This is Harvey Milk speaking
on Friday, November 18th.
This is only to be played in the
event of my death by assassination.
During one of
my early campaigns,
I began to open speeches with a line
and it became kind of a signature.
My name is Harvey Milk and
I want to recruit you.
If I was speaking to a
slightly hostile audience
or a mostly straight one, I might
break the tension with a joke.
I know. I know I'm
not what you expected,
but I left my
high heels at home.
I fully realize that a person
who stands for what I stand for,
an activist,
a gay activist,
makes himself the target
for someone who is insecure,
terrified, afraid
and disturbed themselves.
It's a very real possibility you
see, because in San Francisco,
we have broken a dam of major
prejudice in this country.
room 200.
I'm in the mayor's office.
We are trying
to ascertain what is happening.
As President of the
Board of Supervisors,
it's my duty to
make this announcement.
Both Mayor Moscone and
Supervisor Harvey Milk
have been shot and killed.
I wish I had time to explain
all the things that I did.
Almost everything was done
with an eye on the gay movement.
Hey. Hey.
I'm Harvey.
Okay, Harvey.
Today's my birthday.
No, hey, actually it is
my birthday. At midnight.
Really?
And, believe it or not,
I don't have any plans.
Some people took
me out after work.
Hmm. And that would be at,
let me guess, Ma Bell or AT&T.
The Great American
Insurance Company.
Oh.
I'm part of that corporate
establishment that,
let me guess, you think is the
cause of all the evil in the world,
from Vietnam
to diaper rash.
You left out bad breath.
Just kidding.
You're not gonna let me spend my
birthday all by myself, are you?
Listen, Harvey,
you're pretty cute,
but I don't
date guys over 40.
Well, then, this
is my lucky night.
Why is that?
I'm still 39.
It's only 11:15.
Come on.
What's your name?
I'm Scott.
Very nice to meet you,
Mr. Harvey, insurance man.
Where are you from?
Jackson, Mississippi.
This isn't Jackson. You can't
respond to just every strange man
that picks you up
on a subway platform.
It's too dangerous.
Hmm, now you tell me.
The New York Police
are the toughest.
They're arrogant
and they're everywhere.
I'll show you all
the cruising spots,
but you have to be very
careful, little Scotty-san.
Are you on
some uppers or something?
No. This is
just plain me.
And you're scared
of the cops?
I'm just discreet.
I know a lot of people.
If they see me,
I could lose my job.
Oh, you're one of those.
Well, I think you need to find
a new scene. Some new friends.
I need a change.
- I know.
Yeah, you're 40 now.
Oh.
Forty years old and I haven't
done a thing I'm proud of.
You keep eating this cake and you're
going to be fat by the time you're 50.
That's if I ever
get to 50. Oh!
Happy birthday, old man.
Why don't we
run away together?
Where to?
In the past, and still now,
San Francisco was the place
where everyone wanted to go.
To drop out,
to fall in love.
But by 1972, the Haight was boarded up.
Drug filled, crime filled.
The new place
for us refugees
was a little Irish Catholic
neighborhood in the Eureka Valley,
six blocks square,
the Castro.
I cashed my last unemployment
check yesterday.
Well, I hope you
did something useful with it.
I bought
an ounce of pot.
Don't
move for a second.
I suppose
I can wait tables.
I don't want you to go anywhere.
I want you
right here with me.
I was thinking
about a little shop.
What kind of shop?
Just a little shop
with a little overhead.
Not too much work.
Just like Morris and Minnie
Milk of Woodmere, New York.
Did you see the little
place downstairs for rent?
Yeah.
What do you
think about that?
I think it sounds great.
A little bit
up on the left.
Oh, it looks great.
Looks great.
Yeah.
You're the
new renters?
Well, hello.
Harvey Milk.
McConnely.
- Welcome to Castro Camera.
Scott.
Yeah. Like,
you know, I would like
to join the, what's it called,
The Eureka Valley Merchants Association.
I'm not an interloper.
A Jew, perhaps, but I
hope you'll forgive that.
If you open
those doors,
the Merchants Association will
have the police pull your license.
Under what law?
Excuse me?
There's man's law and there's
God's law in this neighborhood
and in this city.
You know, we pay taxes.
The San Francisco police force
is happy to enforce either.
Have a good day.
Yeah, thank you for the
warm welcome to the neighborhood!
Schmuck!
Well.
Hey.
Okay.
Customers, come on in.
We'll form our
own business association.
We'll start with
the gay businesses.
We'll get the addresses of every customer
that comes in the store for a roll of film
and we'll ask them what they
want, what they need changed.
We'll get some money rolling in here.
Revitalize the neighborhood.
Can I come in now?
One more minute.
And I can go to
the neighborhood banks.
They must have
some gay customers.
Look, Harvey, what's with all
this political activist crap?
I mean, I thought you
were a goddamn Republican.
I'm a businessman, Scott.
And businesses should be
good to their customers.
Even if their
customers are gay.
For God's sake,
it's San Francisco!
Yeah. Well, it's just like
any other city in the country.
They hate us.
Real surprise.
We should have at least one
block in one city, right?
We start there and then we'll
take over the neighborhood.
Maybe.
I'm coming in.
Okay,
you can come in now.
Finally.
This better be good.
Oh!
Happy birthday!
I had to do it! I had to do it!
I had to do it!
Sanctuary, sanctuary!
- Harvey Milk!
Sanctuary!
And Castro became
destination number one.
Hundreds of gay men were coming
every week from all over the world.
It was our area.
Our own neighborhood.
The police hated us.
And we hated them right back.
They would come in and
attack us and beat us just for fun.
But that wouldn't stop us.
I made a list of shops that were
friendly to us and shops that weren't.
Those shops that
worked with us thrived.
Those that didn't,
went out of business.
Closed their doors.
Excuse me,
ladies and gentlemen.
Mr. McConnely, I just came by
to see how business was doing.
Just fine, Harvey.
You don't mind having all
these homosexuals in here?
Kidding, everybody.
He loves our kind. Spend away.
Tell your wife I said hello.
But people started
hanging around our store.
Not customers.
Activists, kids,
young people who were looking
for a home away from home.
There was Danny Nicoletta,
cute art student that I picked up at
Toad Hall, who worked in the shop.
Harvey, come on. Opera is so pass.
You're not understanding
the spectacle of it,
the bigger
than life emotions.
The bigger
than life emotions?
Jim Rivaldo, a great mind.
Harvard graduate, which nobody cared
about in those days in the Castro.
Including himself.
And somewhere along the line,
Jim picked up a protg,
a cute political kid from Wisconsin,
Dick Pabich.
And of course,
there was Dennis Peron,
who ran a very successful
business with the young kids.
And it wasn't only the gays
who noticed what was happening.
Also the straight people.
There were some
very unexpected ones.
Teamster leader Allan Baird
walked right into my shop
and asked me if I could get my
people to help boycott Coors beer.
And the Coors beer boycott
had not been too successful.
But I got my people to get all the
Coors beer out of all the gay bars,
and immediately Coors fell
from number one and they caved.
A week later, the Teamsters
union, for the very first time,
hired openly gay drivers.
We weren't just a bunch
of pansies anymore.
We had had our
first taste of power.
And it was about that time
that someone first called me
the Mayor of Castro Street, or I
may have invented the term myself.
The fucking cops, man.
Cops are pulling
people out of Toad Hall.
Why?
What did they do?
They're sweeping the streets.
It's happening right now.
Come on.
- Come on.
Through the door there,
the front door there,
was just an explosion
of police charging in here.
I ran into the bathroom to
hide with some other people.
All we could hear was screaming
and crunching and smashing.
It was frankly the most terrifying
experience I've had in my life.
If we had
someone in government
who saw things the
way that we see them,
like the black community has black
leaders that look out for their interests.
Politics is theater.
It doesn't matter
so much about winning.
You make a statement.
You say, "I'm here."
You get their attention.
I mean, it'll be fun.
Even though the Castro was firmly our
area by 1973, it wasn't safe for us.
We would have to wear whistles
on our necks or in our pockets.
And if you ever heard a whistle,
you would run to help.
Fruit was walking home
with his trick when he got jumped.
