30 years ago Thanksgiving Day Harvey Milk was assassinated.

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"Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors."

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" Milk has become an icon in San Francisco and "a martyr for gay rights", according to University of San Francisco professor Peter Novak.[1] While established political organizers in the city insisted gays work with liberal politicians and use restraint in reaching their objectives, Milk outspokenly encouraged gays to use their growing power in the city and support each other. His goal was to give hope to disenfranchised gays around the country. In 2002, he was called "the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States".[2] Writer John Cloud remarked on his influence, "After he defied the governing class of San Francisco in 1977 to become a member of its board of supervisors, many people—straight and gay—had to adjust to a new reality he embodied: that a gay person could live an honest life and succeed."[3] "

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" Dan White's arrest and trial caused a sensation, and illustrated severe tensions between the liberal population and the city police. The San Francisco Police were mostly working-class Irish descendants who intensely disliked the growing gay immigration, as well as the liberal direction of the city government… White was acquitted of the murders on May 21, 1979, but found guilty of voluntary manslaughter of both victims, and he was sentenced to serve seven and two-thirds years. With the sentence reduced for time served and good behavior, he would be released in five."

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"White Night riots Acting Mayor Feinstein, Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver, and Milk's successor Harry Britt condemned the jury's decision. When it was announced over the police radio in the city, someone sang "Danny Boy" on the police band.[134] A surge of people from the Castro District walked again to City Hall, chanting "Avenge Harvey Milk" and "He got away with murder".[93][135] Pandemonium rapidly escalated as rocks were hurled at the front doors of the building. Milk's friends and aides tried to stop the destruction, but the mob of more than 3,000 ignored them and lit police cars on fire. They shoved a burning newspaper dispenser through the broken doors of City Hall, then cheered as the flames grew.[136] One of the rioters responded to a reporter's question about why they were destroying parts of the city: "Just tell people that we ate too many Twinkies. That's why this is happening."[67] The chief of police ordered the police not to retaliate, but to hold their ground.[135] The White Night riots, as they became known, lasted several hours. Later that evening, May 21, 1979, several police cruisers filled with officers wearing riot gear arrived at the Elephant Walk Bar on Castro Street. Harvey Milk's protégé Cleve Jones and a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Warren Hinckle, watched as officers stormed into the bar and began to beat patrons at random. After a 15-minute melee, they left the bar and struck out at people walking along the street.[18][137] The chief of police finally ordered the officers out of the neighborhood. By morning, 61 police officers and 100 rioters and gay residents of the Castro had been hospitalized.[138] Over a million dollars of damage had been done to City Hall, police cruisers, and the Elephant Walk Bar."

-wiki

11/28/2008 3:26:50 PM

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"At his trial, White's defense argued that White's mental state at the time of the killings was one of diminished capacity due to depression. Therefore, they argued, he was not capable of premeditating his act of violence, and thus was not legally guilty of first-degree murder. Among several factors cited as evidence of White's depressed state was his consumption of sugary junk food (previously uncharacteristic of White, a health food advocate) in the months preceding the assassination. In the press it was reported White claimed that sugar in the food had caused his state of depression. Thus, White's defense was labeled "the Twinkie defense" by the press."

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"One of the rioters responded to a reporter's question about why they were destroying parts of the city: "Just tell people that we ate too many Twinkies.""

Hahahaha that's hilarious because it works on two levels.

11/28/2008 4:51:41 PM

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"Hahahaha that's hilarious because it works on two levels."

those quotes had me lolin pretty hard.

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"Dan White's arrest and trial caused a sensation, and illustrated severe tensions between the liberal population and the city police. The San Francisco Police were mostly working-class Irish descendants who intensely disliked the growing gay immigration, as well as the liberal direction of the city government…"

Wait, did they take this from a description of a Dirty Harry movie?

11/28/2008 5:38:18 PM

While I don't intend to be insensitive to the remembrance of Harvey Milk's life and death...

