Sunday marked the 33rd anniversary of the slayings of Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone, and a group of 100 or so LGBT folk and their admirers gathered at the corner of Castro and Market (Harvey Milk Plaza) yesterday evening to commemorate the event with a candlelight vigil. Milk's nephew, Stuart Milk, issued a statement through the Harvey Milk Foundation saying, "Today the memory of both men stand as beacons of light not just in San Francisco, not just in California and not just in the US, but across the globe to all who are diminished for simply being authentic." more ›

Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, someone stole the Harvey Milk plaque just outside the Castro Street Muni station. SFist talked to District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener who told us, "All of the sudden it wasn't there anymore." Making it more remarkable, the plaque (which dates back to the '90s) was "bolted in cement." The brazen act of thievery might also provide his district with an "opportunity to redo the overall area...possibly with some public artwork." more ›

Speaking of cool postage stamps -- Remember when Bay Area Reporter talked about an effort that's underway to get San Francisco artist Jim Leff's stamp memorializing Harvey Milk made into an official U.S. postage stamp? more ›

Cocomo's: A Taste of Drag, just opened last week... and friend of Harvey Milk are appalled at the 'A-Gays' trying to take up his mantle lo these many years later and use his former store as their headquarters. more ›

The 32nd Annual Milk-Moscone Memorial March kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. with speeches by Cleve Jones, Harry Britt, David Campos, Carol Migden, and Tom Ammiano at Harvey Milk Plaza at the corner of Castro and Market streets. more ›

We touched on this in SFist This Weekend, but seeing as how San Francisco beatifies former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, here's a rundown of Harvey Milk Day events. Really, Harvey Milk Day (heretofore known to Tea Party ilk as "Homosexual Indoctrination Day"), should include more than just downing a few frozen comsos at Havey's. more ›

On Sunday night, Gov. Schwarzenegger (finally!) signed Sen. Mark Leno's Harvey Milk bill, one that would create Harvey Milk Day. "He really saw this signing as a way to honor the gay community in California," spokesman Aaron McLear told CNN in an interview. Milk's "day of significance," however, would not close schools or state offices; but will, presumably, fill bars and clubs in the Castro next year. Harvey Milk Day will be officially celebrated on May 22, Milk's birthday. more ›

In an effort, we assume, to curb the (racist?) "you lie!" hysteria stemming from a sect of indignant Republicans over Obama's health care plan, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made the following, somewhat confusing statement this morning at a press conference. more ›

Yesterday, EQCA and Senator Mark Leno (D-SF) delivered somewhere around 40,000 petitions "with names of Californians from every part of the state," demanding Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to -- finally! -- sign into law the Leno's Harvey Milk Day Bill. Schwarznegger initially vetoed a similar bill after erroneously assuming that Harvey Milk was only important to a smattering of residents in San Francisco -- i.e., the gays in the Castro. (How very wrong he was.) more ›

In addition to the meth cloud that hangs above Beck's Motorlodge -- we kid! sort of. but not really. -- Supervisor Bevan Dufty would like to create a pink cloud that would float over the intersection of Market and Castro streets. The idea, according to SF Chronicle, "is recycled from 2000, when artist Christian Werthmann's 'pink cloud' was one of two winning proposals for a city art piece to commemorate the late Harvey Milk, a supervisor and gay rights advocate." (Here's what it would look like.) more ›

Natalie Jones, a sixth-grader in Ramona, California, created a Powerpoint presentation about Harvey Milk's life and activism, for which she received a near-perfect score. The day before the presentation, Jones' principal said that although her project was as good as a high school student's, because of the "sensitive material," she might be unable to show it. more ›

Akin to Judy Garland's death or Adam Lambert losing last night's American Idol finale -- damn you to hell, Bill O'Reilly! -- 30 years ago today the White Night riots erupted after supervisor Dan White was given a lenient verdict for murdering supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Windows were smashed, property destroyed, and police cruisers set ablaze. Then, after watching the gays get hysterical, SFPD raided a Castro gay bar (Elephant Walk, now known as Harvey's) in retaliation, thus escalating tension. more ›

Check out the above-embedded video -- it's fantastic stuff, produced a few months ago by Causecast. It elicits goosebumps. It's inspiring. It's upbeat without being sugary; and it's intense without being angry. It is a "fuck yeah" video. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to run down to Harvey Milk Plaza tonight at 5:30 to participate in the Eve of Justice protest. more ›

