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by Amanda Fox

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Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere N.Y., a day that has become significant to LGBT members across the United States. As Harvey grew up there were indications he was likely going to be a succesful man, but nobody could have imagined the depth of the impact he would have on a nation nor that he would be so important to the LGBT community as nobody for a second ever imagined was gay. While the award winning performance of Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in the critically acclaimed MILK told part of the story, there was far more to the man than was told or meets the eye.

Harvey was an awkward child growing up being one of those kids whose body seemed to develop all out of whack. At one point it was his ears that took off on a growing spurt, and then his feet. Rather than accept being teased for it he decided to be proactive and make fun it before other kids could. He became so good with words and humor in fact that he was regarded as the class clown throughout school as well as a silver tongued ladies man. His parents William and Minerva weren't so thrilled about the class clown portion of his personality as he aged being of a strict Lithuanian Jewish background which focused on achievement, but they were happy he was a good student and well regarded by his peers.

In 1947 he graduated from Bay Shore High School in New York and attended the New York State College for Teachers. While he wasn't totally positive teaching was what he wanted for his long term future he was sure he didn't want to go into the family business begun by his grandfather Morris running a department store. He was also sure he was gay. He wasn't telling anybody that, in fact he wasn't even acting upon it. He had done such a good job of fooling everyone he was regarded as a true ladies man that never had a night without a date. Upon graduating he like so many others of his generation entered the military during the Korean War. Harvey enlisted in the Navy serving on the Kittiwake, a submarine rescue ship. His second billeting was to naval Station, San Diego, where he served as a diving instructor until his discharge in 1955 at the rank of Lt. Jg. The Military was not something he ever saw as a career option, but rather a service to his country that was both an honor and responsibility to undertake.

Upon discharge he took a string of jobs after moving back to new York beginning with a teaching post and moving on to a position as an actuarial statistician. The most important thing that happened

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