Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was the first openly gay politician to be elected in office. In 1978, he joined the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was born in New York, but spent most of his time in California cities.

Coming out
While Harvey Milk was openly gay, he did not come out of the closet until age 40 in circa 1970. However, he was already out of the closet prior to his 1978 election, which he won and was sworn into office.

Assassination
He was shot by Dan White, another San Francisco supervisor. While he was remembered for his open LGBT status in politics, he was not killed because he was gay. He and 49-year-old San Francisco mayor George Moscone were both killed. It is believed that Dan White shot them out of anger because he was conservative and Milk was liberal.

Legacy
He posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom given to his nephew on his behalf by Barack Obama. Milk was included in the "Time 100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century", a list created by the world-famous Time magazine. The 2008 film Milk is based on his life. Interestingly, it came about three weeks after Proposition 8 came.