Harvey Bernard Milk, the first ever openly gay man elected to any substantial.
political office in the history of the entire world, accomplished this awe.
inspiring feat during the years of the 1970's, a time when many psychiatrists.
still called homosexuality a mental illness.
Born in Woodmere Hospital in Long Island, New York on May 22, 1930, Milk went onto grow up and be raised in the New York City area. During his early teenage.
years Milk cruised central park, and at the age of 17 he was arrested for.
indecent exposure because he was shirtless, which in 1947 was indecent and illegal. For this offense he was issued a warning and let go. His official name, derived from his Lithuanian ancestry, was Glimpy Milch. He graduated Albany State College for Teachers in 1951 with a major in Mathematics and a minor in History. Three months later Milk enlisted in the Navy to stop the Communists in Korea. He quickly rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer on the USS Kittyhawk. Milk claims to have been dishonorably discharged for being homosexual, though records do not verify his statements. After being forced to leave the Navy Milk returned to Long Island where he became a teacher and then an insurance actuarial and a Wall Street investor. and then settled down to an inconspicuous life in a New York apartment with a male spouse In 1964 while working on Wall Street as an investor he also campaigned for Barry Goldwater. Embracing the hippie culture, Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972, where he opened up a camera store on Castro Street.