Name's Robert Hillsborough.
Did you know him?
He used to come into my shop.
Are there any witnesses?
Yeah, just
the trick, Jerry Taylor.
Jerry's not his trick, he's his lover.
Hey,
call it what you will.
All we know is he's our only witness and
he said he can't identify the attackers.
Oh, you'd have a dozen witnesses
if they thought you boys had any
real interest
in protecting them.
Hey, come on. Come
over. Everyone gather around.
Hey, Milk,
good job on Coors.
Thank you and we were very happy to
do that. We were very happy to do that.
Everyone over here,
gather around.
Hello. I'm Harvey Milk.
A week ago,
police officers came into
our area with badges covered.
They sent 14 of our people
to hospitals and to jail.
The charges,
"Blocking the sidewalk."
Let's let our tax money go to our
protection, not our persecution.
Worry about gun control,
not marijuana control.
School supplies, seniors,
not the books we read!
My fellow degenerates,
I would like to announce my candidacy
for San Francisco City Supervisor!
How are you, Lee?
- Fine, thank you.
Oh, I bought you some flowers
to brighten up your day.
Could I leave some
flyers for your customers?
Hello, everyone.
Harvey Milk,
running for supervisor.
We need your support.
Are you registered
to vote?
Let me just give you that.
It's for Harvey Milk for supervisor, all right?
He's running for the Board of Supervisors.
Right. Thank you.
Take care.
Have a good day.
Harvey Milk for supervisor! Excuse
me, ma'am, are you registered to vote?
Sir, are you
registered to vote?
I'm Harvey Milk, sir.
I'm running for supervisor.
I want you to know that my
campaign is very interested
in taking care of
seniors in the area.
We've been doing
a lot about reaching out.
I'm Harvey Milk. Will you register
here if you're not registered?
Hey, I like the way those pants
fit! Where are you from, kid?
Sorry, old man,
not interested.
Where's home?
Phoenix.
Come here.
Just come here a minute.
I'm Harvey Milk.
I'm running for supervisor.
What's your name?
Cleve Jones.
Cleve Jones.
You're adorable.
We should get you over here and
get you registered, Mr. Jones.
Fuck that.
Elections of any kind
are fucking
bourgeois affectation.
Is that right?
- Mmm-hmm.
What do you do,
trick up on Polk Street?
If I need the cash.
But I'm a little bit more selective
about my clients than you are.
Okay, let me ask you one thing
before you go back to work.
What was it like to be
a little queer in Phoenix?
Did all the jocks beat
you up in gym class?
I faked a lung disease
to get out of P.E.
So what, what are you?
Some kind of street shrink?
Sometimes.
But what I'm talking about
is that we can change Phoenix.
But we have to
start with our street.
Police abuse, rent control,
pot, parks, seniors issues.
Good luck
with all that.
Good luck.
You know what I think,
Cleve Jones?
That you're gonna get
somewhere if you keep talking.
No. I think you should
do what you do well.
You should
be a prick.
But come with us and be a prick.
Fight City Hall. Fight the cops.
Fight the people that made you
come here to do what you do.
Sorry, old man, I'm leaving
for Spain tomorrow. Europe.
All the cash I need
is in my back pocket.
I'm just saying that at this
point, it looks like all the big guns,
all the gay money,
the real money,
is gonna get
behind Feinstein
and all the straight candidates
they consider "gay-friendly."
Who cares about
those old queens?
Well, you need
them to get elected.
Why isn't my campaign
manager leading this meeting?
'Cause I'm exhausted. I've been
handing out pamphlets for seven hours.
Yeah, in a bathhouse.
And who are these so-called
gay leaders anyway?
Who appointed them?
What are you suggesting, Jim?
That I go down there and
solicit their endorsement?
I mean, we're down here trying to help
people on the streets. Where are they?
Yeah, I know, but...
You need an endorsement, Harvey.
Take this.
Checking the exposure.
They're nice pictures.
Is he your boyfriend?
- Sort of.
Harvey, David Goodstein is a
publisher from The Advocate.
Harvey.
- He's got a house...
Harvey, I think
you got to see this.
"Harvey Milk will
have a dream journey
"and nightmare to hell,
a night of horror.
"You will be stabbed and have your
genitals, cock, balls and prick cut off."
I'm calling the police.
They probably wrote it.
Look, think of it this way.
If they try to kill me,
I'll get the sympathy vote.
That might be
just the push we need.
You think this is funny?
Look at it.
It's a total joke.
I mean, it's got no rhythm,
no humor. It's insulting.
Don't do that.
No, if you put it away,
you put it in a drawer,
it just gets
bigger and scarier.
Here, it's right here. We see
it every day. It can't get us.
Gonna spend all this energy
to make yourself a target?
For something you're
not gonna even win?
I keep telling you,
it's not just about winning.
The top gays in
San Francisco were David Goodstein
and his civil rights
lawyer sidekick, Rick Stokes.
David was a rich old queen who had bought
the biggest gay magazine, The Advocate.
Hello.
- Hello, welcome to Mr. Goodstein's.
Milo.
I worked for a financial
institution in New York.
I was very discreet.
One night I went to
the Metropolitan Opera,
Il Trovatore, Verdi.
I was sitting in a
box, next to my lover.
Someone spotted us.
Next day I was fired.
So I decided to do
something about it.
Came out here to San Francisco,
I bought The Advocate.
I use my money and my influence, in very
subtle and quiet ways, to do what I can.
So you think that backing
straight candidates
is the best
way to help us?
Yeah, if they're
friendly to our cause.
Supervisor is
a citywide office.
Political alliances
have to be built.
You can't just move here from across
the country and run for that office.
But I am running for office.
I'm on the ballot.
I have the union rank and
file, I have the seniors.
And I would like to have
your magazine's endorsement.
Harvey, we're like
the Catholic church.
We welcome converts, but we
don't make them Pope the same day.
Why haven't you run yet?
Too early.
Especially from the Castro.
What's wrong
with the Castro?
Nobody works there.
It's all about sex and drugs and more sex.
David, we need one
of our own in office.
Harvey, you can't demand
acceptance overnight.
Why not?
The more "out" you make us,
the more you incite them.
Harvey, step back and quiet down.
You're suggesting we should
go back in the closet?
Is that what
you're saying?
I spent more years in the
closet than I care to remember.
Let's go, Scott.
- Yeah.
I don't need your
magazine's endorsement.
And I'm not asking for anyone's
acceptance. I don't have time.
For you,
politics is a game, a lark.
It's like putting on a rock
festival or staging a love-in.
You're too old to be
a hippie, Harvey Milk.
I am not a candidate.
I am part of a movement.
The movement is the candidate.
There is a difference.
You don't see it,
but I do.
Sorry, I, uh,
pissed in the pool.
So, on election day, out of 32
candidates vying for six seats,
we came in tenth.
We lost.
But only a few votes shy of my becoming
the first big eared, cock-sucking,
queer as a
three-dollar-bill-man
to be elected
to public office.
So we decided to
try it again in 1975.
Only this time,
with a few adjustments.
No. No, not cute.
I hate the shoes.
I hate the hair.
You're not fooling anybody.
I'm not gonna let those
little Pacific Heights biddies
write me off anymore because
of a ponytail. I like it.
No more bathhouses, no more
pot, for me and my little poo.
Speak for yourself.
- Come on.
We ran and lost the supervisor's
race for the second time in 1975,
but with more votes
than ever before.
So in 1976,
against everyone's advice,
I really pissed off
the political power houses
in the Democratic party by
running against their man,
Art Agnos, who was part
of their political machine.
And this time, not for
supervisor, but for a bigger job,
for the California
State Assembly.
I don't think that State Assembly
seats should be the reward
for service to the
Democratic party machine.
Machines run on oil and grease.
They're dirty.
They're dehumanizing. And they
tend to be entirely unresponsive
to the needs of anybody,
but those of their operator.
Mr. Milk, I've been a social
worker in this city for years.
I know Sacramento.
I know how to get done
what we all need done there.
Tell me something, Mr. Agnos,
right here in the Castro,
Robert Hillsbourough was murdered for
walking home with his longtime partner.
He was stabbed 15 times.
