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When he was born on May 22, 1930, in Long Island New York, no one could have imagined what the future would hold for Harvey Milk. No one would have ever guessed that he would have such a tremendous impact on his nation, or that he would become such a revered figure among those in the LGBT community. Of course, the latter half of that statement is probably due to the fact that for much of his life, no one ever suspected for one moment that he was gay. As he grew older, there were many indications that he would become successful in whatever he chose to undertake, but no one had the faintest idea of the magnitude that his success would reach.

Throughout his childhood, he was one of those geeky, awkward kids who always seem to be the victim of nature's little joke. He was a late bloomer, whose scrawny body always seemed to remain underdeveloped...except of course for his ears and his feet, both of which underwent enormous growth spurts. He was also cursed with a very prominent nose, so rather than wait around to be stung by the inevitable cruelties of his peers, Harvey took the initiative; he chose to poke fun at his awkward appearance himself, thereby disarming would-be bullies. He became very good at using this humor as a way of communicating, and in the process, he became very outgoing and articulate. He became a smooth talker, who was easily able to talk his way out of anything most of the time.

These personality traits had a number of interesting side-effect on his life. For one thing, his quick wit earned him a reputation as the class clown in high school...much to the chagrin of his parents, William and Minerva, who came from a strict Lithuanian Jewish background which held a strong focus on achievement. Although they didn't approve of his antics at times, they were pleased that he was a good student, and well-liked by his peers. Secondly, as he got older, many people mistakenly assumed that thanks to his great sense of humor and silver tongue, Harvey was also a lady killer!

By the time that his high school graduation approached in 1947, Milk still had no idea what direction he wanted to take in life; the only thing that he had decided for sure was that he did not want to go into the family business of running a department store. For a time, he considered going into teaching. Although he still wasn't absolutely certain that he wanted to make this a permanent career, he decided to attend The New York State College For Teachers, where he majored in mathematics.

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