Sean Penn has been lined up to play gay 1970s San Francisco politician Harvey Milk - the first prominent American political figure to be out of the closet - and Matt Damon will play his assassin. Harvey Milk (1930-1978) Director Gus Van Sant will start shooting the biopic in San Francisco in December. Harvey Milk, known during his lifetime as 'The Mayor of Castro Street,' is regarded as a political icon amongst gay activists for his ability to build the LGBT community into a grassroots political force. Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, and in his eleven months in office he sponsored a gay rights bill and helped to defeat a proposition that would have seen openly gay and lesbian teachers sacked. He was gunned down at City Hall by disgruntled former Supervisor Dan White on November 27th 1978. White also killed the city's mayor in his gun rampage. Milk was recently honoured with a bust on permanent display in San Francisco City Hall, a rare accolade for someone who never held the position of Mayor. It will be a permanent reminder of the unique place the city of San Francisco had in forming a new, politically active gay identity in the 1970s. Milk had foreseen his own untimely death, and made several audio tapes to be played if he was assassinated. One had recorded upon it his most famous statement, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." When White only received seven years in jail for Milk's murder, San Francisco's gay community rioted. More than 160 people were injured. Many gay and lesbian community institutions are named in his honour, among them the Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, the Harvey Milk Institute, the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club, and the Harvey Milk High School in New York City.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 13th September 2007 - 7:44am