Sacramento - The California State Assembly has adopted a resolution carried by Assemblymember Toni Atkins requesting that the United States Postal Service honor slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk with a postage stamp. HR 41 recognizes Milk’s many accomplishments as a leader of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and will be added to letters from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders in urging the postal service to create a Milk stamp.
“A postage stamp draws attention to important people who may not be familiar to all Americans,” says Atkins. “Harvey Milk, who gave his life because he led the way for equality, is an ideal choice for this honor.”
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisor in 1977. Before he was assassinated in 1978, Milk encouraged LGBT people to live their lives openly as the only way to change society and achieve social equality. In 2009, Milk was inducted into the California Hall of Fame and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His birthday, May 22, is recognized annually in California. Milk was also named one of Time Magazine’s one hundred persons of the century. Recently, a street in San Diego was renamed for Milk and the California State Senate adopted a resolution urging the Secretary of Defense to name a Navy ship after Milk.
The campaign to honor Harvey Milk with a postage stamp has been led by several community groups, including the Harvey Milk Foundation, The International Court Council, and the GLBT Historic Task Force of San Diego.
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