The last words he heard were,
"Faggot, faggot, faggot."
Now, you say
you're outraged.
Why then does your liberal
establishment refuse to answer our calls?
Why do they not bring
these murderers to justice?
My God, you're
handsome up close.
Can't tell you how much I'm
looking forward to licking you,
in the polls.
You know, Harv, your
whole rap's a real downer.
You talk a lot about
what you're against.
But what are you for?
In this town, you got to give them a
reason for optimism, or you're cooked.
See you around.
Okay, Art.
You're gonna wanna
read that entire thing.
Okay,
I'll take a look at it.
Excuse me.
Guys.
- Don't touch that.
Harvey. Harvey, dinner.
- have to get some union boys in there.
They love me, they love me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Harvey, you have to eat.
Everyone, the apartment
is now off limits!
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Whose jacket is this?
Right here.
- Here you go. Good night.
Down the stairs.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good night. Thank you.
I think you got to call the
guy, 'cause I can't talk to that guy.
Sit.
Don't say anything.
Can I just tell you...
If you say anything about
politics or the campaign,
or what speech you
have to give or anything,
I swear to God I'm gonna
stab you with this fork.
I just wanted to say that this is the
most wonderful dinner I have ever had.
If we lose this, it'll
just be you and me again.
I promise.
I'm sorry, I just...
No, I know.
I know, I know.
Phoenix.
At least now
you look gay.
Let's go inside.
Are you
staying up with me?
The election's tomorrow.
I won't sleep anyway.
Was he handsome?
Oh, no!
He was hideous.
Usually when my lovers leave, they
cheat with even more attractive men.
I actually thought we were gonna
spend the rest of our lives together.
Well, guess what,
Cleve Jones.
What?
You're going to meet the
most extraordinary men,
the sexiest, funniest,
brightest men.
You're going to meet so many of them,
fall in love with so many of them,
you won't know till
the end of your life
which ones were your greatest lovers
and which were your greatest friends.
Is that supposed to help?
Maybe a little. Or not.
I went to
Spain last month.
Long story.
In Barcelona, there
was this memorial march
for gay people that
had died under Franco.
Of course, the police
tried to break it up.
But these queens didn't run.
No.
They turned around and
they started a fucking riot.
I saw a bullet, one of
those big rubber bullets
rip through a drag queen's
scalp, but she kept on fighting.
She was screaming,
but she kept on fighting.
I mean...
Our lives.
There was blood literally
running in the gutter.
In a gutter.
We could have
a revolution here.
But you can't use the
Castro just to cruise.
You have to fight.
You really think you'll win?
Winning is
not my strong suit.
Well,
I don't do losing, ever.
Maybe I should run for office
and you can work for me.
I mean, if you can do it...
Can you assemble a
thousand people in an hour?
Fuck, yeah.
Well, if I run again,
you're gonna be my man.
If?
You're so adorable.
The polls are open in 3 hours.
How about you and
I hit the bus stops?
Okay.
Yes, Jesus
Loves me
Anita Bryant was once
known as an orange juice saleswoman.
Hi, I'm Anita Bryant.
Hi, I'm Anita Bryant.
Hello, I'm Anita Bryant.
With a religious fervor
that has made her America's most
controversial woman overnight,
her group is crusading to
repeal a new Dade County law,
which protects homosexuals
in jobs and housing.
I believe that more than ever
before, that there are evil forces
round about us,
even perhaps disguised
as something good,
that would
want to tear down
the very foundation, the family
unit, that holds America together.
There are those
people who say that it is
kind of an eye for an
eye law that is at work here,
that you're denying homosexuals
many of their rights as well.
You see, if homosexuals are
allowed their civil rights,
then so would prostitutes
or thieves or anyone else.
God puts it in
a category of morality.
Doesn't that necessarily
follow that you believe that
homosexuality
ought to be illegal?
I do believe
that it should be illegal.
Well, we lost, but
we didn't lose by much.
More votes than ever!
That used to
make you laugh.
Harvey, I got to
show you something.
This is incredible.
If we can get that new initiative
on district elections to go through,
and we can, we can,
the boundary for the
new supervisor district
is gonna go right
down Market Street,
right around the
Haight like this,
and right around
the Castro.
The Haight and the Castro.
That's it.
If these are the only people we have
to convince, the hippies and the gays,
you win, you win.
You win by a landslide.
You'll be the first openly gay man
elected to major office in the U.S.
I don't know if I
have another one in me.
Or Scotty.
Yeah, well.
Relentless man.
Oh, you're a relentless man.
This is the
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
The battle over homosexual rights
in Dade County, Florida.
The battle pitting
singer Anita Bryant
against gay rights activist
comes to a vote there Tuesday.
The issue was whether or not to
repeal a four-month-old ordinance,
which prohibits job and housing
discrimination against homosexuals.
In anticipation of the vote,
the gay community
has staged protests
in New York and other major
cities across the country.
The vote is
going now 18,930 for repeal.
Oh, give me
a fucking break.
Eighty eight hundred
sixty nine against repeal.
Virgil, is that enough for
you to make a projection?
Yes, I think very definitely that the
ordinance is going to be repealed.
With this margin, it's over.
Tonight, the laws of God
and the cultural values
of man have been vindicated.
The people of Dade County,
the normal majority,
have said,
"Enough, enough, enough."
Singer
Anita Bryant's well publicized...
Scotty?
I'm sorry, sir, I read
about you in the paper.
I'm sorry.
I can't talk right now.
Sir, I think I'm
gonna kill myself.
No. You don't
want to do that.
Where are you calling from?
Minnesota.
You saw my picture in
the paper in Minnesota?
How did I look?
My folks are gonna take me to this
place tomorrow. A hospital. To fix me.
There's nothing wrong
with you. Listen to me.
You just get on a bus to
the nearest biggest city.
Los Angeles or
New York or San Francisco,
it doesn't matter,
you just leave.
And you are not sick,
and you are not wrong
and God does not hate you.
Just leave.
I can't.
I can't walk, sir.
Paul, I need
you to come out here.
Hello?
Harvey!
Hello?
Oh, shit.
Harvey, you better come down,
there's going to be a riot.
Harvey, you should
get to the stage.
Bring him the stage, guys.
If you can't control
them, we will.
Just get me permission
to march them.
Where?
Anywhere.
Out of the bar
and into the streets!
Anita Bryant's
coming for you!
Out of the bar
and into the streets!
Anita Bryant's
coming for you!
We have
vowed to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
We have vowed
to fight back!
I know you are angry.
I am angry!
Let's march the streets of San
Francisco and share our anger!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now! Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
- Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
- Gay rights now!
Gay rights now! Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
Gay rights now!
My name is Harvey Milk
and I want to recruit you.
I am here tonight to say
that we will no longer
sit quietly in the closet.
We must fight.
And not only
in the Castro,
not only in
San Francisco,
but everywhere
the Anitas go.
Anita Bryant
did not win tonight.
Anita Bryant
brought us together!
She is going to create
a national gay force!
And the young people
in Jackson, Mississippi,
in Minnesota,
in the Richmond,
in Woodmere, New York,
who are hearing
her on television,
hearing Anita Bryant
on television,
telling them they are
sick, they are wrong,
there is no place in this
great country for them,
no place in this world,
they are looking to us
for something tonight.
And I say
we have got to
give them hope!
Hope!
...for a better world.
Hope for a better tomorrow.
Hope for a better place to come into
if the pressures at home are too great.
Hope for the worker who
awakens from the American dream
only to find that all the
jobs have left the country.
We've got to
give them hope.
When San Francisco
changed its voting rules,
so that people could elect people
from their own neighborhood,
so that the blacks could elect
a African-American supervisor,
and in Chinatown, they could
elect a Chinese supervisor,
and in the Castro, they could choose
between myself and Rick Stokes.
But decent art
begs balance, right?
So, little district eight,
two miles south of the Castro,
still very much the same.
Irish Catholic, conservative.
And with just the
right amount of poetry,
they found themselves
a handsome ex-cop.
See, I'm not going to be
forced out of San Francisco
by splinter groups of social radicals,
social deviants, and incorrigibles.
Now you must realize that there are
thousands upon thousands of frustrated,
angry people,
such as yourselves,
just waiting to unleash
a fury that will eradicate
the malignancies that
blight our beautiful city.
Just one more. We can't let
Rick Stokes take this one.
Let Rick Stokes
take it.
Sorry.
I can't do another one.
Oh, God damn it.
Bring out the old,
bring in the new.
This is over. Done.
I don't want to see one more thing
that says fucking Assembly on it.
'Cause this three time faggot
loser is running for supervisor.
There she is.
- Who the heck is that?
That's our
new campaign manager.
She called last week to volunteer
and I asked for her help.
Help or take over?
What about Scott?
We need new blood.
Gentlemen, Anne Kronenberg.
A woman.
A woman who likes women.
And that's odd, isn't it?
Hi, guys.
Mr. Milk, Rick Stokes
isn't pulling out.
He's officially filed
to run against you.
My friend at The Advocate
says David Goodstein is backing him.
So, a gay candidate
against a gay candidate.
That's unfortunate.
Let's find out when they
are going to announce.
So you replaced
Scott with a lesbian?
Anne worked on a recycling
campaign up north.
She's very, very organized.
We need that.
How do you know she's
not a plant for Rick Stokes?
Are you guys
always this paranoid?
Yes. We take after Harvey.
Don't you have someone's
laundry to do?
Shouldn't you be at
a hairdressing convention?
Sir, my girlfriends say
you guys don't like women.
I'm just asking.
Is there a place for us in all
this or are you all scared of girls?
Okay, gentlemen,
we've already got a tinker
bell, a lotus blossom.
We've got Jim and Dick
in their three-piece suits.
We need someone to manage things.
A woman this time.
Plus,
she's the right price,
and she's got bigger balls
than anybody else in here.
Just give me whatever is in the
register at the end of the day.
So should I call The Chronicle about
getting us an actual endorsement this time?
No?
Yeah, call The Chronicle,
sweetheart. Tell them I said hi.
Please call. In fact,
don't drive down there.
You'll scare
the shit out of them.
Call.
All right.
Hi, I'm Cleve.
Anne. Good to meet you.
I was telling Harvey we needed
some tough dykes around here, so...
Well, you got one.
All right.
First ever newspaper
endorsement.
And we got
the Bay Guardian,
The Sentinel and
The Bay Area Reporter.
You are pulling your weight.
Oh, this is sensational!
They endorsed you for
being a good businessman?
Oh, my gosh, you really
are a miracle worker.
Scott has got to read this.
He's just gonna piss himself.
Yeah,
you should show him.
You know what you should do, Cleve,
you should get yourself a boy to
celebrate with, just in case we win.
Anybody want to
buy me a drink?
Oh, I will buy you
a drink.
How about a bottle
of champagne?
We are going to The Stud
right fucking now.
Harvey, are you going to come?
You're gonna miss out?
Go, go, go, go.
I want to be with my newspaper.
Come on, let's go.
Come on, I'm buying.
You're not buying.
You don't have any money.
Gonna win this time, Milk?
You look more
handsome in the poster.
Oh, thank you.
You know, palominos
are my favorite horse.
They're smart.
But they're
compact and fast.
I like that.
You think I'm more
like a palomino,
or a stallion?
You know,
with big balls and...
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Here, let me help you.
You okay?
Yeah, it's...
- Come in.
Here, just lean on me.
Thank you.
- What happened?
I don't know, these
boots are too big for me.
Oh, well, let's get you
in and get those off your feet.
Where you going?
I have some things to do.
I got to go and meet
some friends. No, no, no.
My father beat
me when he found out.
So, that's
why I came here.
But, I'm living with this
guy that... I don't know.
I don't like him.
Nobody will
ever beat you again.
I love you.
I love you.
Do you even
remember my name?
No.
Harvey.
I'm Harvey.
Harvey, I love you.
Thanks.
Thank you.
For the first time,
it all came together.
The union boys, women, the
seniors, the gays and minorities.
All of the "us's"
showed up.
We can hear it,
we can't really see too much,
but it looks and sounds
to you and to me
like New Year's Eve
on Market Street.
We did it!
I love you all!
We are the movement. We are
the movement. Thank you so much.
Come on, we just want
to congratulate him.
No, I understand, but
right now we're all full.
Harvey!
Harvey!
- Harvey!
Hey, Harvey!
Hey.
Sorry, it's just so crowded.
Come in, sorry, sorry.
It's so crowded.
It's just so crowded.
Harvey, man!
Scotty!
Is this all for you, Harvey?
Are you this famous, baby?
No, we do this all the time.
You like it?
Yeah.
The new Mrs. Milk.
I give it a week.
Gordon Lau, Carol Ruth Silver. It's the
most liberal board in years. In history!
What about Dan White?
Did he win?
We'll deal with him tomorrow.
- Oh, God.
Does this mean, as many
straights are concerned,
maybe the gays are taking
over San Francisco?
Are you going to be a
supervisor for all the people?
Well, I have to be. That's
what I was elected for.
I have to be there to
open for the dialogue,
for the sensitivities of all
people and all their problems.
The problems that affect
this city, affect us all.
Okay, well,
congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you, San Francisco!
And that's Harvey Milk,
celebrating his election to the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
For Channel Five news,
I'm Mary Dilts.
I, Harvey Milk, do solemnly swear...
I, Harvey Milk, do solemnly swear...
That I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States...
hat I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States...
During such time as I
hold the office of supervisor,
City and County
of San Francisco.
During such time as I hold
the office of supervisor,
City and County
of San Francisco.
Congratulations, Harvey.
- Thank you, Mayor.
Anita Bryant said that it was gay people
that brought the drought to California.
Well, it looks to me as though
it's finally started raining.
This will be
the first time in many years
that we've seen so many new faces
on the Board of Supervisors.
Do you think such diversity
will cripple the board?
Well, the name of the game is
six votes to get anything passed.
So, whether you like it or not,
Dan and I are
in bed together.
Politically speaking.
You see, I've assured
Harvey here that, uh,
my brochure's comments
about social deviants
referred more to junkies
than to his people.
See, I'm about to
have my first child
and I had to make sure that this city
remains a decent place to raise him.
Well, thank you so much
for coming on the show, gentlemen,
and we'll see what happens.
That's it?
It's over? We're finished?
Yes.
That was quick.
- Thank you.
How long were
you a fireman, Dan?
A couple of years.
And you were a police
officer before that?
You got something
against cops, Harv?
No, no. They tend
to against me though.
But firefighters,
they're the true heroes.
They supported me on my last
campaign. I fully support them.
I appreciate that.
I meant what I said.
I'd like to work together.
Me, too.
I'll see you later.
Okay.
Oh. What do you think
of my new theater?
A bit over the top.
You're wearing a suit?
I got it
from a friend.
No, no, no, no.
Anytime you come here, I want you
to wear the tightest jeans possible.
Never blend in. And
never take the elevator.
Always use
the stairs.
You can make such a grand
entrance by taking these stairs.
Hello.
Carol, friend.
Dan White.
Hello, Dianne.
And then this is
Gordon Lau's office.
Anne, can you set Cleve up on mail?
Will do.
Okay,
first order of business
to come out of this office
is a citywide
Gay Rights Ordinance,
just like the one that Anita
shot down in Dade County.
What do you think,
Lotus Blossom?
I think it's good.
It's not great.
Okay, so make it brilliant. We want
Anita's attention here in San Francisco.
I want her to bring
her fight to us.
We need a unanimous
vote, we need headlines.
Dan White is not
gonna vote for this.
Dan White will be fine.
Dan White is just
uneducated. We'll teach him.
Hey, Harv,
committee meets at 9:30.
Hey, you guys.
Say, did you get the invitation
to my son's christening?
I invited a few of
the other Supes, too.
Oh, I'll be there.
Great! Thanks.
Did he hear you?
- What the fuck!
Are you going?
I would let him christen me if it means
he's gonna vote for the Gay Rights Ordinance.
We need allies.
We need everyone.
I don't think
he heard you.
Is it just me
or is he cute?
Jack?
Welcome home, Harvey.
I hope you're hungry.
I just know how to cook one
thing, but I make it good.
Come.
Jack,
did you break in?
