in the seventies, harvey milk opened the doors and closets of the gay community. he put himself, a gay man, out into the hills and air of san francisco as a political forerunner. he started out as the honoray mayor of castor street, a prominent gay neighborhood in the '70s, and fastened on for a total of three elections until he was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. he brought awareness to the gay community and urged that they could take place in the community, and no longer had to ride in the back seat on mainstream "straight" affairs. this all began at the age of 40 years old, and unfortunately he only got to remain in politics for eight years of his life.
In 1979 milk's life, along with sf mayor george moscone, were cut short as former supervisor dan white murdered them both in city hall. the shocking news poured through on the morning radio, and the community responded with a spontaneous candlelight walk, reaching about a mile and half long and stretching wide across castro street. together the community mourned, walking side by side to the sounds of one lone drum. we need to continue what milk started, continuing to work together, continuing to fight, continuing towards a world without bigotry and acceptance is the only way, for as a cab driver in sf once told me: "we are going to win this because
this is what the world is!"
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