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Sculpture unveiled honoring Harvey Milk
Assembly passes bill declaring gay leader’s birthday a holiday
Published Thursday, 29-May-2008 in issue 1066
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Almost 30 years after his assassination by a fellow city lawmaker, Harvey Milk returned to San Francisco City Hall.
A bronze bust of the first openly gay politician to win an elected office of any prominence was unveiled May 22 on what would have been Milk’s 78th birthday.
Milk, long considered a martyred hero of the gay rights movement, is the first non-mayor to have his likeness permanently installed in the civic building. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 and shot to death a year later along with Mayor George Moscone by Dan White, a former police officer who had just resigned his supervisor’s seat.
White was convicted of manslaughter, and served a little more than three years in prison before committing suicide.
The bust, sculpted by the Berkeley-based Daub, Firmin, Hendrickson Sculpture Group and based on a photograph taken by a friend, shows Milk with a wide grin and his tie fluttering in the breeze. It sits atop a solid granite base inscribed with a prophetic statement he recorded before his death.
“I ask for the movement to continue because my election gave young people out there hope. You gotta give ‘em hope,” it reads.
Standing 75 inches high and weighing over 200 pounds, the sculpture also has three scenes depicted in relief on the base. One features Milk during his stint in the Navy, another shows him riding in a gay pride parade, and the last depicts the candlelight march held the night of the assassinations.
The sculpture was scheduled to be unveiled during a gala reception seven years after the Board of Supervisors first passed a resolution authorizing a public memorial for Milk. The project was delayed when the private committee formed to raise money for the project had a hard time soliciting donations.
The private funds were ultimately secured and the sculpture ended up costing $57,500, with another $26,500 going toward a design competition, engineering and installation, said Jill Manton, director of public art for the San Francisco Arts Commission.
A panel of jurors selected the winning design of the grinning Milk from three finalists. Another entry was a more serious, classical design and the third was contemporary interpretation, Manton said.
“Everyone really felt that this particular proposal captured his vitality, his vigor, his energy,” she said.
The bust will stand in a ceremonial rotunda outside the Board of Supervisors chambers, a spot where couples frequently choose to get married. Manton said she expects the bust to be popular with City Hall visitors, especially now that California has legalized same-sex marriage.
“What I’ve heard from the head of the docent tours is the most frequently asked question (by visitors) is, ‘Where is the statue of Harvey Milk?’ or ‘Is there anything commemorating where he was assassinated,” she said.
The installation comes at a time of renewed interest in Milk and his legacy.
Milk has been immortalized in the film “The Life and Times of Harvey Milk”, at a school named for him, and a plaza near Castro and Market Streets. Shooting was recently completed on a second film, a dramatization of Milk’s life starring Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant.
In the meantime, California lawmakers have been asked to establish a state holiday in Milk’s honor.
The California Assembly has passed legislation honoring slain LGBT civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk. The bill, designating May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day, now moves to the state Senate where it is expected to encounter little difficulty.
The bill requires the Governor to proclaim May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, and designates it as a “day of special significance” in California, encouraging schools to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on his life and contributions to the state.
The legislation would have no financial impact on the state, and state workers and school employees would not get the day off from work.
The Assembly voted 45 to 23 to pass the bill, authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D).
“Harvey would be proud to know that his legacy continues to teach us to believe in ourselves and our dreams,” said Leno in a statement following the vote.
“Given the alarming rates of suicide, depression, substance abuse, bullying and violence against LGBT youth in our schools, the bill aims to give LGBT and straight students alike a positive representative of who LGBT people are that inspires pride and self-esteem rather than fear and shame. That is what Harvey was all about,” he said.
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