No, no, no. I asked the little
boy downstairs to let me in.
Danny?
- Yeah.
He wouldn't let me,
so I came in this way.
You know, your friends aren't
very nice to me, Harvey.
I have a Town Hall
meeting tonight.
Sit down. Come, five minutes.
That's it. Come, please.
There you go.
I watched TV here
today, all day.
I saw All My Children.
And they killed Margo.
But I knew it was going to happen.
You know, they always try and
trick you but it never works.
You always
see it coming.
What? Killing the blonde?
Yeah, I'm good with that.
Jack.
- What?
If I make you a key,
will you promise never
to break in again?
That's right.
Is it your will that Charles should
be baptized in the faith of the church
which we have all
professed with you?
It is.
- It is.
Charles, I baptize you
in the name of the Father
and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit.
God, the father of our Lord Jesus
Christ has freed you from sin...
I'm proposing
a citywide ordinance
which would ensure that any
person who already has a job
cannot be fired on the
basis of sexual orientation.
I don't think my constituents
would favor that, Harvey.
Is there anyone else here
from the board today, Dan?
You're the only one
who showed, I think.
Were you
christened here?
I was. Right here, same parish.
My grandma immigrated here when
this was an Irish Catholic city,
the City of Saint Francis.
But a lot's changed here
since then, you know.
You're more like one
of us now, an outsider.
You're not like most
homosexuals, are you, Harvey?
Do you know a lot
of homosexuals, Dan?
Hey, where do you stand
on the Psychiatric Center
that the city's been
pushing into my district?
Well, I'd have
to study it...
It was a key piece on my platform.
Getting it out of my district.
It only attracts arsonists, rapists,
that sort of thing, you know.
A campaign promise.
A big one.
- Sure.
What do you say we watch out for each
other's interests? I would really like that.
I'd like that too, Dan.
- Good.
Sorry, hon, we just
slipped into some shop talk.
The Gay Rights Ordinance.
My fault.
Seems like an inappropriate
subject, don't you think?
Oh, don't knock it
till you've tried it.
Hello. Oh, oh, but you had
such a beautiful christening.
Supervisors Silver and
Lau are asking you to vote
to keep this Psychiatric
Center in Dan's district.
It'll go down six to five
if you vote to get rid of it.
It's a youth campus, Harvey.
And these are kids that would
be displaced from families.
I can't just dump Dan.
He's got nothing going for him.
No friends...
Oh, God, oh, God! Here we go, here we go.
Harvey to the rescue.
Isn't it enough that we
have to put up with Jack?
All right, lay off. He
registered 120 voters last week.
Okay, so do any
of your volunteers,
but you don't go and
make them all first lady.
Harvey, what does
Dan White do for you?
Really, politically.
He intrigues me.
I think he may be one of us.
No, no.
It's just a theory.
You just think he's cute.
No, no. I know what it's
like to live that life.
That lie. I can see it in Dan's eyes.
That fear, the pressure.
Good or bad?
- Not great.
State Senator John Briggs is Anita Bryant's
go-to guy in California for sure.
He filed a petition for
a statewide referendum
to fire all gay teachers
and anyone who supports them.
How many signatures does
he need to get on the ballot?
Oh, whatever. He can get them in two
Sundays at church in Orange fucking County.
So, this means that
the fight is coming here,
where we can do
something about it.
The issue in California
is whether school boards
should be allowed to fire teachers
who are known homosexuals.
The courts have
ruled they cannot.
Boards must prove a teacher's
homosexuality adversely affects children
and makes them unfit
for the classroom.
State Senator John Briggs
wants to change that.
My proposition promises to protect our
children from these gay perverts and...
These gay perverts and pedophiles
who recruit our children
to participate in their
deviant lifestyle,
including the ones who do
it in our public schools.
The time has come
for us to root them out.
How are you going to
determine who's homosexual?
I'm sorry, sir, what?
How are you going to
determine who's homosexual?
Sir, my bill has procedures
for identifying homosexuals.
Oh, yeah, how?
Will you be sucking them off, Briggs?
Excuse me. You know what,
you can argue with me,
you cannot
argue with God.
Harvey, I can't believe it.
No, he wants my job.
You want my job, you prick!
Sir, you were here when
State Senator Briggs was on the steps.
What do you
think about that?
Well, I think what you saw, you saw some
very committed opposition to his proposition.
And I think that's
only going to continue.
People have very
emotional reactions to this.
This is their lives
that are on the line.
What's going to happen?
Well, look what
happened in Germany.
I mean, Anita Bryant has already said that
the Jews and Muslims are going to hell.
So, you know she
has a shopping list.
And we are not going to let
the John Briggs' or the Anita Bryants
legislate bigotry
in this state.
Hello, Harvey,
running late?
Your boyfriend
is in the closet.
Excuse me, David.
The Latino has locked himself
in the closet upstairs.
Harvey, Harvey,
Phil Burton is here.
He's likely the next
Speaker of the House
and a very important ally
against Proposition 6.
So, please,
no scenes, all right?
You're right.
I was late by 20 minutes.
So come on out, Jack.
Who were you with? Scott?
Or with a new boy you were trying to save?
I was at work.
Come on out, sweet pea.
You embarrassed me,
Harvey.
I didn't know anyone down
there and they're bad people.
I just want to go, okay?
Then you should go home.
No, I want to stay.
I want to stay here.
So, you go away, okay?
Go away!
The Briggs initiative is
polling at 75% for approval statewide.
80% in other polls. Some even
have us losing San Francisco.
We deceive people into
thinking we can beat this,
we'll have riots and only
increase the backlash.
That's a good point, David.
Maybe we should just roll over and make
it easier for Briggs to fuck us in the ass.
We're taking this very
seriously in my office.
We want to send one of these to every
home in California and that takes money.
"Proposition 6 is
an affront to human rights.
"An invasion of the state into the
private lives of California citizens."
Without a single mention of the
word gay on the entire flyer.
By design, Harvey.
Corey Wares is an out gay teacher...
- Rick...
With the heat bearing down
on your movement right now,
we feel it's best to dodge the gay
bullet. Go for the human rights angle.
People need to know who it
is that's being affected.
You need at least one
old queer on this flyer.
Excuse me, yeah.
- Maybe you should volunteer for that, David.
This is shit. This is
shit and masturbation.
It's just a coward's response
to a dangerous threat.
Come on, Jack.
It's time to go.
Get everyone
together at your place.
I want young people, I want
women, I want fresh heads.
Get organizers and fighters,
not politicians. Come on, Jack.
What about S-C-O-T-T?
Yeah.
Jack, come on.
We have to
fight the machine.
They don't want to change,
they want to stay in the past.
Stop and be
realistic about it.
Realistic? We're not interested in
staying in the closet, losing Prop 6.
We're all on the same
side, man, we're on the same side.
Hey, is anybody gonna pay the
pizza guy or we're just gonna stare?
How could we not stare?
Here, put out your hand.
You are shameless.
You are shameless.
I mean, I'm proud of you
but you are hysterical.
Hey.
We're going to
convince the 90%
to give a shit
about us 10%.
We have to let them
know who we are.
Everybody has to come out.
Across the entire state,
no matter where they live.
Come out, come out,
wherever you are.
If we're going to beat Prop 6,
we tell all of them to come out.
Every gay lawyer, teacher,
doctor, dog catcher.
We have to
leave the ghetto.
We have to let all those people out
there know that they know one of us.
And if somebody doesn't want
to step out of the closet,
we open the door for them.
Jesus.
The whole state isn't
San Francisco, Harvey.
Clearly, Scott.
Harvey, that could
be really, really dangerous.
I mean, there's such a
thing as a right to privacy.
Privacy.
In this movement,
at this time,
I'm not saying this as a
supervisor, privacy is the enemy.
And if you want real political
power, if that's what you want,
try telling the truth
for a change.
All right? Starting here.
If there's anyone in
this room, right now,
who hasn't told
their families,
their friends,
their employers,
do it now.
My folks know already.
My dad doesn't know yet.
They vote for us
two to one.
If they know,
they know one of us.
As much as I'm sure
you'd all like to watch,
I don't think
that's such a good idea.
