Press

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Communications Director
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rsklar@theTaskForce.org

WASHINGTON, August 13 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announced today its support of efforts to honor civil rights heroes César Chávez and Harvey Milk with a federal and state holiday respectively.

“The Task Force is proud to support and endorse these efforts to recognize two lions of social justice. Our modern movement benefits from their legacy of leadership of working across issues to not leave anyone behind,” said Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey.

Chávez, the late founder and president of the United Farm Workers (UFW) of America, had deep confidence in the ability of people to move mountains of injustice. The Mexican-American labor leader was a humble man who gave of himself unselfishly to the cause of farm workers and all workers. He championed the cause of equality for Latinos and his courage in the face of some of our nation’s most powerful industries inspired generations of all races and nationalities to fight the good fight.

Chávez was the first major civil rights leader to support gay and lesbian issues. He spoke out on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the 1970s and in 1987 was a keynote speaker at the National March on Washington.

He was first recognized with a state holiday in California. The holiday is celebrated in on Chávez’s birthday, March 31. This marked the first time that a labor leader or Latino has been honored with a public legal holiday. The California legal holiday set into motion a wave of initiatives resulting in optional and commemorative César Chávez Days in nine additional states (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Rhode Island).

“César Chávez did not only speak at our 1987 March on Washington but walked the entire march route. His granddaughter Christine Chávez told me that it was the biggest crowd he ever spoke to,” said Task Force board member and San Diego City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez. “He never forgot the support the UFW received from the gay community.”

In addition to the effort to recognize César Chávez with a federal holiday, efforts are under way again in California to honor another civil rights pioneer. Assemblymember Mark Leno along with the support of Equality California have introduced a measure that would formally recognize Harvey Milk. The bill, which awaits the governor’s signature, would establish a non-fiscal state holiday in his name on the anniversary of his birth.

Milk was born on May 22, 1930, and settled in the Castro district of San Francisco in 1972 where he and his partner opened a camera store. His belief that all people should be treated with respect paved the way of the populist movement he pioneered for LGBT rights, creating a legacy that inspires the LGBT community to this day. In 1977, Milk became the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the United States, and only the third openly gay elected official in the nation. Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in San Francisco on Nov. 27, 1978.

“Harvey Milk was a true American hero,” said Leno. “He gave hope to a generation of gay and lesbian individuals whose basic humanity and freedom had been denied and dishonored. His history is our history, and a day in his honor will preserve his legacy for generations to come.”

Milk was an early supporter of the California grape boycott organized by the UFW and led by Chávez.

“By providing us with a Harvey Milk holiday we are not only recognizing a great man who worked tirelessly for the underserved, but we are also standing with a community that deserves to be honored for its ongoing contributions to society,” said Christine Chávez, granddaughter of César Chávez. “Our generation needs to have Harvey Milk alongside my grandfather César Chávez and other American heroes who have a day of remembrance and a time set aside to celebrate their lives.”

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. We do this by training activists, equipping state and local organizations with the skills needed to organize broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.