“The enemies of equality like nothing better than division and non-communication among all those who look, love or believe differently then the majority.”
in challenging circumstance and always with agree- ment and a culturally unique understanding and mind-set.” The genius of Milk’s international effort is its focus
on finding the nexus among complementary human rights causes and then pointing out common inter- ests to potential allies. “We must always outreach and link to women, ethnic and racial minorities, the dis- abled, immigrants and those whose religion or lack of, do not match the majority view,” Milk says. “The enemies of equality like nothing better than division and non-communication among all those who look, love or believe differently then the majority.” Milk reached out to and has publicly lauded one of
the African-American Civil Rights Movement’s most celebrated elder statesmen, Rev. Jesse Jackson, for supporting LGBT equality early on. Jackson, who was a close confidant of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, a 1988 presidential contender and who has served presidents as an international hostage negotiator, was as Milk notes, the first top-echelon civil rights leader to acknowledge the struggle for LGBT equal- ity as being on-par with the ongoing battle for racial equality in America. “Reverend Jackson, an incredible and tireless advocate for all people worldwide, talked with me about the misconception that there is an end date of the fight for minority justice and equality and he referenced one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson who famously said, ‘The price of justice is
vigilance,’” said Milk. “The struggle does not end.” Stuart Milk’s passport must be running out of pages.
In 2014 alone, he will not only have traveled to Hong Kong, London, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam—but also to Panama, Paraguay, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Mo- rocco, Lithuania, Latvia and France, all for the cause of promoting LGBT rights and equality. Milk’s global work on behalf of LGBT people and respect for human rights is frequently completed with cooperation and often the direct engagement of the foreign embas- sies operated by the United States Department of State. Milk also makes a very concerted effort to highlight the openly gay Foreign Service members resource group (GLIFAA). Always asking that these liv- ing examples of LGBT authenticity be included in any events and meetings he is involved in abroad. Stuart Milk and other officials from the Harvey Milk
Foundation frequently appear alongside top State Department and White House officials, including United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power and National Security Advisor Susan Rice at events rang- ing from this May’s unveiling of the first U.S. postage stamp to honor an openly gay man (that of course, being Harvey Milk) to the first-ever White House Forum on LGBT Rights, which was held in June of last year’s White House Champion of Change awards. Milk laments the “deeply embedded” anti-LGBT le-
gal system and societal structure in Africa, the Middle East and much of Asia—not to mention a recent
Indian Supreme Court decision that recriminalized some members of the LGBT community. “In many ways this is the best of times, for both the progression of legally equality and the movement of societal equality in many parts of the West but certainly not everywhere,” Milk told The Rage Monthly, noting that central and eastern Europe are especially troubled spots for LGBT people nowadays. Stuart Milk will be in San Diego Thursday, August
14 to host what organizers promise will be a “very en- gaging and personal” talk at the San Diego LGBT Com- munity Center about the global LGBT human rights movement. He will also be on hand Friday, August 15, to dedicate a community mural commemorating Hillcrest’s diversity and history, in the newly-renovated Wells Fargo branch. Both events are part of the Milk Foundation’s education campaign, launched in 2009 at the urging of the Foundation’s Advisory board mem- ber, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.
For more information or to find out how you can help bring posi- tive change to LGBT people around the globe, visit facebook. com/
Harvey.Milk.Foundation or
milkfoundation.org.
For more on the Stuart Milk event at The San Diego LGBT Com- munity Center on Thursday, August 14, visit
thecentersd.org
To RSVP for the mural dedication contact Wendy Hernandez at 619.688.2805 or email
wendy.hill@wellsfargo.com.
AUGUST 2014 | RAGE monthly 17
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