Celebrity Friday: Harvey Milk

Legislation that would declare May 22 "Harvey Milk Day" in California passed the California legislature for the second year in a row on Thursday. Last year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill but this time there will be a lot more attention given to how he deals with SB 572.

A few weeks ago, Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Milk would be one of a dozen men and women -- including pilot Chuck Yeager, entertainer Carol Burnett and "Star Wars" filmmaker George Lucas -- inducted into the California Hall of Fame this year.

In July, Obama awarded Milk a posthumous Medal of Freedom. And in February, Sean Penn won a best actor Oscar for the title role in the critically acclaimed film "Milk."

A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger said the governor has not taken a position on Leno's bill. But the senator feels bullish, given Milk's burnished image in Hollywood and beyond.

"If there's one thing Arnold Schwarzenegger understands, it's box office," Leno said. "And Harvey Milk now has box office."

To encourage the Governor to sign the bill, go to http://www.eqca.org/harveymilkday

VIDEO: Life and Times of Harvey Milk

Although last year's Milk was widely celebrated (and was one of my favorite movies of 2008), years ago the documentary The Life and Times of Harvey Milk is an even more extraordinary documentation of the life of the openly gay civil rights leader who was assassinated. Now YouTube has the entire documentary available for viewing. Check it out!

2-Time Oscar Winner Sean Penn Supports Harvey Milk Day

TowleRoad has posted pictures of the press conference to promote legislation to create a holiday remembering openly gay politician Harvey Milk held yesterday in San Francisco attended by 2-time Oscar winner Sean Penn and SB 572's sponsor, State Senator Mark Leno and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, as well as several other local openly gay politicians.

Equality California is another co-sponsor of the legislation, which passed the state legislature last year, only to be vetoed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the midst of last year's budget showdown with the Democrats. Yesterday, EQCA started airing a not very-well reviewed 30-second ad which includes images of Harvey Milk. Sean Penn won his second Best Actor Oscar for his stunning portrayal of the assassinated gay politician a less than two weeks ago. When MadProfessah was up in Sacramento the week before lobbying on legislative resolutions to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional revisions (which both houses of the California Legislature passed on Tuesday), Senator Leno told me that he thinks his bill has a better chance this year, "Because one thing the Governor understands is box office!"

Fellow Southern California blogger and frequent MadProfessah commenter Wonder Man has an interesting post up about other openly gay or lesbian people who could be the subject of fascinating movies: Bayard Rustin, Sylvester, Audre Lorde and Radclyffe Hall are some of his suggestions.

VIDEO: EQCA Starts Airing Ad on LGBT History

Equality California has released a 30-second ad that it says it will start airing on television stations around the state to educate Californians about the history of the discriminations against LGBT individuals.

Watch the ad below:



What do you notice is missing? Yup. The words "Gay" or "Lesbian" or "Bisexual" or "Transgendered." It is narrated by someone who sounds like an African-American male, which is an interesting choice.

There's no transcript offered by Equality California but here's my attempt:

Persecuted.

Arrested.

Beaten.

And still denied equal rights.

But for every Jerry Falwell, there's a Harvey Milk.

For every voice of hatred, a million voices for change.

Because Equality is our right.

Join the fight.

Overall, I think as the first ad of a statewide group to convince people to join Equality California I think it's a bit weak. If the goal is to inform people that gay people have been historically discriminated against, I think it does a better job but should have actual citations in it. I think the true reason for the ad is to promote Equality California's main piece of legislation for 2009, which is to enact a "Day of Significance" on May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day" in California. It doesn't do a good job of that either.

Overall Grade: B-.

Celebrity Friday: Dustin Lance Black Speech at Oscars

Dustin Lance Black, the openly gay (34-year-old) screenwriter of Milk, made a strong statement for equal rights for gay people and for the esteem of LGBT youth in his acceptance speech for Best Original Screenplay on Sunday. Since any references to homosexuality were apparently censored to the Oscar ceremony broadcast to hundreds of millions of people around the world, I am posting it here:




And back stage talking to the media, he continued:



Justin Cole posted the transcript of Black's speech on the GLAAD blog.

Excerpt from Harvey Milk speech

Speech By John Duran at Weho Protest Over PROP 8

John Duran, openly gay, HIV+ Latino former Mayor of West Hollwyood and Board President of Equality California gave the following powerful remarks last night from the stage about Proposition 8, LGBT civil rights and racism (as transcribed by lesbian reporter Karen Ocamb):

My voice has been horse almost gone but I had to get out of bed to be
here with all of you. I was so happy last night at the Music Box at
8:01 when California put Barack Obama over the line to be our next
President of the United States.

(Cheers.)

And I rejoiced watching (?) in Times Square in New York and Grant
Park, in Chicago at the Old Court House in Atlanta – all across this
country people cheering for Barack Obama as we did as a gay and
lesbian, bisexual and transgender community at the Music Box. We
shared that joy together.

And then, within 30 minutes, as the numbers started to come in – I
felt the joy being deflated by the fact that we were falling behind
on Proposition 8.

And then I was crushed when I heard that people of color were voting
against the GLBT community.

(Boos)

And I started to wonder to myself – how could this be? After all we
have struggled together as one coalition – in the Rainbow Coalition –
how could it be?

