SACRAMENTO - Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis today issued a proclamation declaring May 22, 2024, as “Harvey Milk Day.”

The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:

PROCLAMATION 
Today we honor Harvey Milk - a hero for not just his own community - but for every Californian fighting for freedom and equality. Born on this day in 1930, Milk settled in San Francisco and found a thriving LGBTQ+ community that faced widespread hostility and had no voice in government.
 
After seeing the injustice in the community, Milk began to fearlessly organize, working with labor and civil rights activists who were all struggling for justice and believed that freedom and dignity should extend to all human beings, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, at great personal risk.
 
His fierce advocacy and skillful coalition-building helped him win a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States and the first openly gay person elected in California. Because of his advocacy and unrelenting pursuit of justice, Milk was struck down by an assassin’s bullet just a year into his term on the Board of Supervisors. His legacy lives on in laws and policies that protect the LGBTQ+ community and in the hearts of generations of activists.
 
As we honor Harvey Milk today, let us remember his words, “Hope will never be silent.” Milk’s powerful legacy remains salient as ever amid relentless attacks targeting our LGBTQ+ community in the United States and around the world. They deserve hope, and they cannot abide our silence. California stands firmly with the LGBTQ+ community in the fight for equality, freedom, and acceptance for all.
 
NOW THEREFORE I, ELENI KOUNALAKIS, Acting Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 22, 2024, as “Harvey Milk Day.”
 
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 22nd day of May 2024.

ELENI KOUNALAKIS
Acting Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State