls against discrimination in education. The Trump administration has cited that law as justification for its efforts to keep transgender women from participating in women's sports. It's not a dramatic course change for Trump, who never issued an official proclamation acknowledging Pride during his first term, though he did mention it in a 2019 tweet. Since then, the administration has shortened the abbreviation to 'LGB' or 'LGB+' in government documents and websites, including for the Stonewall National Monument in New York, removing the signifier for transgender people, an affront to now-legendary transgender activists who rioted there. While conservative gay advocates like the Log Cabin Republicans – the largest GOP group 'dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies' – have argued the nose-thumbing at Pride is really a swipe at progressive politics, it has been accompanied by a large change in GOP opinion on gay rights. The percentage of Republicans who say gay and lesbian relationships are 'morally acceptable' has plummeted in the past three years, now down to 38%, according to Gallup polls. Since taking over leadership of the Kennedy Center – the preeminent public performance venue in the nation's capital – President Trump has remolded its leadership, leading to event cancellations. 'NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA,' the president wrote on social media. The Center canceled a Pride performance involving the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC. Soon after, a week of events at the Kennedy Center tied to the World Pride festival were canceled or moved to other venues, the Associated Press reported. 'We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing,' June Crenshaw, deputy director of the Capital Pride Alliance, told the AP. Trump appointed Richard Grenell, who serves in multiple administration positions, as interim director of the Kennedy Center. Grenell, who is gay, in an interview with Politico last week expressed embarrassment with many Pride activities. 'You go to a Pride parade and it's embarrassing! It's real fringe and it's too sexual. And I think that we have to start critiquing ourselves,' he said. 'By the way, this (opinion) is extremely popular with normal gays.' Trump allies also point out he nominated the highest-ranking gay public official in the country's history, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. But that unfailing support is not representative of the community, as a CNN exit poll found more than four in five LGBTQ voters cast ballots for Kamala Harris in last year's presidential election. As he has every year in June, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – a former GOP presidential candidate – ordered flags at half-staff this month to remember the victims of the shooting at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub, a gay club where 49 people were killed in 2016. The cut-and-paste proclamation was virtually identical to past statements, but with one major exception: it cut a section noting 'the LGBTQ and Hispanic communities' had been targeted. A similar omission was made by DeSantis' office in 2019. At the time, the governor said the slight was unintentional and amended it on social media. This year when the absence was noted, no change was made, and no explanation was given. The governor's office did not respond to CNN's request for comment on the change. The Log Cabin Republicans made no comment about the absence of LGBTQ acknowledgement in the former Republican presidential candidate's statement. Instead, the group published an op-ed from senior adviser Dylan Schwartz focusing on left-wing support for Palestinian causes. In fact, there is little sign of organized backlash against the administration among gay members of the MAGA movement. The Log Cabin Republicans went from refusing to endorse Trump in the 2016 general election to now fervently backing his policies and praising what they call 'normal gays.' 'Trump is not 'targeting' our community,' Log Cabin interim executive director Ed Williams wrote in March. 'He's leading a massive course correction to reverse the radical and insane excesses that extremist, gender-obsessed elements of the Left have quietly and quickly imposed upon our government and our country, yielding no results while fostering more division.' At the beginning of Pride Month, the Trump administration took a step that surprised many in the LGBTQ community – it ordered the Navy to rename a fuel supply ship named for gay rights advocate Harvey Milk, a defense official told CNN. Milk, a member of the San Francisco city governing board who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country, was also a Navy veteran who was forced to resign because of questions about his sexual orientation. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi – who represents the district where Milk lived – called the decision a 'spiteful move.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said plans were being discussed to change the names of all John Lewis-class ships, which are named after civil rights icons, and not the USNS Harvey Milk alone. 'We're not interested in naming ships after activists,' Hegseth said at a June 11 congressional hearing. 'It's just so petty and mean-spirited,' Kevin Jennings, CEO of LGBTQ legal advocacy organization Lambda Legal, said of the ship renaming news. 'Our community – both individually and collectively – a lot of us have had to deal with bullies our whole life.' If insulting Pride was intended to discourage progressive groups focused on gay rights, there are signs it may have done the opposite. Lamba Legal – the group that organized the legal case against the Tennessee law and dozens of others – started a drive to raise $180 million. So far, it has surpassed its goal by more than $100 million. 'Think people realize that our last line of defense is the courts,' Jennings told CNN. 'I think there are clearly judges who are ideologues, but I think most judges actually respect and value the rule of law.' While more than 30 years have passed between the Stonewall riots and the Supreme Court ruling that struck down state laws criminalizing same-sex relations, Jennings said the spirit of the Pride movement to patiently and persistently fight is not going away. 'We are going to persist until we prevail. If it takes 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years, we are not going to quit,' he said.

