Happy birthday and thank you, Harvey Milk

Today would have been Harvey Milk's 79th birthday, an occasion that got us thinking about Milk's fight for equal rights and what a whirlwind year it's been. In the past LGBT Americans have been fashioned into a tool to rally conservatives to the ballot box, but this year those tactics have lost ground, and we've even seen seen a few steps forward.

One of Milk's philosophies was the importance of being out and letting the world know that gay people come in all varieties. Looking at recent events, the revelvence Milk's philosophy still rings true.

While we've had plenty of setbacks, the recognition of gay marriages in states like California and Connecticut has meant that people are seeing images of gay couples marrying, whether they be gay rights icons Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin or a celebrity like George Takei marrying his partner, Brad Altman. The normalcy of these images did a lot to undermine the idea of gay marriage as a radical recalibration of the status quo. In the case of Takei (or Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi) the celebrity angle brought these images to apolitical people more likely to read an issue of People than Newsweek.

Proposition 8 was a setback and a disappointment, but since then we've seen Vermont and Iowa take steps towards recognizing gay marriage in landmark ways. Vermont became the first state to recognize gay marriage through the legislature. Meanwhile, when Iowa's State Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on gay marriages, not only did it make Iowa the first Midwestern state to acknowledge gay unions, it was also the first time the courts ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality. I can't help but think that the sight of gay couples who clearly have nothing in mind but the promise of a lifetime together helped make these steps forward happen.

Lt Dan Choi and Lt Col Victor Fehrenbach

Meanwhile, being open and visible is playing a role in another important issue: the military's ban on gay servicemembers. Public opinion supports letting LGBT people serve openly, and people like Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach are making people think harder about the idiocy of the policy.

This year also saw the release of Milk, a film that turned out to be especially relevant, thanks to the failed fight against Proposition 8. The film prompted gay activists to look at how Milk fought Proposition 6 in his time, leading them to ask if the effort against Proposition 8 could have taken a few lessons from history. Meanwhile, for the people who don't pay attention to the news but care about celebrities, Milk offered powerful Oscar acceptance speeches from actor Sean Penn and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

If you haven't had the chance to see it yet, why not take some time out of the day to celebrate Milk's birthday by watching The Times of Harvey Milk? Like so many historical documentaries, it's amazing to see how much things have changed and how much things are the same. Here's the film in its entirety: