Published November 17, 2025
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This podcast is funded by the New York City Council. It was developed by History UnErased and produced and edited by Dinah Mack; Kathleen Barker; and Deb Fowler.
TRANSCRIPT
Deb Fowler: Hello, and welcome to UnErasing LGBTQ History and Identities — A Podcast. I’m Deb Fowler, co-founder of History UnErased.
Harvey Milk may already be familiar to you as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, and for the tragedy that ended his life far too soon. But his legacy is much more than time-stamped moments. Our host, Kathleen Barker, will unpack a fuller story, and why this great leader’s messages of visibility and hope still matter. Take it away, Kathleen…
Kathleen Barker: Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York, into a close-knit middle-class Jewish family of Lithuanian heritage. His father, William, had served in the Navy, as did his mother, Minerva, who served as a “Yeomanette” during World War I. The family owned a department store called “Milks” where Harvey and his older brother Robert both worked. He was a popular and successful student at Bayshore High School, with many diverse interests.
Milk majored in math and history at New York State College for Teachers, now known as SUNY Albany. After graduating in 1951, he enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed in San Diego, where he worked as a diving instructor and rose to the rank of lieutenant junior grade. However, Milk's naval career came to an abrupt end in 1955 when he was interrogated about his sexual orientation and subsequently resigned.
Historical Note: Milk’s resignation from the Navy reflects the broader Lavender Scare, the systemic purge of gays and lesbians from government employment that occurred in tandem with the Red Scare’s anti-communist witch hunt. Like Milk, an inestimable number of Americans faced a choice: remain closeted and continue their service, or resign. Both the Lavender Scare and Red Scare, which were closely intertwined, sought to root out identities that were suspected of being “national security risks.” The Red Scare lasted a short period of time, but the Lavender Scare persisted for decades. After his service in the Navy, Milk was employed as a public school teacher on Long Island, a stock analyst in New York City, and he even spent time as a production associate for Broadway musicals.
In 1972, at age 42, Harvey moved to San Francisco with his partner Scott Smith and opened Castro Camera at 575 Castro Street. This small camera shop grew into much more than a business – it became a community hub, a place where LGBTQ people could find support and resources, but perhaps most importantly, connection. And it was there, on Castro Street, that Harvey Milk became a neighborhood organizer, and, eventually, a symbol of hope.
Just over a year after moving to San Francisco, he declared his candidacy for the Board of Supervisors. He lost that race, but emerged from the campaign as a force to be reckoned with in local politics. Milk ran a second time for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors- and then a third time, when he finally won. On November 8, 1977, Harvey Milk made history by becoming the first openly gay person elected to public office in California and one of the first in the United States, making national and even international headlines.
In his acceptance speech reprinted by the Bay Area Reporter on January 10, 1978, Milk declared his intent to represent not just the gay community, but everyone seeking equality and justice, and said:
Harvey Milk: “How does one thank a city? I hope, with all my heart, that I can do the job that I have been charged to do and do it so well that the questions raised by my election will be buried once and forever—and that other cities once again will follow San Francisco’s lead. I understand very well that my election was not alone a question of my gayness but a question of what I represent. In a very real sense, Harvey Milk represents the spirit of the neighborhoods of San Francisco. For the past few years, my fight to make the voices of the neighborhoods of this city be heard was not unlike the fight to make the voice of the cities themselves be heard.”
Throughout his time in office, Milk proved true to his words, focusing on affordable housing, food security, public transit, economic justice, and the overall goal of building resilient and safe neighborhoods.
He also worked to pass the “Human Rights Ordinance,” which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It was signed into law on April 11,1978, by Mayor George Moscone. Milk remarked that the new law "will hopefully allow a lot of gay people in professional positions to feel comfortable about coming out. Then the images and stereotypes of who is gay will be changed as people start to realize that gay people are in every walk of life."
But perhaps no speech better encapsulates Harvey Milk's philosophy and impact than his famous "Hope Speech," delivered in 1978.
Harvey Milk: "Somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio, there’s a young gay person who all of a sudden realizes that she or he is gay. Knows that if the parents find out, they’ll be tossed out of the house. The classmates will taunt the child and the Anita Bryants and John Briggs’ are doing their bit on TV, and that child had several options. Staying in a closet, suicide, and then one day that child might open a paper, and it says “Homosexual elected in San Francisco,” and there are two new options. An option is to go to California and stay in San Antonio and fight. Two days after I was elected, I got a phone call, and the voice was quite young. It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the person said, “Thanks.” And you’ve got to elect gay people so that that young child and the thousands upon thousands like that child know that there’s hope for a better world. There’s hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, not only gays, but those Blacks, and the Asians, and disabled, and seniors. The us’s. The us’s without hope, the us’s give up. I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you have got to give them hope. Thank you very much."
KB: The speech wasn't just about gay rights – it was about basic human rights for everyone. Milk understood that liberation movements are interconnected, and his political coalition included seniors, racial minorities, working-class families, and anyone who felt locked out of opportunities.
