The Dangers of [Harvey] Milk

Nearly three decades after Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were fatally shot by a fellow city lawmaker inside San Francisco City Hall, the California legislature is about to pass a bill that would declare May 22 of each year to be Harvey Milk Day, a day of "special significance" in which schools would be encouraged to commemorate his life. Milk joined the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978 after losing two previous bids for office. The rookie lawmaker sponsored and passed a local gay rights initiative and helped defeat a 1978 ballot initiative to ban gays and lesbians from teaching in California public schools. Moreover, Milk exhorted gays and lesbians to fight oppression of all kinds.

*

All too typically, the fundies are going crazy and the spittle is flying as the wingnuts do everything but writhe on the floor in a convulsion. Randy Thomasson, of Campaign for California Children and Families (has he ever had a real job?), and Benjamin Lopez of the Traditional Values Coalition have been leading the homophobic minions of Daddy Dobson et all bloviating over this development. In their view, gays are simple supposed to disappear from sight and, better yet, cease to exist. Both Right Wing Watch and the Sacramento Bee have quotes of statements made by these self-proclaimed "loving Christians." Here are some highlights from the Bee:

*

"What significant contribution did Harvey Milk bring to the state of California – other than encouraging gay people to come out of the closet?" asked Benjamin Lopez of the Traditional Values Coalition. "This is yet another example of them trying to normalize and force acceptance of the gay lifestyle upon people," he said.

*

Randy Thomasson, of Campaign for California Children and Families, which opposes AB 2567, said the bill is a new tactic in a long push to portray homosexuality in a positive light to kids. "Harvey Milk Day is the equivalent of having Gay Day at every school in the state," he said. "We're going to be forcing young children to be grappling with these sexual lifestyles," agreed Meredith Turney of Capitol Resource Family Impact, which also opposes AB 2567.

*
Characterizing Milk as a civil rights leader based on issues surrounding homosexuality insults decades of struggle by racial minorities, Lopez said. "They've definitely hijacked the Freedom Train of the late '60s to benefit their own sexuality and their own cause," he said.

*

Meanwhile, because of Milk's contributions as a gay rights pioneer, the non-religious fanatics at Time magazine selected him nearly a decade ago as one of the world's 100 most important people of the 20th century.