Chicago Tribune

4 hours ago

• Chicago Tribune

Steven Katz: Israel's war against Iran is just

Israel is waging an existential fight for its survival as a Jewish state. And it is winning and fighting well. Now, it's apparent to most reasonable observers that Israel and Iran have been in a state of heightened hostilities since the Iranian-enabled Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. In fact, prior to Israel's escalation early June 13, Iranian-armed, -funded and -directed proxy groups such as Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon have indiscriminately launched thousands of rockets at Israel's population centers — killing and injuring scores of civilian men, women and children. In addition, the Iranian regime directly launched hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel in April and October. Even the Iranian leaders have acknowledged that they are at war with Israel and seek its destruction. One must apply the appropriate just war standard 'jus in bello' to determine whether Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and scientists, ballistic missile sites and military leadership is just. Since June 13, many experts have been debating whether the Israeli strikes were 'preemptive,' which is a normative exception allowing for military action prior to an imminent threat from materializing. In 1967, Israel had intelligence that Egypt was preparing to attack Israel, and Israel preemptively destroyed 90% of Egypt's air force prior to the Six-Day War. Conversely, 'preventative' military action is forbidden as it allows for states to attack other states over remote concerns or potential future threats that could be years or decades away. However, what both standards have in common is that they are used when two countries are not in a state of hostilities. For this reason, these standards are inappropriate to gauge the justness of Israel's actions against Iran. What the world witnessed on June 13 was a continuation of ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran and its proxies. Whether Iran could assemble a nuclear bomb in weeks or months informed the urgency of the Israeli military strikes but has no bearing on whether the current flare-up is just or unjust. Therefore, the right questions we should ask to determine whether Israel's Operation Rising Lion is just is whether the Israeli military is striking targets that are necessary to achieve its military objectives — to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program; whether the strikes are proportional; whether Israel is targeting people and infrastructure that are not lawful, such as schools, homes and mosques that are not being used for a military purpose; and lastly whether Israel is taking measures to mitigate unintended harm to civilians. All credible reporting demonstrates that Israel is going after only military targets that directly support the Iranian nuclear program and enable the regime's ability to attack Israel. To date, Israel has eliminated six top Iranian generals and nine nuclear scientists, targeted and destroyed a third of Iran's missile launchers, and attacked and degraded critical uranium enrichment facilities such as the ones at Natanz and Isfahan. According to Iranian authorities, at least 224 Iranians have been killed, but like the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, this figure and its breakdown of civilians and combatants should be taken with a heavy grain of salt. Like Hamas, we should expect this figure to be both inflated and obfuscate combatant and civilian deaths. However, even if we accepted that most of the 224 Iranians killed were civilians, then it is still a comparatively low number given the hundreds of targets the Israeli military has engaged since June 13. For context, the U.S. military authorized up to 10 civilians killed per strike against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq. In addition to the Israeli military demonstrating distinction between military targets and civilians, the military is also taking active measures to protect Iranian civilians from strikes — saying on June 16 on X, 'In the coming hours, the IDF will operate in the area, as it has done in recent days around Tehran, to attack military structures belonging to the Iranian regime.' The account went on to say that 'citizens of Iran, for your safety and security, please evacuate the area.' Now, let's turn to the Iranian regime's grotesque conduct since June 13. Iran has indiscriminately launched approximately 400 ballistic missiles at Israel, zeroing in on population centers in Tel Aviv and Haifa. So far, all the Israelis killed have been civilians, and numerous residential apartment buildings have collapsed or have been declared uninhabitable. It should be no surprise that Iran's conduct and despicable tactics are no different from the terror groups it supports such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. To give Iran some credit, the Iranian military did tell Israelis to vacate the entire country, but this was obviously a threat and not to spare lives during future salvos: 'Warnings for you in the coming days: Leave the occupied territories, because, certainly, they won't be inhabitable in the future!' The Iranian regime would use any means to vacate the Jews from the land of Israel. They have made this point clear in the means and methods of their ballistic missile response. Iran is the aggressor and continues to contravene the laws of war. There is no doubt they would use nuclear weapons against the people of Israel if they had them. For this reason, Israel must stay the course to achieve a lasting, secure and just peace.