Speech of San Francis Supervisor Harvey Milk at Gay Freedom Day, June 25, 1978.

Contents:

• HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH: ANNOTATED
• HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH
• TAG: GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH
• HARVEY MILK'S SPEECH AT SAN FRANCIS'S GAY FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATN
• SPEECH OF SAN FRANCIS SUPERVISOR HARVEY MILK AT GAY FREEDOM DAY, JUNE 25, 1978.
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• BRGG PEOPLE HOPE: HARVEY MILK AND THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT AMERI
• AMERI’S MOST IMPORTANT GAY-RIGHTS SPEECH?

HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH: ANNOTATED

The two most visible figur behd the legislative manvers were John Briggs, a state Senator California, who sought to remove openly lbian and gay teachers wh Proposn 6 (the phrase “public homosexual” repeats throughout the proposn); and Ana Bryant, whose “Save Our Children” anizatn succsfully helped overturn equal rights ordanc Miami, Florida; Eugene, Oregon; Wicha, Kansas; and St. If you do not speak out, if you rema silence, if you do not lift up your voice agast Briggs, then I ll upon lbians and gay men om all over the natn, your natn, to gather Washgton one year om now on that natnal day of eedom, the fourth of July…the fourth of July, 1979…to gather Washgton on that very same spot where over a ago Dr.

I ll upon all mori and pecially the lns of lbians and gay men to wake up om their dreams…to gather Washgton and tell Jimmy Carter and their natn: “Wake up…wake up, Ameri…no more racism, no more sexism, no more ageism, no more hatred…no more!

Here, so-lled liberal San Francis, an anti-gay smear mpaign was waged by so-lled here, so-lled liberal San Francis, we have a lumnist for the San Francis Examer, a lumnist named Kev Starr, who has prted a number of lumns ntag distortns and li about gays. Most recently, feral “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn was troduced by thirty-two Congrsnal members, a bill that “would affect all ferally fund facili and programs, which would clu public librari, ferally fund schools, ary bas and hospals. The next year John Briggs, a California bsman and member of the state legislature, troduced what would be known as Proposn 6, or the Briggs Iniative: the first attempt to rtrict the rights of lbian and gay Amerins by popular referendum.

HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH

For the reasons the state fds a pellg tert refg to employ and termatg the employment of a schoolteacher, teacher’s ai, school admistrator or unselor, subject to reasonable rtrictns and qualifitns, who engag public homosexual activy and/or public homosexual nduct directed at, or likely to e to the attentn of, schoolchildren or other school employe. 6 (a) The erng board of a school district shall refe to hire as an employee any person who has engaged public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct should the board terme that said activy or nduct renrs the person unf for service.

(b) For the purpos of this sectn, (1) “public homosexual activy” means the missn of an act fed subdivisn (a) of 286 of the Penal Co, or subdivisn (a) of sectn 288a of the Penal Co, upon any other person of the same sex, which is not discreet and not practiced private, whether or not such act, at the time of s missn, nstuted a crime;.

TAG: GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH

(2) “public homosexual nduct” means the advotg, solicg, imposg, enuragg or promotg of private or public homosexual activy directed at, or likely to e to the attentn of schoolchildren and/or other employe; and. (c) In evaluatg the public homosexual activy and/or the public homosexual nduct qutn for the purpos of termg an applint’s unfns for service as an employee, a board shall nsir the factors leated Sectn 44933.

5 (a) In addn to the grounds specified Sectns 44932, 44948 and 44949, or any other provisn of law, the missn of “public homosexual activy” or “public homosexual nduct” by an employee shall subject the employee to dismissal upon termatn by the board that said activy or nduct renrs the employee unf for service. (b) For the purpos of this sectn (1) “public homosexual activy” means the missn of an act fed subdivisn (a) of 286 of the Penal Co, or subdivisn (a) of sectn 288a of the Penal Co, upon any other person of the same sex, which is not discreet and not practiced private, whether or not such act, at the time of s missn, nstuted a crime;.