Cleve, could you show Dick where there's
a phone where he could speak in private?
There's one in the bedroom.
I just found myself clawing over
him, literally running to get him.
Oh, good night.
- Good night.
Ciao, gang.
- Sleep tight.
I thought
you got out of politics.
Politics.
Not the movement.
What the hell
was that in there?
The movement
needs people to be upfront.
Why were you
fighting me in there?
Those are kids in there. You're
asking them to lose their families.
If their families don't
love them for who they are,
who they really are, then
they should lose them.
That's fucking insane.
You were the biggest
closet case in New York.
You asked me and all your
boyfriends to keep our traps shut.
I mean, you're being the hypocrite.
My parents are gone. My brother
knew. I'm sure they knew.
How many times did I have
to listen to calls to Mom,
where you
denied my existence?
And you want to be normal like
anybody. More than anybody.
Who's he?
You live together?
Someone I'm seeing.
Keeps me out of
trouble, out of the bars.
I miss you.
Harvey,
what's that about?
Harvey.
He needs me.
If there is an air of dishonesty
with this board and its members,
that is repugnant...
I have told no lies today or
to Supervisor White in the past.
Supervisor Milk,
you will come to order.
I would like it
noted that I never promised
to back moving any
mental health centers.
And that with great respect to Supervisor
White, I would like his remarks stricken.
Duly noted. We will take a 10 minute
recess before recording the vote.
Thank you, Harvey.
Can I have a moment with Harvey?
Alone, please, Carol?
Why? Why are you
turning on me like this?
At the last minute?
What did I do?
I never
got the details.
Dan, if you want me to help
you draft another version of it
that doesn't shanghai every troubled
kid in your area, I'll be happy to.
Harvey, I can't go back to my family,
to my folks, to my district without this.
Don't do this.
- Well, I have a lot of pressure on me.
So, you're just
stringing me along
and then you're just gonna throw
me to the wolves, is that it?
Dan, you only need
one more vote.
You've got five other supervisors
you can convince besides me.
I'm gonna vote against your queer law
and I'm gonna get Quentin against it, too.
Oh, it's gonna pass anyway and you
can't keep alienating yourself here, Dan.
I gave you a chance, Harvey, okay?
I gave you a chance and you blew it!
You blew it.
The city council in
St. Paul, Minnesota
passed a law guaranteeing,
among other things,
equal rights in housing,
employment and education,
regardless of
sexual preference.
Now, voters in that city have
made their disapproval clear.
Homosexuality is a question facing
the voters of Eugene, Oregon tomorrow.
A referendum to repeal
gay rights protection.
So, while we were fighting
Proposition 6 and Briggs in California,
I needed to put
a show on the road.
And our next stop,
Wichita, Kansas.
Voters of Wichita, Kansas
have overwhelmingly repealed
a city law
protecting homosexuals
against discrimination
in jobs and housing.
Only two hours after
the polls closed,
the church organization that started the
repeal action was celebrating victory.
Hey, Lawrence, it's Cleve.
Hey, we're losing Wichita.
So rally tonight sundown
at Market and Castro, okay?
Okay, bye.
Hello?
Jerry. Hey, we're losing Wichita...
They're moving.
I don't know where.
Did Jim call the press? You
get out there with your camera.
Press is covered. But we
don't have a permit to march.
Hurry up.
When I got Coors beer out of the
bars, the union boys gave me this.
I want you
to take it now.
What am I supposed
to do with this?
You're an activist now,
you're gonna march them.
I want you to march them right up
to the front doors of City Hall.
When things start
to look really bad,
the city's first gay supervisor
will come out and play peacemaker.
Do it with me.
Hello.
Forty years ago, tonight,
the gay citizens of Germany found
out they no longer had civil rights.
Tomorrow morning, the gay citizens
of Wichita will also awaken
to find that they too
have lost their civil rights!
You have whistles. You use them
when we have been attacked.
Tonight we have been attacked.
Come on, the crowd
is leaving without us!
Shit!
Get the press
to the marquee.
Move left! Move left!
What are you doing?
What are you doing? Where's Harvey?
We're shutting down traffic,
both directions.
Cameras are rolling.
Okay, disconnect
the power arm!
Civil rights or civil war!
Gay rights now!
Civil rights or civil war!
Gay rights now!
Civil rights or civil war!
Gay rights now!
Civil rights or civil war!
Gay rights now!
Civil rights or civil war!
Gay rights now!
Anita!
Anita, you're a liar!
We'll set your hair on fire!
Anita, you're a liar!
Anita, you're a liar!
We'll set your hair on fire!
Anita, you're a liar!
We'll set your hair on fire!
Okay, okay!
My name is Harvey Milk
and I'm here to recruit you.
They're calling it
a successful mediation.
You're a goddamn hero. Fuck,
we came this close to a riot.
Next time
put down the note cards.
You got to keep talking into that bullhorn
and tell them what they're feeling.
Oh, you're just jealous
it wasn't you out there.
We're losing
Proposition 6 by 60%,
and you're over there
celebrating a riot.
What we need is exposure.
If we're gonna
beat this thing,
we got to get Briggs
to acknowledge it.
Every paper's calling
Prop 6 the main event now.
We lose this, we'll have
anti-gay laws in all 50 states,
and Briggs won't answer our
calls for a public debate.
He's trying
to ignore us to death.
We need
something populist.
What's the number one
problem in this city?
The fucking piss
smell in the tenderloin.
Close.
Dog shit.
If you clean up the dog shit in
this town, you're the next mayor.
Supervisor Milk
took to the grassy lawn
at Duboce Park this afternoon
to publicize the new law.
Dog mess is a hazard and on
top of that, it's disgusting.
So under the new ordinance, all dog
owners who don't clean up their mess
will be fined.
Milk put his foot down to emphasize
that the city intends to enforce,
and you guessed it.
In Supervisor Milk's words,
"This really is the bottom line. "
Aye.
Lau, aye.
Supervisor Hutch?
Aye.
Hutch, aye.
Supervisor White?
No.
White, no.
Supervisor Silver?
Aye.
Silver, aye.
Supervisor Milk?
Aye.
Milk, aye.
Madam President,
I have ten ayes and one no.
The San Francisco
Gay Rights Ordinance
sponsored by Supervisors
Milk and Silver is passed.
I can't get my stories on
page ten, you're getting page one?
Doggy-doo is a
real issue, George.
A powder blue pen to sign the
city's first gay rights law.
I don't do this enough, taking
swift and unambiguous action
on a substantive
move for civil rights.
Congratulations.
George, we need your
help with Briggs.
The gay community will have your
back on every issue from now on.
We hope you'll have ours.
What are you
working on, Dan?
If you have something
to discuss, Harvey,
you can have your aide make
an appointment with my aide.
Dan, I know you're upset
about the psychiatric center.
What else do you
have coming up?
Now you need
something from me.
What do you want, me to support the
queers against Prop 6, is that it?
We prefer the term gay, Dan.
Just as I'm sure you prefer the
term Irish-American instead of mick.
Harvey, a society can't
exist without the family.
We're not against that.
- You're not?
What, can two men reproduce?
No.
But God knows
we keep trying.
This isn't you, Dan.
It's like you're channeling
Anita and Briggs.
We got to be able to work
together on something.
Okay, Milk,
introduce an initiative
for supervisor pay raises.
Dan, we both have elections
coming up. We can't do that.
No, you asked for something.
Introduce pay raises, 'cause I can't
take care of my family on our salaries.
You don't have that
problem, do you?
Senator John Briggs
apparently has not flinched
in the face of statewide
criticism of his anti-gay crusade.
He says polls show most of the
people are still on his side.
Especially those concerned with the
preservation of the American family.
If these people are going to live
a life of such open homosexuality,
that they want a 21 gun salute every
time somebody walks by them,
those people are going to be in danger
of being removed from their job.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Harvey
Happy birthday to you
What's wrong, taco?
It's just that
Cleve and Anne,
they tried to cut me
out of your table, baby.
I'm so sick of them.
You should fire them.
I'll take it
under consideration.
Would you go
get us some cake?
Cake?
- Yeah.
Whatever you want.
Don't let Cesar Chavez
hear you calling him taco.
