Harvey Milk and "Milk"

There have been many heroes and, sadly, far too many martyrs in this cultural war. Harvey Milk was one of them.

This Thursday (also known as "Thanksgiving") will mark the 30th anniversary of his murder as the first openly Gay politician in the country. In honor of Harvey's life and work, you can have a huge personal and political impact on our struggle for equal rights by taking one simple act:

come out.

Some of us as (as a friend of Lady Liberty likes to say) "gay from space" and some of us are a little less obvious. For those of us who are less obvious, we need to take that extra effort to tear down assumptions.

Many LGBTIQQA folks might be out to our immediate family, but are we out to our extended family? Do our 2nd cousins all know?

Thanksgiving is a time where some of us get a rare opportunity to see aunt Gertrude. This year, talk to her about the anti-gay propositions that passed in the last election and how they impacted you personally.

Let's reach out to every corner of this country and make it impossible for anyone to say "there's no gay in my family!"

If you need a little encouragement to have that talk with Gertrude, I strongly recommend "Milk." It opens in limited release on Wednesday. Why, you might even take Gertrude with you! If you're not in a city where it opens this week, rent "The Times of Harvey Milk" (the academy award-winning documentary about Harvey Milk) for some inspiration.

Remember, "an army of lovers can never be defeated."