
Dinnertime patrons of the restaurants on San Francisco’s Market Street, those wood-paneled, big-windowed places that make the casting scouts of Cialis commercials giddy, left their chairs to observe the throngs of marchers passing by candlelight. A few of them ventured to ask: “What is this for?”
“Harvey Milk,” someone inevitably replied. Every year on November 27, dating back to 1978, a march has taken place on the day that Milk, a Woodmere-born Jew and gay rights activist who was then a city Supervisor, and George Moscone, the City by the Bay’s mayor, were cut down in San Francisco’s City Hall by Dan White, a deranged former city Supervisor. In 1978, the candlelight march started in the Castro, San Francisco’s best-known gay neighborhood, at Milk’s camera shop–the veritable Muqata of local activism–and ended at City Hall. But in every year since, the march has flipped routes, symbolically emanating from City Hall and the seat of power that Milk had improbably attained with its terminus back in the Castro.
The idea of having a commemoration on the anniversary of the tragedy struck some as odd, including Moscone’s youngest son Jonanthan, who spoke at the event on the steps of City Hall, along with Milk’s nephew Staurt, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, and former Mayor Willie Brown.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m deeply touched that people remember my father,” he said. “We are always and every day grateful that we live in a city that does not forget. But there’s just something wrong in this notion that the day we remember our lost leaders is the most violent day of their lives. … It’s almost as if we’re giving the senselessness of these deaths way too much respect by centering our love and passion and yearning on the day these beating hearts … stopped forever.”
The younger Moscone’s query wasn’t directly addressed, but throughout the various speeches, songs, and chants of the evening, ending at Harvey Milk Plaza, the answer was clear. In the years since Milk’s death, a number of notable things have happened. Both San Francisco mayors present symbolized the city’s progress in electing their first black and Asian heads of government. Openly gay politicians have increasingly been elected to office across parts of America and marriage equality bills have passed in a handful of states.
But as each speaker suggested, not enough has happened. Other problems exist, including a number of issues championed by Milk. Among those mentioned last night: poverty, nudity, infrastructure, and education. On a local level, the prohibition on gay marriage in California has even outlasted Twinkies, the snack of permanent shelf life (which infamously figured into trial of Milk and Moscone’s killer Dan White).
While Milk eschewed formal religion, there are obvious parallels between the sensibilities of outsiders in whatever casting. The language throughout the proceedings last night reflected that symmetry.
“Freedom is not assimilation,” one speaker declared. “We still have to take care of each other.”
I could picture a number of rabbis I know saying that.
“We have to take the ‘ass’ out of assimilation,” Assemblyman Tom Ammiano shouted.
Okay, so nothing is a perfect parallel. Nor should it be.
Moscone, Milk Celebrated at Annual Event [SF Chron]
Click here for access to comments
COMMENTING CHARGES
Daily rate: $2
Monthly rate: $18
Yearly rate: $180
WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY TO COMMENT?
Tablet is committed to bringing you the best, smartest, most enlightening and entertaining reporting and writing on Jewish life, all free of charge. We take pride in our community of readers, and are thrilled that you choose to engage with us in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. But the Internet, for all of its wonders, poses challenges to civilized and constructive discussion, allowing vocal—and, often, anonymous—minorities to drag it down with invective (and worse). Starting today, then, we are asking people who'd like to post comments on the site to pay a nominal fee—less a paywall than a gesture of your own commitment to the cause of great conversation. All proceeds go to helping us bring you the ambitious journalism that brought you here in the first place.
I NEED TO BE HEARD! BUT I DONT WANT TO PAY.
Readers can still interact with us free of charge via Facebook, Twitter, and our other social media channels, or write to us at letters@tabletmag.com. Each week, we’ll select the best letters and publish them in a new letters to the editor feature on the Scroll.
We hope this new largely symbolic measure will help us create a more pleasant and cultivated environment for all of our readers, and, as always, we thank you deeply for your support.