HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF HARVEY MILK AND COMMEMORATING HIS 95TH BIRTHDAY ON MAY 22, 2025.

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Morrison & Sen. Cruce & Sen. Townsend

Reps. Bush, Minor-Brown; Sens. Hansen, Sokola

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 59

HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF HARVEY MILK AND COMMEMORATING HIS 95TH BIRTHDAY ON MAY 22, 2025.

WHEREAS, Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay Americans to be elected to public office when he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 1978, after tirelessly running a true grassroots campaign; and

WHEREAS, he was the first openly gay man to run for a seat in the California State Assembly; and

WHEREAS, during his eleven months in office, Mr. Milk sponsored a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing, and employment, the first such legislation in the history of the nation; and

WHEREAS, he was known as the “Mayor of Castor Street” for developing the area into a business and cultural hub in San Francisco; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Milk worked tirelessly not just for members of the LGBTQ+ community but for other marginalized communities including people of color, women, and seniors; and

WHEREAS, he championed the causes of organized labor, small business, mental health, childcare, public transportation, and law enforcement oversight; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Milk worked to defeat a proposed law that would have mandated the termination of gay teachers and any public-school employees supporting gay rights; and

WHEREAS, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, working himself up to the role of lieutenant, but was forced to accept an “other than honorable discharge” and leave the Navy rather than be court-marshaled because of his sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Milk had written repeatedly in his journals that he feared being assassinated, and famously and publicly remarked, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door”; and

WHEREAS, on November 27, 1978, having served less than one year in office, he was assassinated (along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone) by fellow local elected official and political rival Dan White; and

WHEREAS, in court, Mr. White offered a defense of

‏“‏

diminished capacity” due in part to his junk food binge the night before the murders (infamously

dubbed

‏“‏

the Twinkie defense”), leading to his acquittal on first-degree murder charges and conviction on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, and sentencing to serve just seven and two-thirds years in prison, later released in just over five years for the murders; and

WHEREAS, that conviction and sentencing led to the “White Night Riots” in which more than 3,000 members of the Castro Street LGBTQ+ community took to the streets in protest; and

WHEREAS, in retaliation, later that evening, law enforcement officers in riot gear stormed a Castro Street gay bar and beat patrons randomly, then left the bar and beat protesters on the street; and

WHEREAS, in 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Mr. Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, remarking that he “fought discrimination with visionary courage and conviction”; and

WHEREAS, also in 2009, Mr. Milk was posthumously inducted into the California Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, he was included in the Time Magazine’s “100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century”; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Milk’s life has inspired a musical theater production, an opera, a cantata, a children’s book, a French-language historical novel for young-adult readers, and the biopic film “Milk” released in 2008; and

WHEREAS, he has had numerous American streets, public facilities, and a U.S. Navy ship named in his honor; and

WHEREAS, from 1978 until today, he has inspired countless members of the LGBTQ+ community to run for public office and to live openly as their authentic selves, and is revered as a trailblazer, hero, and icon in the LGBTQ+ community in America and across the world; and

WHEREAS, May 22, 2025, would have been Mr. Milk’s 95th birthday.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 153

rd

General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that Delaware commemorates the 95

th

birthday of Harvey Milk and honors his life and legacy dedicated to fighting for equal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals and lifting up all people.

SYNOPSIS

This House concurrent resolution honors the life and legacy of Harvey Milk and commemorates what would have been his 95th birthday on May 22, 2025.