Harvey Milk Stamps Now Available

Be sure to visit your local post office and get your sheets of Harvey Milk Stamps.

From the United States Postal Service:

Harvey Milk was (1930 - 1978) was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk's achievements gave hope and confidence to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was experiencing widespread hostility and discrimination. His remarkable career was tragically cut short nearly a year after he took office, when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated.

A commitment to serving a broad constituency, not just LGBT people, helped make Milk and effective and popular politician and leader. Many other qualities made him successful as well. He was an eloquent speaker with winning sense of humor and he showed pioneering leadership in building coalitions between diverse groups.

Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services. He spoke for the participation of LGBT people along with other minorities in the political process. He believed that the more LGBT people came out as their authentic selves, the more their families and friends would support protections for their equal rights. In the years since Milk's death, there have been hundreds of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender public officials in America.

In 2009, Milk was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, who praised his "visionary courage and conviction" in fighting discrimination. The Harvey Milk Foundation, established by his nephew, Stuart Milk, and his campaign manager and aide, Anne Kronenberg, is dedicated to realizing Harvey's vision of equality and authenticity for everyone, both in the U.S. and globally.