The Human Relations Commission of the City of San Diego, 51st District Representative Bob Filner and City Council President Kevin Faulconer sent proposals to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee recommending that Harvey Milk be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

“Harvey Milk was an exceptional leader and an exceptional advocate for LGBT rights,” Representative Bob Filner said. “Our country is just beginning to recognize the full significance of his message of hope and equality. It is my hope that a commemorative postage stamp would serve to further remind Americans to honor Harvey Milk by continuing his work – which remains essential and urgent in our communities today.”

The committee selects 25 new stamps each year from more than 50,000 proposals.

Daniel Drent, Chair of Equality Cincinnati Political Action Committee moderates a Facebook group called, “Honor Harvey Milk with a U.S. Postage Stamp” and sent a similar proposal to the committee earlier this year.

“The stamps represent people recognized as an important part of our American history for whatever reason. I think its time that we recognize Harvey Milk and the GLBT movement with a postage stamp because there has been nothing recognizing our struggle for equality,” Drent said.

Once the committee decides which 25 stamps to put into circulation, the process can take as long as three years before each stamp is available to the public. If the Milk stamp is selected, it will be introduced on Milk’s birthday, May 22.

“You send it with a wish and a prayer and a hope for the best,” Drent said, adding that the three year wait is ridiculous.

The Committee meets in Washington, D.C. four times a year to review proposals. The committee is comprised of 12 members appointed by the postmaster general. Members of the committee include former vice-presidential second lady Joan Mondale and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates. Each meeting focuses on proposals from its last meeting. If a proposal meets the committee’s criteria for selection, it is researched and presented at its next meeting. Once recommendations are finalized, they are given to the postmaster, who makes the final decision.

When the committee receives many suggestions for a particular stamp, it is more likely to be enacted. Drent’s Facebook group boasts more than 13,000 members, and although he has not further campaigned, Drent suggests that the GLBT community rally, petition and send letters to the committee.

“I would hope people campaign for this stamp to be made. We should bombard them over the next six to 12 months with letters.” Drent said.

When Drent sent his proposal, he did not include a sample of artwork but noted where versions of Milk’s stamp could be found on his Facebook Web site.

“They’re going to have who they choose do the design anyways,” Drent said.

Jim Leff, a San Francisco artist, painted one of the most popular versions of the stamp.

“I would love to do another one; that one is now outdated,” Leff told the Bay Area Reporter. “It would be the culmination of all the stamp art I have been painting if I get invited to work on a stamp like this by invitation.”

Leff told the Bay Area Reporter he was the first to paint the stamp and would be honored to be chosen.

“I painted it to make a statement, not a stamp,” Leff said. “People always said the stamp should be real.”

This is the second time a major effort has been made for a Harvey Milk stamp. In 2005 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution asking the postmaster general to issue a Milk stamp, but the idea failed to catch the attention of the nation.

Now that Milk, the film based on Milk’s life, has become successful, Drent hopes that he will see his hopes come to fruition.

“I think the movie really did help bring his story and the fight for equality to the forefront for a lot of people,” Drent said. Drent grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“If you weren’t actively involved in the GLBT community, you didn’t really know much about Harvey Milk and what happened to him,” Drent said of his Mid-West upbringing.

“I hope we can see this happen in the next few years,” he said. “We hope someday we might find equality for all of us.”

Milk was honored with America’s highest civilian honor, the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, last August. Last month, Gov. Schwarzenegger inducted Milk into the California Hall of Fame.