A U.S. postage stamp dedicated to the
memory of slain politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk was
unveiled Thursday at the White House.
The unveiling coincided with what would
have been Milk's 84th birthday and Harvey Milk Day in
California.
A post office spokesman told the San
Francisco Chronicle that the stamps were “selling briskly” in
California.
Close to a dozen speakers attended the
first-day-of-issue dedication, including Milk's nephew Stuart Milk
and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San
Francisco.
The stamp, available
for purchase online, is based on a circa 1977 black and white
photograph of Milk taken by Daniel Nicoletta.
Milk was the first openly gay elected
official of 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.
“Thanks to Harvey, our society is
better forever,” Pelosi said at yesterday's dedication. “Together,
we'll finish the work Harvey started.”
According to the Gay and Lesbian
Victory Fund, a group that supports openly LGBT elected officials,
Milk is the first openly LGBT elected official to be featured on a
U.S. postage stamp.