Last night I cried my eyes out...

[AsahinaKimi]

For the first time I watched the movie MILK, with a follow up of the documentary, The Life and Times of Harvey Milk. I was much too young to remember that night that Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk were killed. It was amazing to me how much Sean Penn looked like him in the movie, and the guy who played Dan White. I think the scene of thousands of people holding candles slowly marching down Market Street made me cry the most.

I highly recommend seeing both films if you haven't. I was incredibly touched by both films.

[zappaman]

1. K&R n/t

[murielm99]

2. I remember the assassinations and the trial.

I could not believe any of it.

Sean Penn is amazing, isn't he? This is not the first time that he has become a character so completely. He is simply one of the best actors of his generation.

I watched the documentary before I watched the movie.

Milk's martyrdom has made a huge difference for gay people.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. I am wondering ...

If he had not been killed, how far he could have gone? Governor of California? I think things would have been different in California if he has not been killed. He seemed like an amazing person..

[EFerrari]

4. Feinstein moved San Francisco to the right and pro-corporate.

So not only did we lose a good mayor and Harvey but we were then punished by her.

[murielm99]

7. I don't think that would have happened.

The times were not right for a gay governor.

Milk worked with all sorts of people, and got them to accept gays. During his times, that was an uphill battle. But he actually formed coalitions between gay and straight people. That was quite an accomplishment.

I think, if he had lived, that he might have gone in another direction regarding gay rights. He might have gotten all sorts of people to do more about AIDS. Reagan was happy to let the AIDS pandemic kill off large numbers in the gay community. But Milk might have been able to work with a coalition to get people to understand that AIDS kills everyone, not just gay people.

Nonetheless, he was an amazing man.

[EFerrari]

5. I got to the Sheriff's jail at the Hall of Justice for a translation

when the news hit the radio. When I got there, the dispatchers were in tears. It was unbelievable. The whole city was in shock for what seemed like months.

[tavalon]

6. Second that

An amazing movie.

[krispos42]

8. It was very good.

The hate speech by the right was just disgusting.

[Sapphocrat]

9. I'm sorry.

I mean... I'm sorry you had to go through that now. I was a teenager, cutting school and watching morning TV when the news came... I went back to my next class in a daze, told my GF what happened, and she said I'd best tell our teacher. I did, and that's how the news spread throughout my high school.

I spent a long time in that daze, and I'm not sure I've ever emerged from it. Harvey was the only role model I had -- the only out-and-proud gay person I saw (on TV) on a regular basis while I was still a kid wondering not only if I was mentally ill, but if I could be "cured," and if I was going to go to hell anyway for all the thoughts I'd kept secret since the day I was born.

It was Harvey who made me (start to) realize I wasn't crazy, and I may not be going to hell for something I couldn't help, something that was just me.

I had a straight teacher (who just died a couple of months ago) to thank for introducing me to Harvey during the Briggs campaign. (Long story I won't bother with, unless anyone really wants to hear it.)

Btw... My wife and I were extras in Milk. We ended up on the cutting-room floor, but, boy oh boy, did we brave the cold nights of February in San Francisco, marching and shouting until we were hoarse (I ran over Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch several times, the crowd behind us was pushing forward so hard), and one gorgeous, sunny Sunday on the SF courthouse steps as Sean-as-Harvey gave his "My name is Harvey Milk! And I'm here to recruit you!" speech.

It was mostly just very hard work, with a few golden moments: our conversations with people who were older than we, sporting original "NO ON 6" buttons, and who had survived the AIDS devastation... and when Sean, on the courthouse steps, was directed to say whatever the hell he wanted just for a few shots of him shouting: He went into a long, passionate, ad-libbed rant against GW Bush. LOL

The coolest thing for me -- and for, I think, my wife, although you will have to ask her -- was re-living those days through my wife's eyes for the first time. Buffy is a wee bit younger than I am (OK, seven years younger), and grew up mostly back east, so was not exposed to the whole San Francisco scene, nor to the impact of Harvey, nor to the Milk/Moscone assassinations as I was. There were things she asked me about that I hadn't thought of in some thirty years... and things I was reminded of, and told her about on my own -- about the long-gone Double Rainbow ice cream store, and how "Harvey's" was raided when it was The Elephant Walk, and which corners off Castro were "safe" to stop and smoke a joint under a tree.

Filming was hell, but it was magic, too -- it brought back those glory days of being a young queer just dipping her toes in the heaven that was The Castro in the late 1970s.

Please forgive my lengthy digression -- and I don't mean to threadjack, I swear. This is just someone, and something, extremely close to my heart, and a great part of who I am today.

If you want to read about, and see some beautiful photos/videos of, our experience during the Milk shoot, my lovely wife has the best rundown -- much of which, I guarantee, will make you cry some more. But it's worth it.

Here's my take; keep drilling down to see some really incredible videos.

Again, I apologize if I've thread-jacked -- I didn't mean to. This is just a huge part of my life, and a huge part of me.

Thank you for talking about this. We just can't forget, nor let anyone else forget. It's just too important.

[Delphinus]

11. Thank you

for all that you shared here. :hug:

[Remember Me]

12. I really want to hear it

What a fabulous post -- thanks so much for sharing it. And yes, I'd like to hear that story.

[Wilms]

10. The Times of Harvey Milk is available on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZNGpB9A2js


Thinks for the tip, Kimi.