In a recent interview, Milk
screenwriter Dustin Lance Black said that he believes Harvey Milk
“would have gone directly after” President Donald Trump.
Speaking with the Thomson Reuters
Foundation, Black, who is raising a son with husband Tom Daley, said
that Harvey would have seen Trump as an opportunity to energize the
LGBT community. The Trump administration has proposed prohibiting
transgender troops and limiting the definition of sex discrimination
to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity.
“I think Harvey Milk would have gone
directly after Trump,” Black said. “He would have seen Trump as
an opportunity to get the LGBTQ community to re-engage, to shake off
any complacency.”
Tuesday marked 40 years since Milk, the
first openly gay elected official of a major U.S. city, was murdered
at San Francisco City Hall. 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, on November 27.
Director Gus Van Sant's 2008 film Milk
was based on Milk's life. Sean Penn played Milk in the film, while
Josh Brolin portrayed White. Black won an Oscar for his screenplay.
“Forty years later, we're still
talking about this revolutionary idea that he had. That by coming
out you could dispel myths and stereotypes. It was an incredibly
helpful message for people who didn't have a whole lot of hope before
gay liberation lit up,” he
added.