He is frequently credited as one of the most important figures in the LGBT Rights movement.
In 1978, he was elected to the San Francisco city council, becoming the
first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.
He was posthumously awarded the Presidential medal of Freedom in 2009.
Was of Lithuanian Jewish descent.
His life has inspired such works as Randy Shilts' "The Mayor of
Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" and Romanovsky &
Phillips' song "Homophobia", "Execution of Justice" an award-winning
play by Emily Mann about his murder (remade for TV in 1999:
Execution of Justice (1999)) and Stewart Wallace's
and Michael Korie's opera, "Harvey Milk".