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San Francisco District Supervisor David Campos is introducing legislation today to rename the San Francisco International airport after Harvey Milk.

>“It’s time to send a message that members of the LGBT community are treated with dignity and respect. … In places all over the world, including Europe and Asia, people of all walks of life look up to Harvey Milk.”

Harvey Milk is the single most important, at least the most recognized, figure in the history of the LGBT rights movement and held San Francisco up as a beacon of hope. The origin of pride parades and celebrations - and I’m surprised how many LGBT people don’t even know this - is a simply demonstration we exist. That wherever you are and however alone you may feel, there is hope.

Here in San Francisco his legacy goes beyond gay rights to the everyday quality of life issues, like the pooper-scooper law. He was the first District Supervisor to ride transit to work at City Hall and though it isn’t at the same scale of an major international airport, I did get a streetcar dedicated to him. It’s one of our historic cars which briefly appeared in the film Milk.

Not a single person I worked with in that process - and it didn’t matter if they were straight or gay - wasn’t totally gung-ho to make it happen. I hope I’ll soon be flying out of Harvey Milk International because as Harvey said,

>“[Y]ou have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us'es, the us'es will give up.”