Harvey Milk

Some thoughts after watching The Times of Harvey Milk. (A transcription of my response to the film in Documentary History.)

Homosexuality is about the most complex and difficult subject around right now. There seem to be two opposing camps, on completely different sides of this dividing line of "right and wrong." I say "seem" because I think that many, many people find themselves somewhere in the middle. Some are lost, some are resolute. But the people who see themselves as standing firmly on one "side," in one "camp," are wrong. It isn't simple enough of an issue.

This documentary mapped the progress of a movement that is important, but that is not without its flaws. I'm speaking of the movement itself, which, in an effort to gain momentum, strength, and legitimacy, so often ignores or even shuns some of the objections that are leveled against it. This film, though earnest and significant, did not manage to avoid this problem: Harvey Milk was a hero; the things he fought for were Right and Good; those who opposed him were deeply and profoundly Wrong; his primary enemy was evil. 

It is a testament to the power of martyrdom that these assertions will go unchallenged by the film's audiences. It's hard to argue with a dead guy, especially one who was killed for his beliefs. It's ironic that in murdering his perceived enemy, Dan White accomplished the very thing his "nemesis" could never have done on his own. White inadvertently immortalized Harvey Milk. 

I'm not being cynical, just frank. I believe that much of what Milk did was good for society. Homosexuals are not evil. They do not, by their natures, deserve violence or hate. They are people, just like all other people, with all of their problems. I think Harvey Milk was a good man, who courageously served and fought for what he believed, and, in large measure, for the down-trodden of his era. 

We're in an interesting age now, though. It seems almost impossible to be seen as anything but a close-minded, hate-filled bigot if you still think homosexuality is wrong and say so. If you still find the idea of same-sex marriage fundamentally problematic. I do think some people are "born that way." I don't know and don't care how many or how often, or even why. I still think it's an issue. Lots of people are born with unfortunate things to deal with. And I'm not going to say we should reach out and love them anyway--I am going to say we all ought to love each other, no matter what. This isn't about accepting homosexuals or homosexuality, it is about accepting people, deep disagreements notwithstanding.

To be honest, my real fear is that the friends that I have, and the friends that I will make in the future, who are homosexual or advocate it, will not be able to accept my conviction that homosexuality, as a practice, is still wrong, no matter how good the person, or how difficult the life.

Please feel free to share YOUR thoughts. I'd like this to be a conversation, rather than a rant or diatribe.