Harvey Milk Honored with US Postage Stamp - Gay activist or sexual predator?

Harvey Milk ... gay activist or sexual predator? I don't know. If his biography is to be believed, he was a predator and should have been in jail. If his advocates are to be believed, he was not a pedophile but was a gay man who helped homosexuals gain equal rights by being elected to office. Either way ... the man is getting a stamp from the US Postal Service.

He's supposed to be the first openly homosexual person to be on a stamp. But some believe these others beat him to that title - Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, Samuel Barber, Elizabeth Bishop, Willa Cather, Isadora Duncan, Langston Hughes, Frida Kahlo, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Cole Porter, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, Rosetta Tharpe, Andy Warhol, Walt Whitman, Tennessee Williams, and Mary Edwards Walker.

FROM THOSE AGAINST THIS MOVE -

World Tribune - Sexual Predator Honored with US Postage Stamp

What would you call a 33-year-old man who both had and axiomatically acted upon a deviant sexual appetite for underage, drug-addicted, runaway boys? (No, not Jerry Sandusky.) What would you call a man of whom, as regards sexual preference, his own friend and biographer confessed, “Harvey always had a penchant for young waifs with substance abuse problems”?

In a recent interview with OneNewsNow.com, I called this man “demonstrably, categorically an evil man based on his [statutory] rape of teenage boys.” But you can call him Harvey Milk.

Word Press - Sexual Predator Harvey Milk Honored with US Postage Stamp

One of Milk’s victims was a 16-year-old runaway from Maryland named Jack Galen McKinley. As previously mentioned, Milk had a soft spot in his, um, heart for teenage runaways. Motivated by an apparent quid pro quo of prurience, Milk plucked McKinley from the street.

Christian Post

SaveCalifornia is protesting the U.S. Postal Service's decision to feature LGBT activist Harvey Milk on a special commemorative stamp next year. The pro-family group is calling for the boycott of the stamp, calling Milk a "sexual predator," based on his biography.

Citing Milk's biography, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, by "homosexual reporter" Randy Shilts, SaveCalifornia noted he repeatedly engaged in adult-child sex and advocated for polygamous homosexual relationships.

Barber describes Milk as a 33-year-old man "who both had and axiomatically acted upon a deviant sexual appetite for underage, drug-addicted, runaway boys."

FROM THOSE WHO SEEM TO SUPPORT THIS MOVE -
The left - Huffington Post and San Francisco Gate

Huffington Post - Harvey Milk To Be Honored With U.S. Postage Stamp

The Harvey Milk Foundation confirmed Oct. 10 that the U.S. Postal Service would honor gay rights icon Harvey Milk with a stamp in honor of his memory and legacy. Milk, the first openly gay man to hold political office in California, will break new ground once again as the first openly LGBT political official to be featured on a postage stamp.

Other LGBT icons to be immortalized on postage stamps reportedly include Tennessee Williams, Judy Garland, Langston Hughes, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis.

Look out for the Harvey Milk stamp, slated to be released sometime during 2014.

San Francisco - Postal Service to Issue Harvey Milk Stamp

Milk's legacy has been increasingly celebrated. He posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, won a day of recognition on California's official state calendar and was the subject of a major motion picture, "Milk," starring Sean Penn.

Is the us postal service that desperate for attention. I don't remember the last time I even entered a post office.

Although, The tens of people outside of businesses that still send hand written letters via usps will probably be divided on this issue.

reply to post by FlyersFan


A good pick by the U.S. postal service. He was a true activist for his cause, inspired many other people to follow him, and even got himself assassinated by a guy eating too many twinkies.

It's good to see the U.S. put more civil rights leaders like Milk on their stamps. Has the U.S. ever recognized Mohandas Gandhi on a stamp? Would be nice if they weren't so country-centric. (EDIT: I've searched for Gandhi stamps, and can't find a U.S. one although many other countries have issued them)

Elvis Presley started a relationship with Priscilla when she was 14 years old and he was 25 (1959). Jerry Lee Lewis married his own 2nd cousin when she was 13 and he was 22 (1957). Elvis has certainly been on many stamps, I'm not sure about Jerry Lee Lewis. Even as late as 1970, 13% of all brides nationwide were under 18.

In the majority of states, the age of consent for sex is 16 though age differential also factors in largely. (source)

Though it should be pointed out that the age of consent for sex in California has been 18 since 1913 so a relationship with a 16 year old was clearly not legal (unless they got married, which they couldn't). Attitudes vary over time and with them laws (up through the 1880s, most states had an age of consent of 10). Personally, I think a 33 year old having sex with a 16 year old is a horrible idea and likely detrimental to the minor but is it pedophilia? Not according to any accepted definition of the term.

