The United States Postal Service will dedicate its new Harvey Milk stamp at a White House ceremony today. Postal Service to dedicate Harvey Milk stamp at the White House:
The event is scheduled to take place on May 22, the first day the Postal Service plans to issue the stamp commemorating one of the nation’s gay-rights pioneers.
Another ceremony will take place on May 28 in San Francisco.
Milk won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States.
The Postal Service said in an announcement that Milk’s achievements “gave hope and confidence to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination.”
A gunman assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Mascone in November 1978, less than one year after Milk took office.
Purchase online at Harvey Milk Stamps – The Postal Store @ USPS.com.
The Harvey Milk Foundation released a statement regarding the White House ceremony: “As letters and postcards are sent across the nation and around the globe, they can now bear the face of a man who gave his life in the struggle for human rights to ensure equality for every minority group and marginalized community. The Harvey Milk Forever Stamp, which further memorializes Harvey’s legacy of hope, is a gift to help us all remember where we’ve been and the work we still need to do.”
Today is not the first time President Obama has commemorated Harvey Milk. In 2009, he posthumously awarded him the Medal of Freedom.
About the stamp: The undated image released by the United States Postal Service (above) shows the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp. The image is based on a photograph taken around 1977 as Milk stood outside his Castro Street Camera Store in San Francisco. (AP Photo/U.S. Postal Service)
The guman who shot both Milk and Mayor Moscone was another politician -former S.F. Supervisor Dan White, who later committed suicide after he served five years of his sentence. What a tragedy for all involved.