Sean Penn Calls for Harvey Milk Day
March 3, 2009
Actor Sean Penn, fresh off his Academy Award-winning turn as Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s biopic, Milk, is in San Francisco today to introduce the Harvey Milk Day Bill.
Harvey Milk
At 11 AM this morning, Penn joined State Senator Mark Leno, State Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Equality California at a press conference to introduce the Harvey Milk Day Bill. Sponsored by Equality California, the bill seeks to educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor, civil rights activist and American hero whose work helped bring LGBT people out of the closet and into civic life.
The legislation calls on the Governor to proclaim May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, designating it as a “day of special significance.”
According to Equality California:
The legislation was originally introduced last year by Sen. Leno but the Governor vetoed the measure on the grounds that Harvey Milk was unknown beyond San Francisco. Milk, who was the first openly gay elected official of a major American city, was responsible for passing San Francisco’s gay-rights ordinance and helping to defeat the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gay and lesbian teachers from public schools. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in November 1978, but his legacy continues. He was named one of the most influential people of the 20th Century by Time.
Gov. Schwarzenegger Vetoes Harvey Milk Day
October 1, 2008
On September 30, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have made the birthday of gay political icon Harvey Milk a statewide “day of significance.” According to the Associated Press, the governor said he respected the measure’s intent, but thinks Milk’s “contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level.”
Harvey Milk
Earlier this year, California State Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), inspired by the filming of the upcoming Gus Van Sant biopic Milk, partnered with Equality California to back a measure for a non-fiscal statewide Harvey Milk holiday to take place every May 22, in honor of his birthday. In press materials for the bill, Leno lauds Milk as “a true American hero” who “gave hope to a generation of gay and lesbian individuals whose basic humanity and freedom had been denied and dishonored,” and who demonstrated “that each one of us possesses the ability to create extraordinary change in our communities, our country and the world.” The bill was approved by the Senate with a 22-13 vote and sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger on August 5. Unfortunately, the governor did not sign the legislation.
To learn more about Harvey Milk and his importance to the LGBT civil rights movement, please read GLAAD’s Milk Resource Kit.
Van Sant’s biopic will premiere October 28 in San Francisco’s Castro District. On November 26, Milk will open in select markets.
Check out the trailer here:
