Harvey Milk will be the first openly gay political official to appear on an American stamp. The stamp will be released on Harvey Milk Day, May 22.
Harvey Milk’s ground breaking election in 1977 as one of the world’s first openly gay elected officials-and its most visible one- symbolised the freedom to live life with authenticity to millions of LGBTQ women and men around the world. He was sadly shot and killed in November 1978 at the age of 48 by another member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. The stamp, which was revealed on Linn’s Stamp News, includes a black-and-white photograph of Milk, along with the pride rainbow flag colours stacked squarely in the upper left corner. U.S. Postal Service officials announced plans to feature the gay rights icon last October, but it was not known until this week what the stamp would look like. The stamp will make its debut in either San Francisco or Washington, D.C.