He's getting much better.
He's enrolling in classes on Monday, I hope.
You know, I remember
when your birthdays were
a lot less lavish and
a little more intimate.
Who invited you? Anne?
No, my boyfriend.
I'm his plus one.
Well, congratulations.
It was a very hard ticket to get.
Congratulations to you. Looks like
you're part of the machine now.
By the way,
you can do better.
When I come home to Jack,
I don't have to talk politics,
I don't have to talk intelligently.
I don't have to talk at all.
And besides, where's an ugly old man like
me gonna find a handsome young man like that?
You're not that old
and you look handsome.
Happy 48. Looks like you're gonna
make it to 50 after all, Mr. Milk.
Harvey!
Harvey, Harvey!
Is your birthday party
over?
Well, it's just
winding down. Hi.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I missed your birthday party.
No, it's no problem.
It's good to see you, Dan.
I'm sorry. It's good
to see you too, Harvey.
Oh, I wanted to ask
you about the dog poop.
Yeah.
That's good.
It's a really good one.
It's a good one.
Hey, I got you
a little something.
You didn't have to.
I knew you were
going to say that.
Why do people
always say that?
"You didn't have to."
I mean, of course, right?
But that's what
they always say.
They always say
things like that.
Always.
Are you okay, Dan?
Yeah.
Are you okay, Harvey?
Are we okay?
- Okay.
I've learned a lot from watching you.
- I doubt that.
No, I have. I've realized
you just gotta get out there.
You gotta be noticed, 'cause
that's how it all works.
But you have an issue.
See, that's your advantage.
That's an advantage.
Dan,
it's more than an issue.
What?
- I...
Dan, I have had four
relationships in my life.
And three of them have tried to
commit suicide. And that's my fault,
because I kept them hidden and quiet,
because I was closeted and weak.
You see what I'm saying?
- Yes.
You do?
- Mmm-hmm.
This is not just jobs or issues,
this is our lives we're fighting for.
Okay?
- All right.
Okay, Dan...
- I've learned a lot from you, Harvey.
I'm getting back
to my party now.
I'm going to get my
picture in the papers, too.
Why are you even here? Why did
you just show up from somewhere?
I've got my own issues.
- Okay.
I've got my own issues.
- Thank you.
"Thank you." Whatever.
I don't even know who you are. You just
showed up out of nowhere, Latino man.
Dan White's got an issue!
John Briggs said this morning that Dade
County, Oklahoma, and St. Paul, Minnesota
were only preliminary battles.
He called his California campaign against
homosexual teachers the main event.
What it's doing,
what these people are doing is
changing our morals from our religious background.
And I don't want that.
This came in
the mail today.
"You get the first bullet the
minute you stand at the microphone."
... Supervisor Harvey Milk.
Well, publicity's working.
You don't have
to go up there.
The whole nation is watching.
I have to go.
My name is Harvey Milk
and I'm here to recruit you!
I want to recruit you for the
fight to preserve your democracy!
Brothers and sisters,
you must come out!
Come out to your parents,
come out to your friends,
if indeed they are your friends.
Come out to your neighbors,
come out to your fellow workers.
Once and for all,
let's break down the myths
and destroy the lies
and distortions.
For your sake,
for their sake.
For the sake of all the
youngsters who've been scared
by the votes
from Dade to Eugene.
On the Statue of Liberty,
it says,
" Give me your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to be free. "
In the Declaration of
Independence it is written,
"All men are created equal and
endowed with certain inalienable rights. "
So, for Mr. Briggs,
and Mrs. Bryant,
and all the bigots
out there,
no matter how hard you try,
you can never erase those words from
the Declaration of Independence!
No matter how hard you try,
you can never chip those words
from the base of
the Statue of Liberty!
That is where America is!
Love it or leave it!
Okay, the mayor says Briggs is on his way
here and that he could intercept him for us.
We could get him face to face.
- Go get the press.
All right.
Well, I see naked men walking
around, naked women walking around,
which doesn't bother me as far as
my personal standards of nudity,
but it's not proper. It wouldn't be allowed
for any other parade in San Francisco,
and it should not be
allowed for the Gay Parade.
I have a right to be at
this parade, Mr. Mayor.
I'm afraid it's not in the
interest of your safety,
or my public's safety to let
you into these parade grounds.
I'm Harvey Milk. It's an
honor to meet you, Mr. Briggs.
Yeah, no, I'm aware.
You know, it's sad, Mr. Milk, that
you're afraid to fight this out in public.
Oh, that's not true.
I'd very much like to have
a public debate with you.
I'm very interested in the
details of your argument.
Oh, well, you know,
you know the details.
I mean, just look at the votes across
this nation. The public is with me.
They are today.
Which is why
with my city's mayor
and the San Francisco
press as my witnesses,
I'd like to challenge
you to a public debate.
Oh, I think
that's a yes.
You know, Mr. Milk, we don't allow
people who practice bestiality
to teach our
children, and... Excuse me,
and the reason we don't
is because it is illegal.
It is not illegal to be a
homosexual in California.
And your law goes
even further.
Any school employee who even
supports a gay person will be fired.
Well, that's true. But gay people
don't have any children of their own.
And if they don't recruit our
children, they'd all just die away.
You know? And that's why they're all
so interested in becoming teachers,
because they want to encourage
our children to join them.
And how do you
teach homosexuality?
It's like French?
I was born of
heterosexual parents,
taught by
heterosexual teachers
in a fiercely
heterosexual society.
So why then
am I homosexual?
And no offense meant,
but if it were true that children
mimicked their teachers,
we'd have a hell of a lot
more nuns running around.
We were really, genuinely
frightened by Proposition 6.
And with Anita and Briggs gaining
strength, we were very pessimistic.
We didn't think that there was
any chance that we could beat it.
But what we did hope for
is that we could
organize enough,
so that when we did lose,
all hell would break loose.
We're still losing 60-30. We got
to take this show on the road.
Put out a press release.
Call Briggs' office, tell him he
can pick the audience, the town.
I'll tell my supporters
to stay away.
Harvey, his audiences are
intensely devout. You'll get killed.
Get me Orange County.
In your statements here and all
these newspapers and tonight,
you say that child
molestation is not an issue.
If it's not an issue,
why do you put out
literature that hammers it home?
Why do you play
on this myth and fear?
Same thing with VD, Harvey,
we put out publications...
This is campaign
literature.
Well, we put out publications
about VD so you can avoid it.
You yourself had said that there's more
molestation in the heterosexual group,
so why not get rid
of the heterosexual teachers?
We are not talking about
homosex... About child molestation.
Nearly... The fact is, nearly 95
percent of the people are heterosexual,
so, if we took the heterosexuals
out and the homosexuals out,
you know what,
we'd have no teachers.
We'd have no teachers,
no more molestation.
So you're saying that the
percentage of the population
is equal to the percentage
of child molestation?
No, no, no,
I'm not saying that, no.
That's what
you just said.
No, no, no. I'm not saying that at
all. I am saying that we can't prevent
child molestation, so let's
just cut our odds down
by taking out the homosexuals and
keeping in the heterosexual groups.
Sir, in your drive
for personal power,
how many careers are you
willing to see destroyed?
How many lives, in your lust for power,
will you destroy and when will it stop?
Jack, what is it?
Nothing.
Just wondering when you'll be home.
You just had them pull me out of my big
vote on the dog shit ordinance for this?
What, do you do
this on purpose?
Fuck, Harvey,
it's poop, okay?
I just hope I'm more
important than poop.
Look, it's... I just... I don't
know what time I'll be home.
6:00 or 6:15.
Okay.
- Okay?
I'm all right.
I'll see you then.
Okay.
6:15, then.
Dan, how's the baby?
You didn't bring up
supervisor pay raises?
In fact, I heard that you
plan to publicly oppose them.
Well, I heard that you
planned to vote against them, too.
Were you setting me up?
It's not a good time
for me, politically speaking.
Dan, there's a vote on the
Police Desegregation Settlement.
You give me that and I'll
consider backing pay raises.
I don't trade votes.
Unlike you,
the way I was raised,
we believe in right and wrong.
Moral and immoral.
Black skin and white
in the police department.
