Homosexuality

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have designated May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day," named after the homosexual San Francisco supervisor who was murdered in 1978.

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger wrote that he respected the effort to set aside "a day of special significance for California public schools and educational institutions to honor Harvey Milk as an important community leader and public official in the city and county of San Francisco. However, I believe his contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions,” the governor wrote. “For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.”

Milk and Moscone were shot and killed by former Supervisor Dan White in November 1978. White reportedly told police he feared they would not allow him to rescind his decision to resign from the Board of Supervisors.

The Harvey Milk bill was authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, and sponsored by Equality California.

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of this bill is a disappointment to thousands and thousands of Californians who regard Harvey Milk as a national hero," said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors.

"This is a sad reminder of the lack of understanding of both the LGBT community and of the impact of Harvey Milk. As one of the first openly gay leaders in this country, Milk inspired Americans in every corner of our nation to stand proud in the face of adversity, and he gave his life in the pursuit of equality."

The Campaign for Children and Families lobbied against the bill, saying it would “instruct all California public schools to ‘conduct suitable commemorative exercises’ in support of the anti-religious, sexual-anarchy agenda of the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk.”

CCF President Randy Thomasson said the measure would harm children as young as kindergarten age.

“Every May 22, AB 2567 will positively portray to children homosexual experimentation, homosexual ‘marriages,’ sex-change operations, and anything else that’s ‘in the closet,” Thomasson said when the California Legislature passed the bill.

Thomasson also noted that the Harvey Milk bill followed passage of last year’s “school sexual indoctrination laws.”

Harvey Milk’s story will go nationwide this fall, with Sean Penn starring as Milk in a new movie.

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:" Rom 1:26