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122 Unit 2 ■ Appealing to an Audience

© Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.
You’ve Got to

Have Hope

Harvey Milk Terry Schmitt/San Francisco Chronicle/Polaris

THE TEXT IN CONTEXT
Harvey Milk (1930–1978), California’s first
openly gay elected official, served on the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He
delivered the following speech on June 25,
1978, as part of Gay Freedom Day, otherwise known as San Francisco Pride, a festival and
parade championing the gay community. The following speech was in response to media and
political ads attacking the gay community at the time. Milk was assassinated two days later.

’m a person of few surprises so it will come is people. In this case, some 675,000. Some
I as no surprise to you that what I’m about 60,000 of them live in District 5. They’re Latins
to say constitutes an announcement of my and Blacks, whites and Chinese, young and
candidacy for Supervisor of District 5. For all I old, straight — and gay.
know, I may be the proverbial straw that broke Each of those people has his or her own
the camel’s back for I’m sure by now that the hopes and aspirations, his or her own
list of candidates is close to equaling the list viewpoints and problems. Each of them con-
of eligible voters. The true test of Democracy tributes something unique to the life of the
is when anybody can run for anything and in city. What they contribute, we call the “qual-
this case, almost everybody is. Well, they say ity of life.” Friends talking across fences,
Democracy is a participatory process so you the baseball players in the playground on
can’t say we weren’t warned. . . . Sunday, old ladies tottering down the street
I’ve been running for so many things hand-in-hand, the smile from a passing
for so long in this city that I wear a pair of stranger.
sneakers to work . . . after all, you can never Buildings have very little to do with the 5
tell when another opportunity will present quality of life. They usually go dark at six
itself. . . . o’clock at night, concrete hives for the ware-
. . . Let’s go back to the beginning. I am housing of workers, monuments to people’s
announcing my candidacy for Supervisor of greeds and needs. They remain desolate and
a great City. Think about that for a moment. empty until the people return in the morning
A city isn’t a collection of buildings — it isn’t to flick the lights back on and fill the corridors
downtown with the B of A and a TransAmerica with bustle and activity.
Tower, it isn’t the parking lots or the freeways There are exceptions, of course, and we
or the theatres or the massage parlors. A city happen to be gathered in one of them tonight.

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