Milk

The film “Milk '' follows the life of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay elected official to a public office in California. The film did a good job depicting some of the struggles gay people faced at the time. Many of the characters in the film struggled with mental health, physical violence, and political persecution. However, the film did not represent LGBTQ+ women or people of color. The film was only concerned with the struggle of white gay men in the 70’s. More recently, gay rights have made great strides and LGBTQ+ rights are more celebrated. Unfortunately, the community faces continued opposition in the form of threats to trans rights such as some states not offering gender affirming care, and legislation like Florida’s “don’t say gay bill.” In many ways the LGBTQ+ rights movement has changed drastically from what it was during Harvey’s time. Trans rights was not at the forefront of the movement in the 70’s, but the movement still faces old prejudices. This helps to make for more unified LGBTQ+ community and movement than shown in the film. 



 

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