And then the stories started to come in from last night from my own
Latino culture on Santa Monica Boulevard – that there were Latino
males with Yes on 8 banners screaming “faggot” and “queer” at our
people along Santa Monica Boulevard.

(Boos)

As I heard the story of our black lesbian volunteer at a polling
place who was told by another black woman that “her kind” didn’t
deserve civil rights – how could that be?

(Boos)

My friends Alan and Jeff – who I married on Sunday – when they were
passing out No on 8 literature – had an old woman come up and spit
upon them. How could that be?

(Boos)

These were the stories I heard – so what it told me – and I get this
now – is that Yes on 8 – it was supported by black and white and
Latino and Asian and young and old people – that is true.

But the OTHER HALF of the vote was also black and white and Latino
and Asian and young and old.

(Cheers)

Never again. Never again will I assume that just because somebody is
of one race they are more likely to be supportive or opposed to me.
Or if somebody is of one religion – that he or she is more supportive
or opposed to me. Or of one political affiliation.

I need to start the same question with every person I meet,
regardless of those characteristics: Are you with the gay and lesbian
community or are you not?

(Cheers)

I completely get that the history of our country – and I completely
get the black community’s struggle against slavery and being denied
the right to vote and the lynching and the Jim Crows laws. And it
moves me with compassion when I hear those stories.

And I get the stories of Cesar Chavez and the farm Workers and the
xenophobia and what they had to fight for here in California. And it
moves me with compassion to hear about it.

And Asians being taken away to concentration camps during World War
Two. And Jews suffering in the Holocaust. I get all that.

But what about our chapter in the civil rights history? (Cheers)

(This is only partial because of the applause) If you want us to vote
for you or fight for you – then you must vote for us as well.

(Cheers)

But I am not here to compare our civil rights struggle to their civil
rights struggle. There’s no winner in the game for the bottom rung on
the ladder – we’ve all suffered. That is a no-win game.

I am here to say you must respect our same call for justice as we
respect your call for justice….
(cheers) because we too know brutality – the brutality on the
schoolyards when we were children and we know the brutality that AIDS
decimated our community over the last 25 years.

And we know the indecency now of not only being called threat to
children – as if we are a threat to our own children – but now to be
told indecently – we don’t have the right to marry the person we love.

That is not right in this America.

(Cheers)

So our stories are a call for justice – the same tonight. Remember
these dates: remember this night because this night is a new page in
the history our gay and lesbian community’s struggle. This week – we
will remember it from this time forward – just like October 11, 1987
when ACT UP was formed in Washington DC during the March on Washington.

And just like September 30, 1991 when we rushed into the streets when
Gov. Peter Wilson vetoed AB 101.

This night is our decade’s call to action…(much screaming and cheers)
– God Bless you all….

Wow. Channeling Harvey Milk. Remember the date: November5, 2008.

VIDEO: Trailer for "Milk"

The trailer for the Gus Van Sant-directed film Milk on the life of gay icon Harvey Milk (played by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn) is now available online. (hat/tip Towleroad.)

Mark Leno Proposes Harvey Milk State Holiday May 22

Joe.My.God alerted me to the news that openly gay Assemblyman Mark Leno is proposing legislation to make May 22 a non-fiscal state holiday in honor of slain San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights hero Harvey Milk. The bill would declare May 22 "Harvey Milk Day" in California. There are currently not one but two Hollywood bio-pics planned on the life story of Harvey Milk, the first starring Sean Penn and Matt Damon and directed by openly gay director Gus Van Sant, and the second based on the best-selling book The Mayor of Castro Street and directed by openly gay director Bryan Singer (Superman Returns, The Usual Suspects) and produced by openly gay producing team of Meron&Zadan (Chicago, Hairspray).

Mark Leno is currently locked in a tight primary race with openly lesbian State Senator Carole Migden, to be decided on Tuesday February 5th.

The Race For Harvey Milk's Life

Sean Penn	Matt Damon

The race in Hollywood to complete a film adaptation of the Harvey Milk story, the first widely known openly gay elected official in the United States, is heating up. Oscar winner Sean Penn has agreed to play Harvey Milk, with Matt Damon playing fellow San Francisco Supervisor Dan White. White assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, and after employing the infamous "twinkie defense" received a lenient sentence which led to riots in the Castro district and other areas of the City. In 1982 openly gay reporter Randy Shilts published an amazing book recounting the details of the Harvey Milk story called The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk which Mad Professah can not recommend highly enough.

However, the film adaptation of the Randy Shilts book is not the movie that Matt Damon and Sean Penn are attached to. That film is to be directed by openly gay Bryan Singer (Superman, The Usual Suspects), produced by openly gay producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Hairspray, Chicago) from a script still to be re-written by Chris McQuarrie. It is currently set for a 2009 release, acccording to IMDb. The Penn-Damon film is set to be directed by openly gay Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho, Elephant) and produced by the openly gay team of Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks (American Beauty, Big Fish, The Nines) with a script by Dustin Lance Black.

So, the question is will there be two films of this amazing story, and will the better film reach the screen first? Recall that there were at least two films about Truman Capote in recent years. Capote was released before Infamous and won and Oscar for Philip Seymour Hoffman while the latter basiclly disappeared without a trace, despite receiving encouraging reviews.

The Harvey Milk story is incredibly important to the gay community so I hope that the competition in Holywood to get the film to the screen succeeds in getting the best film to the screen first.