It is important for folks to also remember how Milk and Moscone supported Jim Jones and the Jonestown colony in Guyana... and Milk was a major part of the resistance against growing concern of the possible human rights violations going on at Jonestown... and we all know how THAT ended. Milk died 9 days later after the Jonestown Massacre.

I also always wondered if the two were connected.... ???

11/29/2008 3:06:40 AM

I was just posting the other thing as a thanksgiving day related element to the gay rights struggle story, but as long as I'm getting all history lessony:

Stonewall Riots

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"Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and police departments kept lists of known homosexuals, their favored establishments, and friends; the U.S. Postal Service kept track of addresses where material pertaining to homosexuality was mailed.[9] State and local governments followed suit: bars catering to homosexuals were shut down, and their customers were arrested and exposed in newspapers. Cities performed "sweeps" to rid neighborhoods, parks, bars, and beaches of gays. They outlawed the wearing of opposite gender clothes, and universities expelled instructors suspected of being homosexual.[10] Thousands of gay men and lesbians were jailed, fired, or institutionalized in mental hospitals. Many lived double lives, keeping their private lives secret from their professional ones."

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"By the early 1960s, a campaign to rid New York City of gay bars was in full effect by order of Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., who was concerned about the image of the city in preparation for the 1964 World's Fair. The city revoked the liquor licenses of the bars, and undercover police officers worked to entrap as many homosexual men as possible.[28] Entrapment usually consisted of an undercover officer who found a man in a bar or public park, engaged him in conversation; if the conversation headed toward the possibility that they might leave together—or the officer bought the man a drink—he was arrested for solicitation. One story in the New York Post described an arrest in a gym locker room, where the officer grabbed his crotch, moaning, and a man who asked him if he was all right was arrested.[29] Few lawyers would defend cases as undesirable as these, and some of them kicked back their fees to the arresting officer."

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"Police raids on gay bars were frequent—occurring on average once a month for each bar... Women were required to wear three pieces of feminine clothing, and would be arrested if found not wearing them."

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"[/b]The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the modern gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.[/b] American gays and lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s faced a legal system more anti-homosexual than some Iron Curtain countries.[2][note 1] Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s, however, were very contentious, as many social movements were active, including the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Counterculture of the 1960s, and antiwar demonstrations. These influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village, served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots. Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Often these were bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was owned by the Mafia.[3][4] It catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested."

-wiki

11/29/2008 2:11:14 PM

I thought this was about the Cheese Rebellion

11/30/2008 1:04:15 AM

i hate how they constantly suggest that his murder was related to his sexuality. his sexuality had nothing to do with it. Milk was just in the wrong place at the wrong time

11/30/2008 7:39:35 PM

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"I thought this was about the Cheese Rebellion"

ahahahahhahhahahhahahha

12/2/2008 7:06:39 PM

I'd never heard about this guy, he seems pretty interesting.

Apparently they just made a movie about him starring Sean Penn.

I got this in an email today "Gus Van Sant's MILK, starring Sean Penn, premieres at the Rialto on Thursday, December 11th. $10.00 per person. Proceeds are for the LGBT Center of Raleigh. 8:00 pm show. Tickets available at 6:30 pm "day of show". 12/12 - Regular features at regular prices."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2008/11/26/2008-11-26_sean_penn_shines_in_new_gus_van_sant_bio.html

http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/milk/

12/3/2008 2:29:22 PM

^I hadn't heard of that when I made this thread, I might have to check it out... looks like it'll be playing in Durham too next fri, sat, & sun at: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/

http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=21118&schedule=list

12/4/2008 5:03:04 PM

12/10/2008 9:04:51 PM

Wow

That movie looks really gay

12/10/2008 9:50:55 PM

saw the movie last night. i don't know much about harvey milk at all but as was discussed a little earlier, the movie makes it seem like he was killed by another jealous city supervisor. it didn't much seem like it had much to do with his sexuality, more to do with milk's influence and popularity in the city.

[Edited on December 13, 2008 at 1:47 PM. Reason : and i liked the movie a lot.]

