Milk: Then and the Legacy Now

I attend a Times Talk last night featuring individuals involved in the making of the upcoming Gus Van Sant/Sean Penn film Milk, specifically screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, actors James Franco and Emile Hirsch and activist/AIDS quilt creator Cleve Jones (portrayed by Emile Hirsh in the film). The evening was a combination of discussion about the film itself, about the real story of Harvey Milk and a general discussion of the current state of the gay rights movement. The panel also included a screening of several clips from the film (opening November 26th) and although the trailer has had me eagerly awaiting the film for quite some time, I'm now even more excited (meet me at Lincoln Plaza next weekend!).

James Franco (who struggled a little to pull his thoughts together) and Emile Hirsch (who kept the zingers rolling), both talked about working with Sean Penn who, judging from the trailer and clips, really loses himself in the role (which of course is what you would expect from Penn). Lance Black discussed how he came to write the screenplay and the resources he relied on to make it accurate. The 1984 Oscar winning documentary The Life & Times of Harvey Milk was frequently mentioned by the panel as a source of inspiration and information. I saw the film at an Academy screening in June and I very much recommend seeing it.

Another interesting part of the program was hearing Cleve Jones' thoughts on the state of the gay rights movement, Prop 8 and what Obama may bring. He and Black have written about the importance of taking the gay marriage fight to the national level to avoid all the divisive state battles and what actions can be taken through the end of the year to bring the issue forward before Obama's inauguration - check out http://www.sevenweekstoequality.com/. He also talked about how heartened he was to see the younger generation take to the streets last week after the disappointing vote and not just fight through their computers (as he said, signing an on-line petition gets you nowhere - you need to get out there and be seen and heard). Jones also spoke about what he considers to be a battle of vocabulary (marriage, civil union, domestic partnership). As he put it, he doesn't care if you call it "teacups and mayonnaise" as long as he gets the same rights.

As may regular readers know, although I am not gay, I feel very strongly about equal rights for the LGBT community and I too found it inspiring to see all the people across the country rally loudly in favor of gay rights. I went to the rally at City Hall on Saturday to do my part to be seen and heard and it was an amazing thing to see all the people fighting for the right to love. For the sake of our country, so that it can really call itself a place where all men are free, let us hope that the spirit and example of Harvey Milk lives. Let his message reach from San Francisco to Salt Lake City to Little Rock to Atlanta to Albany to Washington DC that "hope will never be silent."

Please support the Milk film and help spread the word. I've posted it before but to get the excitement rolling, here's the trailer again: