Jun 3
Revisiting a few paintings I did back in 2017 for a Pride month comic
🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Nov 27, 2025
On this day 27 November, in 1978, Harvey Milk, one of the USA’s first openly gay politicians, was assassinated by one of his fellow San Francisco Supervisors, who opposed Harvey politically, and gay rights more broadly.
Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January that same year, Harvey Milk used his position as supervisor to fight for queer rights, in particular against the firing of teachers who were gay or who supported gay people. He ran his political campaign from his camera store on Castro Street, which also served as an informal community centre for queer people in the area.
Aware that he was at risk of assassination, Harvey had recorded a tape to be played in the event of his death, in which he stated, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country.”
Listen to our podcast to learn more about Harvey
Aug 17
Harvey Milk (c.1958) probably by Joe Campbell Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in New York. He acknowledged his homosexuality in adolescence, but secretly pursued sexual relationships well into adulthood. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and opened a camera store. After holding an assortment of jobs and frequently changing addresses, he settled in the Castro, a neighborhood that was experiencing a mass immigration of gay men and lesbians. He ran for city supervisor in 1973, but the existing gay political establishment resisted him. Milk's campaign was compared to theater due to his personality, earning media attention and votes, although not enough to be elected. He campaigned again in the next two supervisor elections, dubbing himself the "Mayor of Castro Street". The voter response caused him to also run for the California State Assembly. Due to his growing popularity, he led the gay rights movement in battles against anti-gay initiatives. Milk was elected city supervisor in 1977 after San Francisco began to choose neighborhood representatives rather than city-wide ones. During Milk's almost eleven months in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing, and employment. The supervisors passed the bill by a vote of 11–1, and Mayor George Moscone signed it into law.
On November 27, 1978, Milk and Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk's bill.
Despite his short political career, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the LGBTQ community. In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significant openly LGB official ever elected in the United States". Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 (Source:Wikipedia)
Jun 4, 2025
U.S. Navy is renaming a ship named for gay rights leader Harvey Milk and considering new names for others named for prominent Americans.
Hey, this is explicitly the disrespect that was voted for with this administration. This is what they promised you they would do.
This has nothing to do with any of the economic things they pretended they would fix, this is just about disrespecting our history and disrespecting people who sacrificed for this country.
They also are considering renaming ships that are named after Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Cesar Chavez, among others. Because they're not pretending to care about anything in history other than straight white Christians, and mostly men at that.
You can admit that you were wrong and start fighting back against it at any time. Every day, we make a choice. Is this what you're choosing to stand with?
May 22, 2025
On Harvey Milk Day, we celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights activist Harvey Milk. 🕊️🏳️🌈
In 1977, Harvey Milk became one of the first openly gay U.S. elected officials when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. During a time of widespread hostility and discrimination, Milk’s leadership gave hope to the LGBTQ+ community. He was tragically assassinated in 1978, but his legacy continues and he inspired a generation of leaders and activists.
We honor Milk and other LGBTQ leaders' courage to demand freedom by continuing to fight attempts to legislate us out of history. We’re not going anywhere.
Jun 1, 2025
In 1978 Harvey Milk asked his friend, designer Gilbert Baker to make a symbol that would represent gay pride. Using the U.S. flag as inspiration, Baker hand-sewed the original rainbow flag.
He said each color of the flag represented something that was important to the community. Hot Pink for Sex, Red for life, Orange for healing, Yellow for sunlight, Green for nature, Blue for magic\art, Indigo for serenity and Violet for spirit. The rainbow flag was first flown June 25th 1978 for Gay Pride Day and still stands to this day as a symbol of the gay liberation movement, its history recognized and honored by some of our world's highest, most respectable officials.
Baker lived from June 2, 1951 to his end on March 31, 2017. His life was one of art, design, acting and activism. Though going through many iterations as the battle for civil rights changes over time, Bakers flag continues on as a symbol of pride, acceptance, community, diversity and above all, love.
Remember those who crawled through the mud so you could march forward.
Happy PRIDE month. 💜💙💚💛💗
May 22, 2025
Happy birthday, Harvey. You'd have hated the kind of rhetoric we see from transphobes today. And you were dead on - we have to be out, we have to be loud, we have to be joyful. That's the only way we win.
"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."
RIP Harvey Milk, 22/5/1930 - 27/11/1978
Time (December 1982): "And Now, Gay Family Rights?"
