Request Made To Rename San Francisco International Airport After Activist Harvey Milk

San Francisco, CA – San Francisco Board Supervisor, David Campos, has plans to charter an amendment intended to rename the city’s largest airport after the late gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Campos estimates it would cost between $50,000 and $250,000 to implement. The support of five other members of the Supervisors’ Board is required in order to push forward towards a public ballot in November.

The amendment would rename San Francisco International Airport to Harvey Milk-San Francisco International Airport, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Stuart Milk, co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, said, if it succeed,s the airport would become the first in the world to be named after an openly gay person.

Stuart Milk, who runs an international gay rights foundation in his uncle’s memory, said that adding an airport to the list of public venues named for Harvey Milk would mark a milestone since flights to and from San Francisco International serve 68 countries where homosexuality is illegal, according to the Mercury News.

Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. After three unsuccessful attempts to gain office, Harvey was awarded a post on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco in 1977. Milk only served for 11 months before being assassinated by Dan White, a former colleague who had lost his position in city administration, on November 27, 1978. Mayor George Moscone was also shot and killed.

Milk, considered a martyr for gay civil rights, was the subject of a 2008 biographical film of his life, Milk. He was portrayed by actor Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for the role. The film received several nominations and awards.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who is also gay and representing Milk’s previous district, immediately co-sponsored Campos’ proposal, saying:

“Milk is the most important figure in the history of the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender) community, and he played such a critical role in modern San Francisco politics.”