Milk, Harvey, 1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in the United States. A liberal Democrat, he supported equal rights for minorities and women. Former city supervisor Dan White assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

Milk, Harvey (Bernard)

orig. Glimpy Milch

(born May 22, 1930, Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco, Calif.) U.S. political leader. After graduating from college, he served in the U.S. Navy and was discharged in 1955 (although Milk claimed that he was dishonourably discharged due to his homosexuality, military records do not support the allegation). He later settled in San Francisco and soon gained a following as a leader of the city's gay community. In 1977 he was elected to the city's Board of Supervisors, becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in U.S. history. In 1978 Milk and the city's mayor, George Moscone (1929–78), were shot and killed in City Hall by Dan White, a conservative former city supervisor. At White's murder trial, his attorneys argued that his judgment had been impaired by eating junk food (a tactic later derided as the “Twinkie defense”); his conviction on the less serious charge of voluntary manslaughter sparked riots in the city. Milk was the subject of numerous books and movies, including the 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, which received an Academy Award.

Milk, Harvey (1930–78) public official; born in New York City. He moved to San Francisco in 1969 and at first operated a camera store. But as an experienced financial analyst, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977. Instrumental in passing the city's gay rights ordinance, he was the first acknowledged homosexual official in the city. He was shot to death by a former city supervisor, who also killed Mayor George Moscone. When their assassin was given a light sentence, San Francisco's homosexual community rioted.