One of his most significant fights came in 1978 with California's Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative. This ballot measure would have banned gay men and lesbians from teaching or being employed by California school districts. Milk campaigned tirelessly against Prop 6, traveling throughout California to debate its sponsor, State Senator John Briggs. Many of these debates were not recorded, but one was aired on August 6, 1978, on San Francisco’s KPIX-TV.
Harvey Milk: There are already laws on the books to protect our children. Everybody from the superintendent of schools, Wilson Rob, to Jerry Brown, to newspaper editors across the state, agreed that indeed we have the laws to protect our children. I was born of heterosexual parents. I was told by heterosexual teachers in a fiercely heterosexual society with television ads and newspaper ads, fiercely heterosexual, a society that puts down homosexuality. And why am I homosexual? If I'm affected by role models? I should have been a heterosexual, and no offense meant, but if teachers are going to affect you as role models, there'd be a lot of nuns running around the streets today.
KB: Because of his visibility and relentless activism, alongside the hatred directed at gay people during this time, Milk was keenly aware of the dangers he faced as a public figure. In response to this threat, he recorded several versions of a political will, instructing that they be played "in the event of my assassination." One of the recordings contained his now-famous declaration: "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
Tragically, Harvey Milk’s words proved necessary. Dan White, who had recently resigned from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (but had requested his resignation be revoked, unsuccessfully) blamed both Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk for the fact that he would not be reappointed. On November 27, 1978, Dan White loaded a 38-caliber revolver with hollow-point bullets and shot and killed Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk within the walls of City Hall. Harvey Milk’s assasination wasn’t because of his political activism for gay rights, but his death sparked an outpouring of grief and mobilization for gay rights. That night, tens of thousands of people marched silently from the Castro district to City Hall, with their footfalls reverberating across the nation.
Harvey Milk's story doesn't end with his death. While he served only eleven months in elected office, his impact on American politics and civil rights cannot be measured in time alone. In 2009, Milk’s nephew, Stuart, and Milk’s campaign manager and political aide, Anne Kronenberg established the Harvey Milk Foundation. The organization operates worldwide, promoting equality and non-violence. Also in 2009, California established Harvey Milk Day, celebrated annually on his birthday, May 22, and President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Harvey Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2014, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Harvey Milk Forever stamp—the first to feature an openly gay elected official. Many schools and parks bear his name, and his life has been the subject of Academy Award-winning documentaries, biographical films, and countless detailed books, such as Harvey Milk: His Lives and Deathby Lillian Faderman.
A U.S. Navy ship is named for Milk; and in June 2025, former Fox News personality and current Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to change the ship’s name, but Harvey Milk’s legacy will not be erased.
In an address at the Gay Freedom Day celebration in San Francisco on June 26, 1978, Milk said:
Harvey Milk: And to the bigots…to the John Briggs….to the Anita Bryants…to the Kevin Starrs and all their ilk. Let me remind you what America is. Listen carefully. On the Statue of Liberty it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free….” In the Declaration of Independence, it is written “All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights….” That’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. No matter how hard you try, you cannot chip those words from off the base of the Statue of Liberty….No Matter how hard you try, you cannot sing the Star Spangled Banner without those words. That’s what America is. Love it or leave it.”
KB: Harvey Milk’s message remains as relevant today as it was in 1978: "You gotta give them hope." In a world still grappling with discrimination and inequality, he reminds us that hope isn't just a feeling – it's an action, it’s a commitment to neighbors, it’s the power of the moon in a caring sea, and sometimes, hope becomes a movement.
Harvey Milk: “I have never considered myself a candidate. I have always considered myself part of a movement. Part of the caring sea. I’ve considered the movement the candidate. There are things that I wish I had time to explain everything I did. Almost everything was done in the eyes of the gay movement. The other aspect of this tape is the… Obviously there’s one thing that should happen if there is an assassination is, I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, a hundred, a thousand would rise. I would love to see every gay doctor come out, I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay judge, every gay bureaucrat, every gay architect come out. Stand up. Let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that. Urge them... To come out…..I ask for the movement to continue, the movement to grow, because last week I got that phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope. After all that’s all that it’s about. It’s not about personal gain, it’s not about ego, it’s not about power. It’s about giving those young people out there, in Altoona, Pennsylvania's hope. You gotta give them hope.”
DF: Kathleen Barker is History UnErased’s program director and podcast host, and is a library and information specialist and public historian with over 20 years of experience as a museum and library educator.
This podcast is funded by the New York City Council. It was developed by History UnErased and produced and edited by Dinah Mack, our youth equity program director and podcaster.
Our theme music is “1986” by BrothaD via Tribe of Noise. Please rate this podcast and share!
I’m Deb Fowler. Thanks for listening. And visit UnErased.org to learn how we are putting LGBTQ history in its rightful place－the classroom.
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