Harvey Milk: No to Homophobia


 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title
 Copyright
 Contents
 1 August 1947
 2 In the Navy
 3 From Manhattan to San Francisco
 4 “My Name is Harvey Milk”
 5 A Victory for Gay Rights
 Afterword: They Too Said No
 Chronology
 For More Information
 Discussion Questions
 About the Author and Translator
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright © 2011, 2014 by Actes Sud (France).
 English translation © 2023 by Ruth Diver
 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 
 Seven Stories Presswww.sevenstories.com
 
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 
 
 Names: Amor, Safia, author. | Diver, Ruth, translator. 
 Title: Harvey Milk : no to homophobia / Safia Amor ; translated by Ruth Diver. 
 Description: Regular edition (rg). | New York City : Triangle Square Books for Young Readers / Seven Stories Press, [2022] | Series: They said no | Translated from French. | Includes bibliographical references. | Audience: Ages 10-14 years (1014) | Audience: Grades 7-9 
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022033855 | ISBN 9781644211847 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781644211854 (ebook) 
 Subjects: LCSH: Social reformers--California--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Milk, Harvey--Juvenile literature. | Mayors--California--San Francisco--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Gay politicians--California--San Francisco--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Gay men--California--San Francisco--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Gay liberation movement--California--San Francisco--History--20th century--Juvenile literature. 
 Classification: LCC F869.S353 M54413 2022 | DDC 303.48/4092 [B]--dc23/eng/20220715 
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022033855
 
 
 
 Cover illustration: François Roca
 College professors and high school and middle school teachers may order free examination copies of Seven Stories Press titles. Visit https://www.sevenstories.com/pg/resources-academics or email [email protected].
 Printed in the USA.
 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 
 
 
 For Jalil, Cyril, Alain, Martin, Bertrand, Marc, Simon, Marine, Patrice, Éric, Guillaume, Maxime… Olivier, Timothée, Lucas, Mathieu… Tiphaine, Lorine, Michèle, Assia, Agnès . . . Marion, Maria and Murielle, for saying yes to freedom.
 
 
 “We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.”
 harvey milk
 
 
 Contents
 1 August 1947
 2 In the Navy
 3 From Manhattan to San Francisco
 4 “My Name is Harvey Milk”
 5 A Victory for Gay Rights
 Afterword: They Too Said No
 Chronology
 For More Information
 Discussion Questions
 About the Author and Translator
 
 
 
 1
 August 1947
 Harvey was lying on the grass in Central Park, looking up at the sky. A clear blue sky with dazzling sunbeams, on that early afternoon. Stretched out bare-chested and barefoot and wearing light cotton shorts, with his T-shirt rolled up as a pillow, Harvey was happy. He was finally going to start the novel that his grandfather had given him for his seventeenth birthday on May 22: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, one of his favorite authors. Other men were also enjoying the beautiful summer’s day, some gathered in groups on towels or blankets, others alone and sheltered from view, just as Harvey was. In the distance he could hear children’s shouts coming from behind the boxwood hedges. As always on summer Sundays, families were spending the whole day in the park—the city’s lungs, where the air was more breathable than in the crowded streets of New York. They must be running around the Bethesda Fountain, having fun splashing each other, Harvey thought, remembering the many times his mother Minnie had taken him and his brother Bob to the park near their house. All his neighborhood friends would make water pistols with bottles and run around spraying each other. He remembered how he particularly liked water bombing Bill, that chubby guy who was always making fun of Dick, the only Black boy that played in the park with them. Harvey didn’t like Mary either, that little goody-two-shoes who screamed as soon as he touched her, when he really didn’t mean any harm, he was just teasing her a little. Which had earned him a good slap from his mother, or rather two: “There, that one’s for cussing, and one for pestering a girl. Don’t you dare do that again!”
 Immediately regretting her temper, Minnie took him in her arms. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Harvey pretended to cry and they both ended up laughing at the melodrama of the situation. Intense and possessive like a real Jewish mother, Minnie had a soft spot for Harvey, her baby. She thought he was particularly charming and gentle compared to his older brother, who was more of a ruffian. Harvey also paid more attention to her. She was a fashion conscious, petite, curvy woman with curly brown hair and hazel eyes, and she liked it when Harvey gave her advice about her outfits. He had the sense of style to notice details his father or brother didn’t even seem to see: a necklace she had just bought, a new dress, a different shade of lipstick. . . . At home as well, it was always Harvey who helped her the most, carrying her bags when she came back from the grocery store or volunteering to dry the dishes. Their closeness made Harvey feel proud, even if he sometimes felt a bit smothered—all the more so because he had a secret, and if his mother found out about it, she would be mortified. Maybe even love him less.
 Lost in thought, it was some time before Harvey realized that police sirens were approaching Central Park, tearing through the peaceful, sunny Sunday atmosphere. He heard a few snatches of conversation: “. . . this way. . .”; “. . . there they are!”; “. . .caught in the act. . . .” By the time he realized that policemen were invading the lawn, he was already being hauled up from the ground and pushed towards a police car with blows from a baton.
 Several other men were there who had been dragged towards the paddy wagons and handcuffed. One of them