30 Quotes by Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk, a trailblazing advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, shattered barriers and paved the way for greater inclusion and acceptance. Born in 1930, Milk's life was marked by his passionate pursuit of equality and social change. His election as the first openly gay elected official in California, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was a historic milestone. Milk's political career was defined by his unwavering commitment to civil rights, fighting against discrimination and advocating for LGBTQ+ visibility at a time when being openly gay was met with hostility. His tragic assassination in 1978 only fueled the momentum of his legacy, inspiring generations to come. Milk's enduring impact is not only felt in his political achievements but also in his ability to inspire marginalized communities to claim their rightful place in society. His message of hope, unity, and authenticity continues to reverberate, reminding us that progress is driven by those who dare to challenge the status quo and demand equality for all.
Harvey Milk Quotes
Hope will never be silent. (Meaning)
I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you. (Quote Meaning)
All young people, regardless of sexual orientation, deserve a safe environment. (Meaning)
Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard. (Quote Meaning)
It's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power. (Meaning)
Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight. (Quote Meaning)
Every gay person must come out. (Meaning)
If a bullet should enter my brain, let it destroy every closet door. (Meaning)
Without hope, the us's give up. I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. (Meaning)
All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. (Meaning)
I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted. (Quote Meaning)
The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. (Meaning)
We must destroy the myths, once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out. (Quote Meaning)
It takes no compromise to give people their rights (Meaning)
Out of the bars and into the streets! (Quote Meaning)
All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.
It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.
If you are not personally free to be yourself in that most important of all human activities... the expression of love... then life itself loses its meaning.
Every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. Once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and all. And once you do, you will feel so much better
Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.
If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country.
Freedom is too enormous to be slipped under a closet door.
I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you...And you...And you...Gotta give em hope.
Hope will never be silent.
I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or mad, or frustrated. I can only hope that they'll turn that anger and frustration and madness into something positive, so that two, three, four, five hundred will step forward, so the gay doctors will come out, the gay lawyers, the gay judges, gay bankers, gay architects I hope that every professional gay will say 'enough', come forward and tell everybody, wear a sign, let the world know. Maybe that will help.
"Lets make no mistake about this: The American Dream starts with the neigborhoods. If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods. And to do that, we must understand that the quality of life is more important than the standard of living."
The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, THAT my friends, is true perversion.
If I turned around every time somebody called me a faggot, I'd be walking backward - and I don't want to walk backward.
All men are created equal. Now matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.
I finally reached the point where I knew I had to become involved or shut up.
I wish I had time to explain everything I did. Almost everything was done with an eye on the GLBT movement...last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the voice was young, my election gave one more young person, hope
Every gay person must come out.... Once they realize we are indeed their children, we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all.
It takes no compromise to give people their rights
Hope is never silent.
Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.
We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.
We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I'm going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it.
Let me have my tax money go for my protection and not for my prosecution. Let my tax money go for the protection of me. Protect my home, protect my streets, protect my car, protect my life, protect my property...worry about becoming a human being and not about how you can prevent others from enjoying their lives because of your own inability to adjust to life.
I like to sit in the window and watch the cute boys walk by.
Politics is theater. It doesn't matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, "I'm here, pay attention to me
Coming out is the most political thing you can do
I was born of heterosexual parents. I was taught by heterosexual teachers in a fiercely heterosexual society. Television ads and newspaper ads — fiercely heterosexual. A society that puts down homosexuality. And why am I a homosexual if I'm affected by role models? I should have been a heterosexual. And no offense meant, but if teachers are going to affect you as role models, there'd be a lot of nuns running around the streets today.
Never take an elevator in city hall.
I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted. I have a lot more to drink. For that reason, the political numbers game will be played. I know the rules of their game now and how to play it.
To sit on the front steps — whether it's a veranda in a small town or a concrete stoop in a big city — and to talk to our neighborhoods is infinitely more important than to huddle on the living-room lounger and watch a make-believe world in not-quite living color.
It's not my victory, it's yours and yours and yours. If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We've given them hope.
If I do a good job, people won't care if I am green or have three heads.
If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods.
I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let that world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody would imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights.
A reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of a building is widely covered. The events that started the American Revolution were the meetings in homes, pubs, on street corners.
All over the country, they're reading about me, and the story doesn't center on me being gay. It's just about a gay person who is doing his job.
I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes the target or the potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed with themselves.
Out of the bars and into the streets.
The American Dream starts with the neighborhoods.
― Harvey Milk Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