12/13/2008 1:46:55 PM

12/13/2008 3:28:05 PM

(this isn't chit chat)

12/13/2008 3:29:09 PM

lol, just keeping it real

12/13/2008 3:31:08 PM

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"it didn't much seem like it had much to do with his sexuality, more to do with milk's influence and popularity in the city"

The movie's point about the murder was that by putting himself in the position of supervisor and moral leader of the gay civil rights movement, he inherently put himself in the "line of fire" from disturbed individuals. White was portrayed as viewing Milk's stance on gay right as his "issue" that made him popular, and therefore fueled White's derangement.

But, having said that -- I'd like to denounce the inherent condescension behind the original point (aaronburro's), that because White didn't hate his homosexuality per se, then Milk wasn't a martyr for gay rights.

Normal, rational people don't murder other people for their sexuality. People who kill others in cold blood are inherently deranged themselves. Gay people who were "bashed," killed, weren't killed for their sexuality alone; they were also killed because they stood out enough to be the targets of deranged individuals. Of course being out of the closet puts one in that position inherently; and being a public figure, more so.

His sexuality had everything to do with his murder; he very well could have been elected and toed the conservative line and avoided the likes of White. Or not run at all. Just as any gay person can stay in the closet, act straight, and avoid the crazies on the street who for whatever reason -- certainly no rational one -- see fit to do violence to people different than them.

[Edited on December 13, 2008 at 6:17 PM. Reason : foo]

12/13/2008 6:16:23 PM

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"White was portrayed as viewing Milk's stance on gay right as his "issue" that made him popular, and therefore fueled White's derangement."

but milk also used his influence to force the mayor not to let white re-take his seat. they also made it seem that white was willing to play ball on gay rights issues until milk crossed him on the psych ward issue.

**again, this is all info gleaned from the movie and no actual knowledge of the real events. so i could be completely wrong about the actual events.

12/13/2008 6:22:41 PM

^

Yes, but I don't think White would've known that Milk specifically convinced Moscone otherwise. It was portrayed as a private conversation between the two men. I think in reality, White was a paranoid nut who believed all the prominent members of the council were out to get him.

There was this interesting bit in the Wikipedia article about White:

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"In 1998, Frank Falzon, the homicide inspector with the San Francisco police to whom White had turned himself in after the killings, claimed to have met with White in 1984. Falzon said at this meeting White had confessed that not only was his killing of Moscone and Milk premeditated, but that he had actually planned to kill another supervisor, Carol Ruth Silver, and then-member of the California State Assembly Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. as well. Falzon quoted White as having said, "I was on a mission. I wanted four of them. Carol Ruth Silver, she was the biggest snake ... and Willie Brown, he was masterminding the whole thing." Falzon indicated that he believed White, stating, "I felt like I had been hit by a sledge-hammer ... I found out it was a premeditated murder.""

If this is true then most likely White felt he was being conspired against generally. Of course Milk was in the position to be a part of the "conspiracy" because of his prominence and influence over the gay community in SF.

12/13/2008 6:54:11 PM

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"But, having said that -- I'd like to denounce the inherent condescension behind the original point (aaronburro's), that because White didn't hate his homosexuality per se, then Milk wasn't a martyr for gay rights."

I'm sorry, but show me anything that isn't a mouthpiece for the gay-rights movement that says Milk was killed for his sexuality. I can't find it. it seems that all of this occurred because the guy didn't get his damned supervisor position back. There's just no evidence to support it otherwise. The gay community made a martyr out of Milk for the mere fact that Milk was gay, that's it. This is just typical liberal hate-card bullshit.

12/15/2008 7:10:48 PM

i don't know that i'd necessarily call it a hate-card thing. but i basically agree with you. at least with the little bit of knowledge i have on the subject. it could be that he hated gay people. but that certainly wasn't the only motivation. the guy had serious issues.

12/17/2008 1:24:47 PM

^^

You obviously didn't read past the first sentence of what I wrote, which makes you a monumental douchebag even by TWW standards.

12/18/2008 1:28:24 PM