State Senator Mark Leno and Sean Penn plan to reintroduce a bill Tuesday to mark Harvey Milk's birthday as a "day of significance" across California. Originally vetoed by Arnold Schwarzenegger -- the lug said only people in San Francisco would care about it -- the success of Gus Van Sant's biopic about the former slain San Francisco supervisor at this year's Oscars has prompted the method acting, Marin resident to push for a holiday honoring the murdered gay rights activist. more ›

Gus Van Sant's Milk, the biopic about slain San Francisco supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk, was nominated for eight Oscars this morning. In addition to a Best Picture nomination, Dustin Lance Black (Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), Van Sant (Best Directing), Josh Brolin (Best Supporting Actor), Sean Penn (Best Actor), and Danny Elfman (Best Score) all received Oscar love. more ›

Hey, Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic Milk, which is pulling in phenomenal reviews and audience reaction, somehow managed to crack the top ten this with only a fistful of theaters screening the movie. more ›

A new theory is percolating about Gus Van Sant's ?" and "[I]f the film had found an audience early enough, could it have made a difference?" In our post-Prop. 8 world those are good questions, ones that we personally cannot answer. But one thing is for sure: Milk will land the sympathy vote come Oscar night.
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, will open next week. In 1977, Milk became the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office in the United States, only to be assassinated within his first year of serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. At turns tragic and exhilarating, the film chronicles the last eight years of Milk’s life (played by Sean Penn), when he worked on campaigns for public office and the protection of gay employees. more ›

Yeah, yeah. We stuck this in Day Around the Bay, but we feel it merits its own post. (Besides, we'd hate for some local bloggers to go one day without bashing us in private for being "too gay now." We digress.) more ›

Well, it's been fun. The trailers, the megawatt celebrity sightings, the lights, the cameras, the not being invited to cast/crew parties -- SFist will miss it all. As most of you know, Gus Van Sant's biopic -- the story of assassinated San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights advocate, Harvey Milk -- started shooting in January. This past Sunday, the production came to an end. Alas. more ›

A lonelyheart would very much like to reconnect with an extra that he met on the set of . (It's not us, by the way. If you recall, we were deemed too grotesque to star in the film about former SF Supervisor Harvey Milk, and haven't left our apartment since.) We're posting it because how they met would make a great story for the two to tell their grandchildren one day. Sigh. more ›

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After Carole Migden won the endorsement of the Harvey Milk Club, things were looking grim for Assemblyman Mark Leno. But today Gavin Newsom shined his megawatt charm over in Leno's direction today, endorsing his bid for a state Senate seat. According to the B.A.R., " Newsom [is] expected to publicly endorse Leno Wednesday night at the Herbst Theatre during a special screening of Pursuit of Equality..." more ›

Described as a wiki of stupidheads, jerks, and self-awareness-free men, the Wikipedia parody site lists notable dickslices such as homecoming queen murderer O.J. Simpson; sexist boor Donald Trump; the Gisele Bundchen-impaling Tom Brady; that fat Arctic bastard Santa Claus (mean!); and Marin County's very own Harvey Milk impersonator, Sean Penn. The nerve. more ›

This was the scene tonight in the Castro with hundreds of extras helping to make movie magic. more ›

Happening on Castro and State streets over the weekend, where Gus Van Sant's Milk is currently shooting, it started out with the words "Harvey + George" (with a hearts!), "The Penn is lying" (Leigh Wolf, say it ain't so!), and the oddly and for no reason URL-y "Dan White.com, faggotkiller." more ›

Remember the bedlam over at that local homo political clique last year? You know, that time when Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) "stole" the vote from Mark Leno? And then gay-on-gay hair-pulling violence erupted? Well, it looks like the vote for Carole is going to stick. Now that Rafael Mandelman has been elected president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, the lcoal group, according to the B.A.R., "is Carole Migden's club." And that, it seems, is that. more ›

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Recreating Harvey Milk's campaign poster for SF Supervisor, Penn is downright adorable. And surprisingly endearing. more ›

Seeing as how castroshopper's Ray F. has some choice shots of the Castro's conversion to 1978, we thought we'd thrill you with a few more recent images of the world's most flowery neighborhood. more ›