Celebrating Pride Month: Harvey Milk, first openly gay man elected to public office

Harvey Milk, born May 22, 1930 in Woodmere, New York, graduated from New York State College for Teachers in Albany, majoring in mathematics.  He joined the US Navy as a diving officer during the Korean War. He left the Navy in 1955, accepting an "other than honorable" discharge rather than being court-martialed for being gay.

He moved to the Castro area of San Francisco, where many gay men who had been expelled from the military had congregated.  

Amid many scandals and trials, Milk was elected mayor of San Francisco November 8, 1977, winning over 16 other candidates.  His swearing-in made national headlines since he was the first non-incumbent openly gay man in the US to win an election for public office.  

He sponsored a bill that passed by a vote of 11-1 that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing, and employment.  Mayor George Moscone signed it into law.

On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the only vote against Milk's bill.

Celebrating Pride Month: Frank Kameny, grandfather of the Queer Liberation Movement

Frank Kameny, born May 21, 1925 in New York City, was an early gay advocate and one of the most significant figures in the history of the American gay rights movement. He enlisted in the US Army in May 1943 and, after finishing basic training, sent to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study mechanical engineering. Kameny was withdrawn from the program to prepare for an invasion of France.  He was sent to the frontlines where he served as an infantry private.

After the war, he enrolled at Harvard University and graduated with a Master's degree in 1949 and a doctorate in 1956 in astronomy.  In August 1956, he was "detained" in San Francisco after being accused of "lewd and indecent acts".

A year later, Kameny was hired by the US Army Map Service, but when they heard of his arrest in San Francisco he was fired. He appealed his firing through the courts and even the US Supreme Court, but never won a case.  He devoted himself to activism.

Kameny's pushback against the government's policy on gay employees was the first of its kind, arguing that discrimination on the basis of sexuality is no different from discrimination based on race or religion.  

In 1961, he co-founded the Washington DC branch of the Mattachine Society. He campaigned to overturn DC sodomy laws in 1963, and was finally successful in 1993. He also worked to remove the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association.

He represented and defended government employees who had their security revoked or suspended due to allegations of "perversion" or immoral acts". 

Kameny ran for US Congress in 1971 in DC's first election for a non-voting Congressional delegate, the first gay to run for Congress, but lost unfortunately.  After his defeat, he created the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Washington, DC, which still lobbies the government and pushes for equal rights.

Kameny passed away in October 2011.

Oklahoma: Where the Hate Comes Sweeping Down the Plain (Part 2)

In small, obscure, insignificant Achille, Oklahoma, school officials have closed school the past two days after parents, i.e. grown-ups or adults, threatened a 12 year-old transgender student. 

Among the comments, parents have called her 'it' and 'thing'.  They've called for her to be
stabbed or beaten.  One even went as far as to say:

“If he wants to be a female make him a female. A good sharp knife will do the job really quick.”

A list of those parents who made these nasty comments can be found at this link.

For the Fox News version:

http://www.kxii.com/content/news/Mother-of-transgender-Achille-ISD-7th-grader-shares-struggles-following-threats-490766611.html