A Summary Of The Life & Achievements Of Harvey Milk (Essay Sample)

Harvey Milk:
Name:
Institution:
Do you agree or disagree with the statement?
I do not agree with the comment made by Jim Elliot. The fear, hate and resentment that heterosexuals once expressed towards homosexuals has decreased over the years, as people have grown to appreciate and tolerate these individuals. At the present times, being gay is considered normal lifestyle by a majority of the people (Armstrong, 2002).
How much have things changed today?
Homophobia is not as bad currently as it was in the 1970’s.This can be seen in the results of various surveys that have been conducted over the years on sexual prejudism. Since the early 1970’s,the General Social Survey (GSS) conducted by the National Opinion Research Centre (NORC) at the University of Chicago, has in its survey of sexual prejudices, questioned its respondents on their willingness to give a self-confessed homosexual the fundamental rights to speech as spelled out in the Bill of Rights (Armstrong, 2002). The three issues included; whether the heterosexual, would be at ease with the homosexual being a teacher at a learning institution, whether they would permit such an individual, to make a public speech in their community and whether they would support, the publication and distribution of a book such a person authored on homosexuality. In the year 1973, the findings indicated that 61% would not be against the person’s right to speak, 47% would not be against them being teachers and 54% would have supported the homosexual’s book. Since that period, the support for the first amendment rights has increased, with the numbers increasing to 86%, 84% and 78% respectively (Boswell, 2009).
The American Psychiatric Association, conducted research investigating whether the sexual relations between same-sex adults are always wrong, wrong only sometimes or never wrong. The initial results when the investigation was carried out indicated that most people were against the vice, with those in support of the never wrong and wrong only sometimes, being about 20% of those polled. This was in the early 1970’s.A similar survey done in the year 2010, indicated that the numbers that were in support of the always wrong standpoint, had decreased to around 51%, while those in support of never wrong and wrong only sometimes had increased to around 49% (Ellis et al, 2001).
Gallup have conducted polls researching whether, homosexuality should be a way of life. This survey was conducted in the 1980’s, and the results indicated that many people, at least a ratio of 3 is to 2 were not willing to accept homosexuality as a way of life. These views changed gradually. In the 2000’s 54% of the people interviewed said they were prepared to accept homosexuality as a way of life, and 44% were against the practice. The numbers of these in favour of homosexuality as a way of life had increased to57% by 2007 (Armstrong, 2002).
Life and death of Harvey Milk
As a boy: Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. Milk was already aware of his sexual orientation in early teens but kept it hidden. In high school, he was played sports and developed a passion for opera. Milk entered the New York State College for Teachers in 1947. After graduation, he enlisted in the army. From 1950–1953, he served as a chief petty officer on a submarine rescue ship during the Korean War he was honourable discharged while at the rank of junior lieutenant before in 1955 (Boswell, 2009).
Looking for a career path: Once back in New York, he started teaching at a high school. By this time he was openly residing with his lover Joe Campbell. But his homosexuality remained hidden from his family. Later he got other job offers before joining the Wall Street investment firm Bache and Company in 1963.His political and social values were mostly conservative during the early 1960s in spite of his lifestyle, but this soon changed as the decade progressed. In 1968, he moved to California with his new lover Jack Galen McKinley but after e was laid off from his finance job he returned to New York only to return in 1972.Milk and his new partner Scott Smith resided on Castro Street, which was more or less a gay community and set up a camera shop there (Ellis et al, 2001).
Mayor of Castro Street: His first shot at politics was in the year 1973 after the Watergate scandal. He contested for a position in the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's city council by using the votes of the minority groups as his base. He lost the election but gained enough support to put him on the city's political map. He reorganized the Castro Village Association into a civic organization and started Castro Street Fair. He helped the city conduct voter registration that saw up to two thousand new voters registered. He ran for supervisor again 1975 but lost. However, Mayor George Moscone appointed Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals. Not so long after assuming the office, he announced his desire to contest for the state assembly (Boswell, 2009).
Milk ran against the Democratic party to which he lost by a mere 4000 votes. In 1977, Milk was finally elected to the Board of Supervisors, thus becoming the first elected official that was openly gay in the city's history.
Milk's agenda: The policies that milk advocated for included; government to respond to the needs of individuals, a gay rights law that would ensure equal and fair treatment for all regardless of their sexual orientation and the preservation of the unique character of the city's neighbourhoods and various programs that benefited the minority groups. He gained national prominence for the part he played in defeating a state Senate proposal that would have locked gays out of the teaching fraternity (Ellis et al, 2001).