Harvey Milk

Harvey Bernard Milk (1930 – 1978) was an American politician who became the first openly gay person elected to public office in California, in 1977. Milk served almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. His campaign manager wrote, "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Courage and strong purpose marked his leadership.

It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.