A Dose of Positive News with Cora Berke: Harvey Milk Day

Cora Berke contributes positive vibes weekly to help us keep our perspective. – Mark

News on the Positive Side- by Cora Berke
Harvey Milk Day

“Hope will never be silent.”- Harvey Milk

In 1977, 47-year-old Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was the first openly gay person to win a public election in the State of California.

Born and raised in New York, Milk moved to the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco with his partner in 1972. The neighborhood was one of the first recognized gay neighborhoods in the country at that time.

Together with his partner Scott Smith, Milk opened a camera store which served as a gathering for his activism in gay rights. Before winning the election in 1977, he campaigned for equal LGBTQ+ rights in jobs, housing and healthcare and became a known activist. After being sworn in as a member of the Board of Supervisors, Milk sponsored an ordinance to prevent discrimination in employment and housing for the community and voted against a proposition banning gay teachers in the public schools.

Tragically, his career ended only eleven months later, when he was assassinated in his office along with then San Francisco mayor, George Moscone. Milk had a premonition he would be killed one day and left a taped message saying, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”

His legacy has never been forgotten and continues to this day, bringing us to the positive side. In 2009, the California State Legislature designated May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day,” which was his birthday.

“Harvey Milk Day” is celebrated both in this country and around the world. In 2009, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously saying,” In the brief time that he spoke and led, his voice stirred the aspirations of millions of people. His message of hope could not ever be silenced.” The US Post Office dedicated a forever stamp in his honor in 2014 in an historic celebration at the White House.

Milk’s nephew Stuart was only 17 when his uncle was killed but vividly remembers that day. He is committed to continuing his legacy through the Harvey Milk Foundation, which he founded along with Anne Kronenberg, who was Milk’s campaign manager in 1977.

Together they have travelled the world sharing his message of hope. Their mission is to “advocate for not only the LGBTQ+ community but the collective communities of people who remain marginalized or diminished by inequality in the law as well as social inequality.”

Founder Stuart Milk said about his uncle, “He was a touchstone to my own self-acceptance and authenticity. Also, as a gay man myself, he’s an important part of our broader LGBTQ+ family.”

This year on what would have been Milk’s 96th. birthday, West Hollywood is celebrating his day with the official kick-off of their Pride season. The Harvey Milk LGBTQ+ Democratic Club will be hosting it’s 50th. Anniversary Gayla on May 22, 2026.

A gathering is planned at the site of Milk’s camera store in San Francisco to advocate for trans health rights in his honor and a new memorial, “The Harvey Milk Plaza” will begin construction this year at Castro Street.

Many schools across the nation honor Harvey Milk on May 22, keeping his spirit and hope alive for generations to come. Their hope will not be silence