The City Council unanimously voted to join the statewide effort to acknowledge the contributions of former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria asked the City to go on record in support of Senate Bill 572, introduced by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, earlier this month. District 5 Councilmember Carl DeMaio seconded the motion, and the Council approved it.

Senate Bill 572 is very similar to AB 2567, the bill that was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year. AB 2567 would have designated Harvey Milk Day as “a day of special significance,” and required the governor to proclaim Harvey Milk Day on May 22 every year.

In 1977, Milk became the first openly gay man elected to an important political office in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated the following year by fellow Supervisor Dan White.

The passage of Bill 572 would cost the state nothing, and state workers would not get the day off. Its only result would be that May 22, Harvey Milk’s birthday, would be known as “Harvey Milk Day,” in California.