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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk stories: 12 news summaries



 Calif. Will Honor 
 Harvey Milk 

'Day of significance' commemorates gay rights pioneer

(Newser) - Reversing his position on a bill he vetoed a year ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed off on bill making May 22 an annual day of recognition in  honor of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk. The San Francisco supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom... More »

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gay rights California gay marriage Arnold Schwarzenegger civil rights states' rights Harvey Milk state law

Tearful Pelosi Fears Rhetoric Could Lead to Violence

Speaker tears up while recalling late '70s political violence

(Newser) - Fighting back tears, Nancy Pelosi said today she fears the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding current political debate could lead to violence, the Hill reports. “I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw…I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,... More »

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Nancy Pelosi San Francisco violence assassination Speaker speaker of the House rhetoric Harvey Milk

Calif. Bill Honoring Harvey Milk Prompts Backlash

Opponents fear day of 'special significance' will promote gay agenda

(Newser) - A bill saluting California's first openly gay elected official has reignited the debate over gay rights in the state, the New York Times reports. The measure, passed by the state legislature this week, calls for a day of recognition for Harvey Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of... More »

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gay rights California Arnold Schwarzenegger Proposition 8 Harvey Milk

(Newser) - This year's Medal of Freedom recipients share a capacity to change the world, President Obama said today in naming the eclectic group. Among the 16 honorees are Sen. Ted Kennedy, slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, actor Sidney Poitier, tennis great Billie Jean King, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day... More »

(Newser) - The ACLU is threatening to sue a California school district that restricted access to a 12-year-old’s report on gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. When the school learned of the subject, it delayed the presentation and sent letters to parents requiring permission slips for their children... More »

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gay rights California ACLU San Diego civil liberties school districts Harvey Milk presentation

 Penn Fights for 
 'Harvey Milk Day' 

Holiday would honor activist's birthday

(Newser) - Sean Penn today joined the push to recognize Harvey Milk's birthday in California, Variety reports. State senator Mark Leno is re-introducing a bill seeking a statewide “day of significance” on May 22, the birthday of the gay activist Penn won an Oscar for portraying. Schools would be encouraged to... More »

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gay rights holiday Sean Penn Harvey Milk Milk Mark Leno Bill Maher Grid

OPINION
(Newser) - Is the so-called "Oscar bump" fading? Academy favorites like Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon are stalled at the box office this year; only The Reader has filled more seats since being nominated. Yes, a stream of bona fide Hollywood hits has held them back, but it's more than that,... More »

OPINION

 Top Films of the Year 

Foreign films rule among the year's best

(Newser) - With most year-end movie lists bask in the glow of award-season contenders, Dana Stevens grudgingly runs through her unranked, alphabetized top 10 on Slate, despite being "allergic to hierarchies, lists, and ranking."
  • A Christmas Tale: A French film about a crazed family that's "a glorious
... More »

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film foreign film Harvey Milk Milk Best of 2008 A Christmas Tale

 Penn Embraced 
 Gay Love Scene 

Co-star surprised by scene

(Newser) - As he got into the character of Harvey Milk, Sean Penn pushed for a more explicit sex scene in Milk, surprising his co-star, the New York Post reports. James Franco tells Elle magazine the one kissing scene he read in the original movie script turned into “a full-on love... More »

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OPINION

 Earlier Milk Release 
 Might've Killed Prop 8 

Calif. gay-marriage ban puts biopic in broader, cause-defining light

(Newser) - If Milk, the film on San Francisco’s first openly gay city supervisor, had opened earlier, might it have swung the Proposition 8 vote? Maybe, writes Dennis Lim in Slate—but in light of the passage of the California gay-marriage ban, Milk becomes both a poignant “look-how-far-we-haven’t-come” tale... More »

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gay rights California gay marriage film San Francisco Proposition 8 Harvey Milk Milk

Movie Review

 Milk Doesn't Spill a Drop 

Critics lap up gay-rights drama

(Newser) - If Milk were a ballot proposition, critics would pass it in a landslide. Part docu-drama, part biopic, the film spins the tale of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay American elected to public office, into an “incisive and stirring” drama, Owen Gleiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly. It’s “... More »

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(Newser) - What do President-elect Barack Obama and a 1970s gay activist have in common? Grassroots backing and a yes-we-can ethos, Rachel Abramowitz writes in the Los Angeles Times. “I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living,” said Harvey Milk,... More »

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12 Stories