Dan, even Ronald Reagan
is opposed to Proposition 6.
You're looking more
and more out of touch.
Okay, if I come out against Prop 6,
it's only going to be for the invasion
of state's rights issue,
that's it.
And the potential witch hunt
against you straight people.
You can't humiliate
me, okay?
You will not demean me.
Harvey, we're doing the final vote.
We need to get you back.
Jack?
Jack?
Jack?
Oh!
No, Jack. Jack, no!
No, no, no. Jack, no.
Jack!
No, no, no, no!
Oh, no!
Harvey,
look at me.
Hey, look at me.
You did everything
that you could.
No, I didn't.
What more could
you have done?
I could have come back
at 6:00 instead of 6:15.
Shh.
Jack was gone.
I didn't have any time to mourn.
There was no choice.
I had to keep on...
Keep on fighting.
Most California political leaders,
from Governor Jerry Brown to
former Governor Ronald Reagan,
say there are already enough
laws on the books to protect children.
If you allow one,
just one human being
to be allowed to have his
rights taken away from him,
as a human being
then, pal,
you don't have any right when they
come to take away your rights!
You do what you want in
the privacy of your own home.
But don't tell me I got
to accept it in mine.
San Bernadino is coming in.
Not good.
Of course not.
How not good?
60% for Briggs.
Same in Fresno.
Oh, dear God,
Lotus Blossom.
Imperial is
69% for so far.
Put it on the board.
I love homosexuals,
if you can believe that.
I love them enough
to tell them the truth.
I think that if it were passed, it would
be just what some people would need
to conduct a very
severe witch hunt.
What I ask, everybody to
vote against Proposition 6.
The whole world is watching. This is
San Francisco we're losing. You ready?
I can have 15,000
people here in an hour,
but there's gonna be
riots if this thing passes.
There goddamn
well better be.
What are you telling me?
I can't say this because
I'm a public official,
but if this thing passes,
fight the hell back.
It was fundamentalist
Christians who helped Briggs
gather most of the signatures to
put Proposition 6 on today's ballot.
The Christian community
had never been involved
in any political
controversial issue.
And they're not only
involved, but they're committed.
They've not only been working very hard, but
they're going to come out and vote today.
" Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. "
And I would like to know
how you, Senator Briggs,
believe that Proposition 6 will help
children learn how to accept people
who are different
from themselves.
Harvey,
Don Amador from LA.
Not a good time, Don.
No, sir, this is Paul.
Don just gave me the phone.
Paul who?
You spoke to me on the
phone a year or so ago.
I'm in a wheelchair.
I'm from Minnesota.
I thought you were
a goner, Paul.
When I saw that you
won the supervisor seat,
I got a friend to
put me on a bus to LA.
Who do you know
in Los Angeles?
Nobody.
That's the...
I just didn't
want to die anymore.
I met your friend Don
down here.
I turned 18 and I
voted today against Prop 6.
I don't think I'd be alive
right now if it weren't for you.
No, you did that all
by yourself, Paul.
Don wanted me to congratulate
you on what he says
looks like a big win for us tonight.
Congratulations, Mr. Milk.
Yeah, I know,
it's incredible.
All the precincts have reported
we've won 65% in LA County.
It's huge, Harvey.
I got to go, Don.
We just took LA County by 65%.
Put it up! Put it up!
Okay, okay.
What, Jim? Jim, what?
- Okay, okay!
The polls were way off.
Briggs is going down by 2 to 1.
The only place it's going to pass in
San Francisco is Dan White's district.
Somebody, cover up
Lady Liberty!
The cameras are
on the way here.
Tonight, it's become clear
to everyone out there
that they do know one of us,
and now that they do,
they can see that
we're not sick.
They can feel that
we are not wrong.
And they know that there must
be, that there should be a place
for us in this great
country, in this world.
A message of hope has been
sent to all those young people,
to all of those who've been
afraid by this wave of hate,
to all of those who have lost
their homes, lost their hometowns.
Tonight, we are clear that
there is a place for us!
My brothers and sisters,
we can come home again!
Oh, good morning, Dan.
Morning, Harvey,
I just resigned.
Congratulations. I'm sure you'll
be the next President of the Board.
Hey, Dan.
Just got word.
Can we talk to you for a minute?
Yeah, sure.
The association
meeting room.
Well, now it starts all over
again, because this morning,
former Supervisor Dan White says he wants
to be called supervisor one more time.
He gets dragged into this closed
door meeting at Police Association.
Suddenly
he wants his job back.
I mean, who knows what they
might have said to him in there.
Or what they may
have promised him.
Or worse yet, if they
had threatened him.
A man has the right to change
his mind. Give me some peace.
Dan White has been the vote on the
board that has stood in our way.
The vote.
- I get it, Harvey.
I've been lobbied all week.
Enough.
Let me remind you of something,
you're up for re-election.
If you reappoint Dan White, you will
lose the gay vote. They listen to me.
You will not be
elected dog catcher.
I'll make
my decision on Monday.
You know who you
sounded like just now?
Boss
Tweed or Mayor Daly.
I like that.
A homosexual with power.
That's scary.
Hello.
Yes, hold on, please.
Thank you.
Yes, this is Dan White.
Hi, Mr. White, this is
Barbara Taylor from KCBS.
Mmm-hmm.
I'm interested
in your reaction.
I've received information
from the mayor's office
that you're not
getting your job back.
I'm sorry, I don't know
anything about that.
Hello?
Did I wake you?
Harvey?
Are you all right?
I went to the opera tonight.
Guess who I went with.
Who?
Bidu Sayao herself.
She was my first Puccini.
The crowd went wild.
I felt like I was young
again, being at my first opera.
Maybe you should tell me the
next time you go to the opera.
Really?
Yeah. I'd go with you.
I'd like that.
Look outside,
the sun's coming up.
Okay, hang on.
Hey, wait a minute.
My aide was supposed
to come down here
and let me in the side door,
but she never showed up.
And you are?
- I'm Dan White, City Supervisor.
Harvey,
I want you to know
that I am proud of you.
I don't wanna miss this.
Miss what?
This.
Is he here? Can I see
the mayor for a moment?
Just a minute,
I'll see if he's available.
Sir, Dan White
is here to see you.
So, who are they
gonna replace Dan with?
That goddamn lefty
liberal, Don Horanzy?
That'll really
shake up the board.
All I know is that we're
getting a new supervisor today.
If Dan shows up,
just avoid him.
We don't need a scene
today, do we, Harvey?
God forbid, Dianne.
Mr. White,
the mayor will see you now.
Thanks.
- You're welcome.
Dan, come on in.
It's not something
that I wanna calm down about.
You can't take
this away from me.
Dan, look,
you made a decision.
You know,
you made the decision.
The issue is what's fair to the
people of your district, Dan.
Now, look, take some time off.
Spend it with your family.
Tell President Carter we're
coming after him next, this time next year.
Hi, Dianne.
We're marching
to Washington D.C.
Hey, can I see you in
my office for a minute?
Sure. I'll be back.
Yeah.
No.
Well,
you know what I think?
I think you need
to find a new scene.
And some new friends.
I need a change.
You're 40 now.
- Oh.
Forty years old and I haven't
done a thing I'm proud of.
Keep eating all that cake, you're gonna
be a fat-ass by the time you're 50.
No, I'll never make it to 50.
Where is everyone?
Doesn't anyone
give a damn?
Cleve's getting some people
together in the Castro.
Last week I got a phone call
from Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The voice was very young,
and the person said, "Thanks."
You've got to elect gay people
so that the young child
and the thousands upon
thousands just like him
will have hope
for a better life.
Hope for a better tomorrow.
I ask this,
that if there be
an assassination,
I would want five, ten,
a hundred, a thousand to rise.
If a bullet should enter my brain,
let it destroy every closet door.
I ask for the movement to continue
because it's not about personal gain,
and it's not about ego
and it's not about power.
It's about the
"us's" out there.
Not just the gays but
the blacks and the Asians
and the seniors
and the disabled.
The "us's."
Without hope,
the "us's" give up.
And I know you can't
live on hope alone.
But without hope,
life is not worth living.
So you,
and you,
and you,
you got to give them hope.
You got to give them hope.