The problem I have with this "outrage" is that it's really not because Harvey Milk had sex with a 16 year old, it's because the 16 year old was a male. For the record, I think there are plenty of stamp worthy people and I wouldn't champion the cause of putting Harvey Milk on a stamp but it's delusional to think that this isn't really far more about homophobia than sexual predation.

reply to post by theantediluvian


So you're like Whoopie on this. It might be rape, but was it "rape rape"?

theantediluvian
I think a 33 year old having sex with a 16 year old is a horrible idea and likely detrimental to the minor but is it pedophilia?

Yes. And it's rape. It's a MUCH older person taking advantage of the naivete of a 16 year old. Male/female or male/male or female/female .... it's just wrong.

it's delusional to think that this isn't really far more about homophobia than sexual predation.

I"m sure there are elements of both in the motivation for being against this stamp.

According to the articles and the biography ... that 16 year old wasn't the only victim.
There were many others ... all with drug/emotional issues ... and all underage.
If the biography is true, then those facts are the hallmarks of a sexual predator.

reply to post by FlyersFan


A 33 year old having a sexual relationship with a 16 year old would be a death sentence for the career of any politician and would be a permanent stain on their legacy … unless they are gay. Then its all good.

And don’t even get me started on Milks relationship with Jim Jones (yeah THAT Jim Jones) and the People’s Temple.

Aleister
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

A good pick by the U.S. postal service. He was a true activist for his cause, inspired many other people to follow him, and even got himself assassinated by a guy eating too many twinkies.

It's good to see the U.S. put more civil rights leaders like Milk on their stamps. Has the U.S. ever recognized Mohandas Gandhi on a stamp? Would be nice if they weren't so country-centric. (EDIT: I've searched for Gandhi stamps, and can't find a U.S. one although many other countries have issued them)

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: spelling

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

It was issued on Jan 26 1961. Took me 30 seconds to find it.

I agree with honoring people like civil rights leaders and it happens, it is just that it mostly goes unnoticed. If he is as bad as some say he is then, no he should not be put on a stamp.

reply to post by theantediluvian


Don't forget about Charlie Chaplin. He had 3 teenage wives, and who knows how many under-age girlfriends. I know he had a stamp, as The Little Tramp. If we allowed that, we should allow Harvey Milk to have a stamp.

Interesting thread, OP. I don't know that much about Harvey Milk, except that he was gay.

However, what is the reason to put this guy on a stamp? It is because he was openly gay and famous?

Apparently, people are also petitioning for Liberace to have his own stamp, and he was gay and famous before it was fashionable to come out of the closet. At least Liberace had talent. www.lasvegassun.com...

I suspect Milk getting his own stamp is more of a political move, for whatever reason. If he was plucking little lost boys off the street to use, then he was a sexual predator.

Would I use a stamp of his? Um...probably not. It isn't that I'm a homophobe, I just hate politicians in general.

SirMike
And don’t even get me started on Milks relationship with Jim Jones (yeah THAT Jim Jones) and the People’s Temple.

Hey .. you brought it up ... so yes, I'll get you started on it.
Please tell us what information you have.
Afterall, this guy is going to get a STAMP ... it's supposed to be an honor.
So lets see if we think he deserves it.

anton74

Aleister
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

A good pick by the U.S. postal service. He was a true activist for his cause, inspired many other people to follow him, and even got himself assassinated by a guy eating too many twinkies.

It's good to see the U.S. put more civil rights leaders like Milk on their stamps. Has the U.S. ever recognized Mohandas Gandhi on a stamp? Would be nice if they weren't so country-centric. (EDIT: I've searched for Gandhi stamps, and can't find a U.S. one although many other countries have issued them)

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: spelling

edit on 5-11-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

It was issued on Jan 26 1961. Took me 30 seconds to find it.

I agree with honoring people like civil rights leaders and it happens, it is just that it mostly goes unnoticed. If he is as bad as some say he is then, no he should not be put on a stamp.

Serious, a U.S. Gandhi stamp from 1961! Nice, and I'm glad I asked. Had no idea. Here it is (and they made an almost identical eight-cent stamp at the same time):




It's from the Champion of Liberty series. So the question is, is Harvey Milk esteemed and accomplished enough in his actions for his chosen cause to be called a Champion of Liberty? Sure, I'd say he fits the description.

Gay activist, I have a friend that knew him.

FlyersFan

SirMike
And don’t even get me started on Milks relationship with Jim Jones (yeah THAT Jim Jones) and the People’s Temple.

Hey .. you brought it up ... so yes, I'll get you started on it.
Please tell us what information you have.
Afterall, this guy is going to get a STAMP ... it's supposed to be an honor.
So lets see if we think he deserves it.

www.salon.com...

Reader digest veriosn: Milk knew the People's Temple and Jones were wack jobs but he liked that he could use them as political muscle.

If we're going to honor sexual predators that somehow became champions of 'sexual equality', then the USPS should start an entirely new line of stamp sheets to honor these equality warriors.

Call it 'Perversion Pride' series. You could even honor Kaitlyn Hunt, the volley ball player that molested a 14 year old as the first.




Kaitlyn Hunt Case Background