(c) Notwhstandg any other provisn of law regardg dismissal procr, the erng board, upon the filg of wrten charg that the person has mted public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct, duly signed and verified by the person filg the charg, or upon wrten charg formulated by the erng board, shall set a probable e hearg on the charg wh fifteen (15) workg days after the filg or formulatn of wrten charg and forward notice to the employee of the charg not ls than ten (10) workg days prr to the probable e hearg.

HARVEY MILK'S SPEECH AT SAN FRANCIS'S GAY FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATN

(f) Factors to be nsired by the board evaluatg the charg of public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct qutn and termg unfns for service shall clu, but not be limed to (1) the likelihood that the activy or nduct may adversely affect stunts or other employe; (2) the proximy or remotens time or lotn of the nduct to the employee’s rponsibili; (3) the extenuatg or aggravatg circumstanc which, the judgement of the board, mt be examed weighg the evince; and (4) whether the nduct clud acts, words or eds, of a ntug or prehensive nature which would tend to enurage, promote, or dispose schoolchildren toward private or public homosexual activy or private or public homosexual nduct. (g) If, by a preponrance of the evince, the employee is found to have engaged public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct which renrs the employee unf for service, the employee shall be dismissed om employment. Milk mpaigned agast Proposn 6 throughout California, attendg every event Briggs hosted to prott the Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office California when he was elected to the San Francis Board of Supervisors.

He ed his platform as supervisor to promote LGBTQ rights, and other public iativ such as ee public transportatn, creased accs to affordable child re, and a police oversight the Hope Speech, Milk lled for his "gay sisters and brothers to make the mment to fight" agast Proposn 6 and other siarly discrimatory legislatn an effort to promote gay rights California and across the Uned Stat. Natnal Archiv Intifier: 152903Full Catn: Harvey Milk's Speech at San Francis's Gay Freedom Day Celebratn; 6/25/1978; (Gay Rights--Harvey Milk Speech & Letter) 6/78-7/78 (O/A 5771); Margaret Costanza's Subject Fil, 1977 - 1978; Collectn JC-1133: Rerds of the Office of the Assistant for Public Liaison; Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, GA.

A lot of progrs has been ma toward this goal the last 50 years, cludg a Supreme Court lg jt two weeks ago that gay employe were protected om job discrimatn unr the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the fight is far om over. ImageLorie Smh said her Christian fah requir her to turn away ctomers seekg servic to celebrate same-sex Woolf for The New York TimThe Supreme Court sid on Friday wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to sign weddg webs for same-sex upl spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people. The liberal jtic viewed as somethg else entirely — a dispute that threatened societal protectns for gay rights and rolled back some recent an impassned dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the oute signaled a return to a time when people of lor and other mory groups faced open discrimatn.

SPEECH OF SAN FRANCIS SUPERVISOR HARVEY MILK AT GAY FREEDOM DAY, JUNE 25, 1978.

Kavangh and Amy Coney Barrett, shifted the urt to the urts have generally sid wh gay and lbian upl who were refed service by bakeri, florists and others, lg that potential ctomers are entled to equal treatment, at least parts of the untry wh laws forbiddg discrimatn based on sexual owners of bs challengg those laws have argued that the ernment should not force them to choose between the requirements of their fahs and their livelihoods.

Addnally, several stat terpret existg laws agast sex discrimatn to apply to bias relatg to sexual orientatn and genr inty, even though they do not have laws explicly forbiddg such stat that do not offer protectns to gay and transgenr people on those grounds, municipal laws ver many Human Rights Campaign, an L.

McCoy for The New York TimThe urt’s cisn favor of a Colorado web signer, Lorie Smh, had an unual feature: It was based on njecture and Smh, who objects to providg weddg-related servic for same-sex marriag, never turned down a gay uple. ETFriday’s lg was another reassurg cisn for relig celebratory moment outsi the Supreme Court on Friday, after the urt livered the latt a strg of judgments favor of relig Zuhaib/Associated PrsConservativ who have moral and theologil objectns to gay marriage saw the Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday as reassurance that they would be able to assert their beliefs a public square that they see as creasgly hostile to a 6-to-3 vote, spl along iologil l, the jtic agreed wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people. ”Acrdg to pollg om 2021 by the Public Relign Rearch Instute, majori of most major relig groups — cludg Catholics, Jews and Mlims — oppose allowg small-bs owners to refe to serve gay and lbian people on relig grounds.

GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Several siar s have centered on nservative Christian small bs owners who object to workg on gay weddgs specifilly, cludg a baker Colorado, two vatn signers Arizona and a Kentucky-based a news nference shortly after the lg was issued, Krist Waggoner, general unsel for Alliance Defendg Freedom, which reprented Ms. ” She said her nsiratn acceptg work as a webse signer was the “msage” of the se, not the inty of the Smh’s portfol clus webs for church, real tate pani and polil many nservative Christians hailed the cisn on Friday, drew cricism om some progrsive Christians and terfah groups, cludg those that serve gay people of fah. McCoy for The New York TimGay and transgenr rights anizatns on Friday nmned the Supreme Court lg backg a Colorado webse signer’s bid to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, llg the cisn a dangero backslidg on L.

ETHere’s how urt battl over servg same-sex upl have played out the Cote for The New York TimIn the latt se volvg same-sex marriage rights, relig eedom and discrimatn, the Supreme Court on Friday led favor of a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right not to provi servic for same-sex marriag spe a state law that bans discrimatn agast gay ’s a brief look at some of the most proment s before Friday’s:A Colorado baker ws urtIn June 2018, the Supreme Court led favor of a Colorado baker who refed to bake a weddg ke for a gay uple. Kennedy wrote that the missn’s members had acted wh “clear and impermissible hostily” to people wh scerely held relig Bra, a kemaker prevailsBra’s Supreme Court led favor of a bakery October 2018 that had refed to make a ke bearg the slogan “Support Gay Marriage, ” sayg the refal was not discrimatory.

The urt’s cisn mak easier for bs Bra to cle ctomer requts that are at odds wh their dispute began 2014, when Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist Northern Ireland, sought to buy a ke for a party om Ashers Bakg Company Belfast that showed two “Same Street” characters, Bert and Ernie; a logo for his group, QueerSpace; and the slogan supportg gay marriage. A florist Washgton State says her rights were vlatedIn 2013, Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of a flower shop the small cy of Richland, southeastern Washgton, refed to create floral arrangements for a gay uple’s two grooms, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, had prevly bought flowers at her store, Arlene’s Flowers. ”Invatn signers sue the cy of PhoenixThe Arizona Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments January after two Christian vatn signers said they would refe to create weddg vatns for same-sex upl if Da and Breanna Koski, evangelil Christians and the owners of Bsh & Nib Stud, sued the cy of Phoenix 2016, sayg they feared legal retributn if they did not fulfill requts om gay or lbian upl.

BRGG PEOPLE HOPE: HARVEY MILK AND THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT AMERI

Colorado Civil Rights Cote for The New York TimThe Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday favor of a Colorado web signer has echo of a 2018 se about a baker who had turned away a gay uple seekg a weddg that cisn, Masterpiece Cakhop v.

AMERI’S MOST IMPORTANT GAY-RIGHTS SPEECH?

Kennedy, who wrote the majory opn the 7-to-2 cisn 2018, seemed unable to choose between two of his re mments: He was the thor of every major Supreme Court cisn protectg gay rights unr the Constutn and also the urt’s most arnt fenr of ee speech.

“The oute of s like this other circumstanc mt awa further elaboratn the urts, ” he wrote, “all the ntext of regnizg that the disput mt be rolved wh tolerance, whout undue disrpect to scere relig beliefs, and whout subjectg gay persons to digni when they seek goods and servic an open market. After the 2020 electn, Colorado bee a center of electn nspiraci, a e embraced by some of s state is “a nice enpsulatn on what lims have been placed on the Christian right and what power and fluence they n still yield, ” William Schultz, a historian at the Universy of Chigo Divy School who is workg on a book about Christian culture Colorado Sprgs, said last 1992, voters the state passed what was nsired at the time to be an unual ballot iative prohibg Colorado om regnizg gay, lbian and bisexual people as a protected class. Another poll by Pew found that almost half of whe evangelils born after 1964 favored same-sex marriage 2017, pared to about a quarter of olr whe fah groups that have tradnally opposed gay rights now support some acmodatns for same-sex marriage.