Milk and the White Night Riots

* Successfully implemented a boycott of Coors Beer in SF's gay bars; 

* Annually organized the Castro Street parade; 

* First openly gay person to be elected to public office in the nation; 

* Sponsored a civil rights bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation.  The ordinance was called the "most stringent and encompassing in the nation", and its passing demonstrated "the growing political power of homosexuals," according to The New York Times, as reported in Wiki;  

* Implemented the "District Election System" that allowed candidates for Supervisor to run from the District, rather than from the City at large – neighborhoods could thus run the city through representation, rather than rule by city elites; 

* Proposed the successful "pooper scooper" law, garnering national attention; 

* Compassionately, but unwisely, supported adoption of computerized voting so that San Francisco's large Chinese population could use ballots in their own language; 

Several organizations have formed which bear his name, including: 

* The Harvey Milk Institute in San Francisco, California, with a mission of fostering the development and examination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer culture and community in the Bay Area and beyond. 

* The SF Library Harvey Milk branch in Eureka; 

* The Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy; a small, public alternative elementary school located in the heart of the Castro District; 

* The Harvey Milk High School in New York City. The Hetrick-Martin Institute believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. 

* Harvey Milk Plaza – dedicated in 2006, the installation includes a series of Harvey Milk Photographic Tribute Plaques, which depict the arc of Milk's life and political career and are made of photographs fused into porcelain enamel and are comprised of eleven images by some of the era's photojournalists.  

Gus Van Sant's Milk should raise more awareness about the plight of the LGBT community.  Meanwhile, Hulu has the complete The Times of Harvey Milk documentary, by Robert Epstein and Richard Schmiechen, with narration by Harvey Fierstein. Occasional commercials make free Hulu webcasts possible. (01:27:34)   (Hat tip to James Nimmo.)

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