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Harvey Milk became a household name when his story was immortalized by writer Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn in the 2008 film, "Milk." Now, KABC reports that Long Beach residents will continue the effort to honor Milk, with a proposal to name a park after the openly gay San Francisco city supervisor who was gunned down in 1978. The Long Beach Press Telegram reports that the proposal was introduced on Monday by City Councilmember Robert Garcia, who is openly gay. In a press conference, Garcia compared Milk to other civil rights trailblazers:
"To us, in many ways, he's our Rosa Parks; he's our Cesar Chavez," Garcia said.
Many gay rights activists and residents support the proposal, and Garcia worked with them during the development of the idea:
Signal Hill Mayor Larry Forester said that he lived in San Francisco in the 1970s and knew Milk. "I'm probably where I am now because of him," said Forester, who is gay.