Image courtesy of HISTORY
"Hope Will Never Be Silent:" Harvey Milk's Crusade for LGBTQIA+ Rights
National History Day 2023
Frontiers in History: People, Places and Ideas
"Some call me the unofficial Mayor of Castro Street"
~ Harvey Milk
Castro's Street's Leader
With his new fame, Milk restarted the Castro Village Association, a previously rejected organization of local homosexual business owners, successfully expanding it to 90 businesses. In 1974, he started the Castro Street Fair, a massive celebration of San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. Milk also personally registered 2,350 voters in Castro Street, helping gay voices be heard.
"Four years ago, I realized that in order to help promote the area as a place where gay people could come and be comfortable, I organized and produced the first Castro Street Fair. Now the street fair is the biggest and most spirited in the city."
~ Harvey Milk
"San Francisco may have seen the beginning of a wave of neighborhood street fairs rather than tourist street fairs."
~Harvey Milk
Castro Street Fair, 1970s. Courtesy of Uncle Donald's Castro Street.
Milk campaigning. Courtesy of the SFO Museum.
"All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential."
~ Harvey Milk
Working Against the Status Quo
In 1974, Milk was furious over SFPD's mistreatment of 14 gay partiers, the "Castro 14." He confronted the police, producing a training video that discouraged discriminatory behavior towards the homosexual community.
In 1973, six beer companies, including Coors, stopped hiring unionized drivers. Milk cut a deal with the Teamster Union and spread a boycott of the six companies through gay bars. After taking hits, the companies reversed their policies and, in exchange, the Teamsters successfully helped gay drivers get hired.
A popular protest sign. Courtesy of the Teamsters.
"Last year I raised the cry: I pay my taxes for the police to protect me, not persecute me. The police who were on Castro Street last Sunday night do not believe that."
~ Harvey Milk on the Castro 14
"I feel that the gay community should stand firmly behind the current boycott of Coors until that community begins hiring gays and begins spending some of its profits in the gay community...The time has come for the gay community to join with others in helping to end all discrimination"
~ Harvey Milk on the Coors Boycott