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​Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was born to William and Minerva Milk in Woodmere, New York on May 22, 1930. By the time he was 14, Harvey knew that he was gay, but he kept it from family and friends for many years. After all, oppression of gays at the time was immense and tolerance was very low. The list of wrongs against gays was seemingly infinite. Oral sex and sodomy were considered felonies. Offenders faced eviction from their homes, arrest, and sentences ranging from fifteen years to life. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness and treatment included electroshock therapy. Homosexuals were not allowed to work government jobs or in the foreign service. Gay bars were frequented with raids in which the patrons were arrested, their names appearing in the next day’s paper. Serving drinks to homosexuals was basis for shutting down a bar. If police caught two members of the same sex dancing with each other they were subject to arrest. This discrimination caused many homosexuals to hide their lives from loved ones and even commit suicide. Harvey did not know it, but he would one day become a source of hope and progress for the oppressed homosexual community.

Outside of his personal life, Harvey fit the conservative mold. He worked jobs at insurance companies and on Wall Street. He supported Republicans and the war in Vietnam. This changed when Milk befriended people in the theater business, many of whom were “flower children.” Soon, Milk took a more liberal stance, growing his hair long and attending demonstrations, like one against the American invasion of Cambodia where he burned his BankAmericard in protest. At this time, Milk met a new lover, Scott Smith, and the two moved to the up and coming gay center of the country: the Castro Village in San Francisco.

The Castro Village was a product of discrimination of gays in the army and the rise of business. The first wave of homosexuals came as the army began to dishonorably discharge gay soldiers. Many times these soldiers disembarked at the port of San Francisco. Too afraid and ashamed to return home, these men settled in San Francisco. Later, many white collar educated gay men came to fill newly created jobs during the post-industrial years. Attracted by the Victorian architecture, gays came to settle on Castro Street. Soon, the majority of the gay population made the move the Castro and the village went from typical family neighborhood to a newly developed gay society with its own culture. Upon arrival to San Francisco, like many other gay couples, Scott Smith and Harvey Milk settled on Castro Street, opening up their own business Castro Camera.

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