Constitution of equality 16 years ago to a complete reversal today. Its got one of the worst records today of the deprivation of rights of women, roma people, jews, and lgbt people. Sound familiar, that grouping . I was not prepared for what i was going to find in budapest. I was not prepared for the thousands ofneo nazis and state sanctioned militia that would meet a couple hundred marchers, thousands of them. There was one young man, 21 years old, young hungarian, who would be the only person to go on tv with me, only hungarian, malan would take a blow horn and walk through the streets against families that hated us, and he walked and he shouted and he kept the morale up as we were walking against this sea of people who didnt like us because we were representing the inclusion and diversity that we so much cherish here. He was inspired by the story of my uncle and he said to me, do you think this is how harvey felt . And i said to him, its exactly how harvey felt. Now, after the march
Deeply appreciate that. My uncles legacy is being kept alive, not just by those wonderful people that we see here who spoke, the mayor and mayor brown, mayor lee, those that have gone on into the state senate and the state assembly, by those that have gone on to the National Stage representing not only the lgbt community, but every marginalized community weve had in this country. The chorus that ill talk about in a minute who got their first Public Performance on the night that harvey and george were taken from us. But mayor brown called them two extraordinary individuals. Actually, mayor brown shared that with me four years ago. It has stayed with me. Harvey and george, they put in place, as the mayor said, a foundation of what we see today in equality and justice. We actually live in an extraordinary time because of the shoulders created by george and harvey. We live in an extraordinary moment because each of you believe youre worthy because each of you have a gift of authenticity to
We actually live in an extraordinary time because of the shoulders created by george and harvey. We live in an extraordinary moment because each of you believe youre worthy because each of you have a gift of authenticity to offer the world. And each of you are here tonight with not only the moscone and milk family, but the true meaning of the human family, in remembrance of the sacrifices that have taken us to get us here and as a sacred reminder not to forget and not to go back. Supervisor ammiano very brilliantly brought up harvey was tremendously impacted by world war ii. I wear his class ring from high school. He graduated in 1947, just a couple years after the end of world war ii. He could never understand how communities could turn on themselves. And he was, i really think he made a sacred intention to light that message to the world, that we cant go back. In the u. S. Today we have so much to be proud of. The last door that i knocked on on november the 5th campaigning for presid
Remember my father and i do speak for my family in this regard. We are always and every day grateful that we live in a city that does not forget. But theres just something wrong in this notion that the day we remember our lost leaders is the most violent day of their lives, which in the case of my family was the most violent day of ours. Its almost as if were giving the senselessness of these deaths way too much respect by centering our love and passion and memory and yearning on the day the beating hearts of these two men, hearts that were so brave, so unflinching, so immensely loving so full of life that they seemed larger than life, the day those beating hearts stopped forever. Because, lets get this straight, george and harvey did not die noblely. There was no opera music. There was nothing heroic. There was nothing romantic to be found in the loss of my dads life. It was a senseless act. And i think why that is after all these years of loving to talk at these beautifully intention
For me harvey milks legacy was not so much about lgbt rights, though that was part of it. For me harvey milk was about civil rights and the rights of all people and the recognition that we as minimum bier of the Lgbt Community are connected to other communities, and that we cannot be for lgbt rights if were also not for the rights of other groups. That we cannot be applause only about the Lgbt Community. That if you believe in gay rights and lgbt rights, that you necessarily have to be for the rights of immigrants. That you necessarily have to be for the rights of women. That you necessarily have to be for the right for anyone who is disinfranchised in society. That to me is the essence of that legacy. And why its a legacy that transcends, transcends the Lgbt Community in terms whatv harvey milk was about. So, as an openly gay latino man, i am grateful for that legacy. And i am grateful that harvey milk, that george moscone, have become a beacon of light and hope not only for the Lgbt