Five Reasons Why Schwarzenegger Should Sign Harvey Milk Day Into Law
For the second straight year, a bill in the California legislature has passed both the State Senate and the State Assembly, pushing forward the creation of May 22 as an annual day to celebrate the life and leadership of Harvey Milk. Milk, of course, is one of the most prominent LGBT politicians in U.S. history, a former San Francisco City Supervisor assassinated in 1978 as his political career was climbing.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill naming May 22 as Harvey Milk Day because he didn't think Milk was well known enough outside of San Francisco. That excuse has since flown out the window. But it's not stopping rabidly conservative groups from trying to lobby Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto the bill, and send Harvey Milk back into the closet. It's time to let Schwarzenegger know what we think.
Below are our five reasons why the Governor should sign into law Harvey Milk Day. Meanwhile, please feel free to send a message to the Governor via Twitter - twitter.com/Schwarzenegger - letting him know that signing into law Harvey Milk Day will send a message that people who champion equal rights deserve to be held up as heroes; and not the nutty folks on the right-wing fringes of society who seek to criminalize people like Milk. A few Re-Tweet suggestions:
- @Schwarzenegger: please sign into law the Harvey Milk Day bill and celebrate one of the nation's foremost LGBT heroes;
- @Schwarzenegger: Sign Harvey Milk Day! Stand up for equal rights for all!
- @Schwarzenegger: Please sign into law the bill recognizing Harvey Milk Day. Harvey's a national hero; he deserves to be remembered.
- @Schwarzenegger: It's not a tumor!
OK, forget that last one...but some movie lines beg to be re-tweeted. Here are our five reasons for Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign into law Harvey Milk Day.
1.) If he's good enough for the White House, shouldn't he be good enough for California? Earlier this summer, Harvey Milk was given a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom by the White House, celebrating his convictions and his work for equal rights for all.
2.) Because Cesar Chavez needs company. California already has a day remembering the life and work of Cesar Chavez, one of the leading activists of the past century for labor rights and equal rights. Having a Harvey Milk Day certainly seems compatible with days - like Cesar Chavez Day - already set aside by the state.
3.) Is that your profile rising, or is it just me? Gov. Schwarzenegger's excuse last year in vetoing the bill was that Harvey Milk's profile wasn't well-known enough outside of San Francisco. This year? Not so much. That's what a major blockbuster film that won several Oscars will do for one's profile. Harvey is now seen by a wide majority of the country as an LGBT icon, and certainly a pioneer in the struggle for LGBT rights.
4.) It's All About the Benjamin's, Baby. Harvey Milk is a man that brings in the money. Look at the success of his movie earlier this year, as well as the success of books about him, like The Mayor of Castro Street. This is yet another way for California to both celebrate a messenger of equal rights, and practice good business sense. After all, as California State Sen. Mark Leno put it, "If there's one thing Arnold Schwarzenegger understands, it's box office." Harvey certainly delivered on that front.
5.) Because it's the right thing to do. LGBT icons shouldn't be collecting dust in the closet. Their lives should be celebrated, and their victories remembered. There's no better time to enact Harvey Milk Day. So please do it, Governor. Don't let the crazies on the right - who are trying to twist Harvey's political image for their own warped agenda - win on this one.
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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