A San Francisco official is expected to
introduce legislation seeking to rename the city's airport after gay
rights leader Harvey Milk.
Supervisor David Campos is sponsoring
the charter amendment, according to the AP. If approved, voters in
November would have final approval on whether to create Harvey Milk –
San Francisco International Airport.
Milk was the first openly gay elected
official to a major U.S. City. He was elected to the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors in 1977 on a pledge to back gay and lesbian
rights. The following year, Milk was killed by Dan White, a former
supervisor.
“For young gay people in an illegal
place looking up at a monitor and being able to point to this
international airport named after an LGBT advocate, it gives them the
green light to authenticity,” said Stuart Milk, Harvey Milk's
nephew.
The plan has the approval of Equality
California, which said in an email to supporters that renaming the
airport for Milk would be “an international symbol of hope and
freedom, and an enormous educational opportunity.”
“This is a chance to lead the world
and effect positive change on a global scale,” the group said.
Campos
told the AP that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors could
vote on his proposal in as little as two weeks.
California named May 22, Milk's
birthday, in memory of the slain gay rights leader.