USPS honors Harvey Milk with new stamp collection


Harvey Milk, California's first openly gay politician, is in the spotlight once again. In honor of what would have been the slain politician's 84th birthday, the USPS released a series of forever stamps featuring Milk.
Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was an active gay rights leader and is credited with providing hope and confidence to gay Americans in the 1970s. In 2009, President Obama posthumously awarded him a Medal of Freedom.
"The United States has come a long way," Erik Milk, Harvey Milk's grand nephew, told Reuters. "Probably he never would have thought that anything like this, of this magnitude would have ever happened, but you know, all of his efforts paid off in the long run."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The stamp's debut was celebrated in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and it's available now at post offices nationwide. Watch the stamp's heartfelt dedication ceremony over at the White House's blog. --Meghan DeMaria
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across Pacific
Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground
-
Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity
Speed Read The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein
-
July 30 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include a beast under the surface, new unemployment officers, and more
-
Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity
Speed Read The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein
-
Judge halts GOP defunding of Planned Parenthood
Speed Read The Trump administration can't withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, said the ruling
-
Trump contradicts Israel, says 'starvation' in Gaza
Speed Read The president suggests Israel could be doing more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians
-
Trump executive order targets homeless
Speed Read It will now be easier for states and cities to remove homeless people from the streets
-
Columbia pays $200M to settle with White House
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the school of failing to protect its Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Trump attacks Obama as Epstein furor mounts
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the Obama administration of 'treasonous' behavior during the 2016 election
-
Trump administration releases MLK files
Speed Read Newly released documents on the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hold any new revelations, King historians said