The Death of Harvey Milk

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"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country."

Harvey Milk
Nov. 18, 1977

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Since his murder 35 years ago today, I sometimes wonder if Harvey Milk anticipated the changes that have occurred for homosexuals not only in California, where he became the first openly gay individual to serve on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, but in the nation as a whole.

A lot of things that were true then are hard for people of the 21st century to comprehend, but at the time of Milk's death, San Francisco did not have the reputation for being a haven for homosexuals that it has today. Many gay people had migrated to San Francisco during and after the counterculture days of the 1960s, but the demographic group really had yet to flex its political muscle.

I'm not homosexual, but I have friends who are, which has made me more sensitive to the gay community's issues and icons than I once was. In 1978, I paid little, if any, attention.

I remember hearing about the slaying at the time, but the victims and the killer were just names to me. I lived two time zones away, and the story didn't really resonate with me beyond the few minutes I heard about it on the evening news.

And, I must admit, from the vantage point of one living in Arkansas and hearing San Francisco mentioned in connection with the story, it was hard to differentiate between that news event and the story that broke a week earlier about mass suicides in Guyana — since many of those who died in Guyana came from San Francisco, as did the congressman who was killed at the same time. I'm sure it was different for people living on the West Coast, but that was kind of a vague reference point for me.

At the time, I suppose I reasoned that the two events were connected in some way. I may even have assumed that Milk's sexuality (if I even knew about it then, and I probably didn't) was the reason for what happened — in San Francisco, anyway.

In fact, there was a connection between Guyana and San Francisco of which I remember hearing nothing at the time. Milk was a big supporter of Jim Jones when Milk was a rising local political star and Jones was a prominent community activist. Reporters might have quoted Milk at the time on what had happened when Jones was in San Francisco, but I honestly don't remember anything like that.

Milk didn't start out in politics. In fact, his political career turned out to be very brief.

As a young man, he served in the Navy during the Korean War and attempted several occupations after his discharge. A native of New York, Milk came to San Francisco when he was 42 and opened a camera shop, but he gravitated to politics and followed a path that eventually made him the first openly gay politician to hold office in California.

In 1978, only a few months before his death and long before Bill Clinton was recognized as "the man from Hope," Milk delivered what has come to be known as his "Hope Speech," urging gays to come out of the closet.

"We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions," he said. "We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I'm going to talk about it."

Around the time that Milk was settling in San Francisco, Dan White, a native San Franciscan who had been working in Alaska as a high school security guard, returned to his hometown to work as a police officer. After that, he was in the city fire department.

In 1977, White was elected city supervisor and took office in January 1978 with Milk. I've heard that they had a cordial relationship at first, but things clearly went sour somewhere.

I gather that things began to go irretrievably awry between them over a proposal by the Catholic church to establish a rehab facility for young offenders in White's district. White was against it, and Milk was for it.

But I also gather that White had problems with others in city hall, not just Milk. And, by November 1978, he had reached the end of his rope. He resigned his seat early in the month, citing corruption in city politics and his limited income potential as his reasons. As a city supervisor, he was prohibited from holding a job as a policeman or a fireman at the same time. The law allowed no one to hold two jobs with the city simultaneously.

A few days later, White changed his mind and went to see Mayor George Moscone about being re–appointed to his old job. Moscone was agreeable at first but reversed himself after conferring with Milk and others.

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Then, on this day in 1978, White went to city hall with a gun, climbed in through a window to avoid the metal detectors that had been installed recently and went first to Moscone's office, where he tried once again to get his job back and shot Moscone twice in the head when the mayor refused.

Then White reloaded, went to Milk's office and shot Milk five times, the last two fired at Milk's head at close range. He fled the building.

The task of announcing to the public what had happened fell to future Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then president of the Board of Supervisors, who identified the bodies and was so shaken by what she had seen she needed to be supported by the police chief while she spoke in front of a shocked audience and numerous TV cameras.

That night, tens of thousands gathered for a candlelight march to the steps of city hall. Appropriately, a candlelight march is planned in San Francisco later today to commemorate the Milk and Moscone assassinations.

"[T]he time has come," writes Andy Towle, "to make their vision of a city of hope come alive."

Filling the Supreme Court Vacancy

The recent announcement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter's intention to retire has presented Barack Obama with his first opportunity to make an impression on the courts and the interpretation of the law that will last beyond the life of his presidency.

Realistically, of course, the number of vacancies that Obama may be called upon to fill, even if his presidency is only one four–year term, could be unlimited. William Howard Taft nominated six Supreme Court justices in his single term, and the ages of the current justices imply the possibility of retirement or death for more than one before the next presidential election.

More than half of the justices are 70 or older. John Paul Stevens, who was appointed by President Ford, is 89 years old. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Clinton, is 76 and has had bouts with cancer in the last decade. Antonin Scalia, who is 73, and Anthony Kennedy, who is 72, were appointed by President Reagan. And Stephen Breyer, who is 70, was appointed by President Clinton.

Thus, while he is compiling his list of prospects from which will come his choice to replace Souter, Obama would be wise to keep an eye to the future.

Last night, while I was watching CNN, political analyst Bill Schneider was discussing survey results that indicated that less than half of respondents felt that it was important for the next member of the Supreme Court to be female, Hispanic or black. I think that is good because it indicates a de–emphasis on the symbolic and superficial aspects of the appointment.

Would it be a good thing to have another woman or another black — or the first Hispanic — on the Court? Certainly. But, as George W. Bush learned to his chagrin, gender (or ethnicity) cannot be the sole benchmark for choosing a nominee.

That was reaffirmed by the results of the survey. As Schneider told the viewing audience, nearly 90% of the respondents felt it was important for the next justice to have judicial experience. That indicates that the public places a premium on practical considerations.

The Constitution established no qualifications for serving on the Supreme Court, which gave the president the authority to nominate anyone. But the nominee must be confirmed by the Senate, which means a majority of senators must find the nominee suitable for the post.

Administration officials have told CNN.com that Obama may name his nominee late this month or early next month, before he leaves for Egypt. If that is true, chances are that he has already whittled his list down to a handful of names.

Considering the low approval ratings that Congress has received from the public in recent years, the Senate would be wise to apply the confirmation yardstick that is regarded as most important by most Americans. If Obama happens to select a woman or a black or an Hispanic, that's fine. But if that person doesn't have judicial experience, that nominee may be destined for the Harriet Miers Expressway.

David Strauss, one of Obama's law school colleagues, told James Warren of The Atlantic that he doesn't see Obama as having a "Supreme Court–centered agenda. He's not trying to move the Court in a dramatic new direction or to get the Court to make important changes in society."

There are still those, however, who hope to see a nominee who will promote a progressive agenda by upholding Roe v. Wade and supporting gay rights and affirmative action while opposing efforts to implement school prayer.

And, clearly, there is a growing movement favoring the reform of marijuana laws.

There is also a movement against judges legislating from the bench, but Obama could send a powerful message by appointing someone whose judicial decisions support progressive positions.

I was reading an intriguing article today written by Matt Welch for Reason.com. It contains a cautionary tale for Obama as he makes this important decision.

"When the generation of Americans under the age of 30 gets around to realizing that this handsome young president might not be nearly as cool as they'd hoped," he writes, "it won't be hard to affix a date on when the milk began to sour. It was March 26, 2009, when Barack Obama conducted a live town hall press conference featuring questions submitted online."

During the online town hall, Obama referred to the fact that 3½ million people submitted questions to be asked, and one of the most popular questions had to do with legalizing marijuana.

The question was posed as a way of improving the economy and creating jobs, both of which are high priorities for the Obama administration. But, in spite of ample evidence that billions in tax revenue from marijuana sales could be generated and millions of jobs could be created, Obama declined to address the question.

Of course, a discussion about legalization also could have put more attention on the other benefits that could be derived, such as re–focusing the billions that currently are being spent on the "war on drugs" — which in effect criminalizes millions of hard–working and otherwise law–abiding citizens — in more productive ways — for example, using that money to pursue violent criminals.

Obama's response (or lack of one) didn't go over well with many of the younger, more socially enlightened voters who turned out to vote for him in November. He didn't seem to realize that many of those who voted for him did not do so simply because (a) he wasn't a Republican and (b) his last name wasn't Bush or Clinton. They did so because they sought a more enlightened leader than they had had in the previous eight years.

"There's little doubt about the broad mores of Generation Obama," writes Welch, "pro–choice, pro–gay, and pro–legalization. Obama's got the first one covered, but his youngest supporters are finding out quickly that on the latter two the president is not offering substantive 'change' from the last few administrations."

Nominating a judge who has been lenient about gay rights and medical marijuana and favors a more progressive federal stance on marijuana use in general would go a long way toward reassuring increasingly disenchanted Obama supporters.