The White House announced today that San Francisco civil rights leader Harvey Milk will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From the White House press release:

Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social equality. Milk, alongside San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed in 1978 by Dan White, a former city supervisor.  Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights.

The Victory Fund which advocates on behalf of LGBT leaders responded to the news:

“We are thrilled President Obama is honoring Harvey Milk with the Medal of Freedom.  He’s an American hero and trailblazer whose election more than 30 years ago triggered a political awakening that inspires us still today.  This recognition sends an important message about how critical political leadership will be in making all Americans equal in the eyes of the law,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

Stuart Milk echoed Wolfe’s praise, saying, “The President’s action today touches the core of our very human hearts and my uncle would be so proud of this high honor.  His election was, for him, a beginning–a chance to make real change.  That change is happening, but we still have so far to go.  I hope this recognition inspires LGBT Americans everywhere to heed Harvey’s call to run for office, to serve openly, to live proudly with authenticity and to demand the equality that we all deserve.”

Harvey’s nephew Stuart Milk will be at the White House to accept the honor on August 12. Other recipients include openly lesbian tennis legend Bill Jean King and LGBT ally Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

It’s been almost 31 years since Dan White took Harvey Milk from us, and who knows where we would be now if he were still with us. Harvey’s courage and wisdom would have guided us though the AIDS crisis here in San Francisco and the growing gay rights movement that followed. He would have been 79-years-young today.

Even though Governor Schwarzenegger has yet to sign a bill instituting Harvey Milk Day, there’s no reason why we can’t celebrate it. California Ripple Effect put together a great list of things we could do to honor Harvey’s memory…

• For starters, let’s make it official. Make sure you’ve added your name to the petition urging Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign Harvey Milk Day into law at www.eqca.org/HarveyMilkDay.
• If you’re in Sacramento, you can join your LGBT Caucus on the North Lawn of the Capitol for a Harvey Milk birthday celebration tomorrow from 11:30 to 1 p.m.
• A grassroots group has also organized candlelight vigils tomorrow night across the state to mark the occasion.
• If you want to tuck in with a good movie, or organize a screening for your friends, there are two excellent Oscar-winning flicks about Harvey Milk’s life, the documentary Times of Harvey Milk and Gus Van Sant’s Milk starring Sean Penn.
• Finally, wish those you see tomorrow a “Happy Harvey Milk Day”. This is a great opportunity to share his story with someone new if they don’t know it.

I’ll close with Harvey’s famous “Hope” speech, used so eloquently in the video below. And where ever your are Harvey, Happy Birthday!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the White Night riots, spurred by the lenient sentencing of Dan White for the murder of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

A look back at that turbulent time…

I’d like to take this time to wish all my readers a happy and prosperous Thanksgiving. I know we have a lot to be thankful for this year, our health, our families and friends, and honestly, employment, but for many these are difficult times. To them I wish the very best in the hope that better times are ahead.

While it is a joyful day, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the horrible events and terrible loss of life in Mumbai, India over the last several hours. Our thoughts go out to them.

And finally, it was exactly 30 years ago today that Harvey Milk and George Moscone were assassinated by City Supervisor Dan White here in San Francisco. The anniversary of Harvey’s death is especially poignant due to the release of the film Milk yesterday. Please check it out over the long break. You won’t regret it.

Below is a NO on Prop 8 ad I somehow missed during the campaign. The audio is from one of Harvey Milk’s speeches. It’s pretty darn moving, and appropriate on this day of thanks, and much needed hope.