But, the Children: Save California Denounces Harvey Milk Day

There's a chance that yesterday morning's commute was a touch easier than usual. Turns out that Tuesday, May 22 — also known as Harvey Milk Day, in honor of the 1930 birthday of the martyred gay activist — has become a day of protest for a teensy chunk of Americans who believe in denying their homosexual countrymen and -women the basic civil right of marriage ... and, like all such anti-progress movements, this crew is most concerned about the children.

Last week the Sacramento-based anti-gay nonprofit group Save California demanded that parents take their kids out of school on Harvey Milk Day so that the youngsters weren't subjected to curriculum, lessons, or positive information about Milk, a man whom Save California's online videos refer to — with weirdly stiff phrasing — as a "sexual predator of teens." The video goes on to claim that "science has found no biological basis for homosexuality, bisexuality, or transsexuality," to quail at photos of Milk "and his many boyfriends," and to insist — in classic wingnut fashion — that the day of commemoration of Milk is the brainchild of "Democrat" politicians. (Apparently, science has also found no biological basis for the "ic" at the end of "Democratic.")

The group went on the radio with its controversial campaign, which purports to protect children from state law requiring public schools commemorate and teach children about the state's first openly gay elected official. Milk, who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, was slain along with Mayor George Moscone by fellow Supervisor Dan White.

Even before his election, Milk made his meteoric rise in politics with a cutting-edge civil rights agenda — and not just one that served San Francisco's gay community. Yet Save California claims Milk, who would have been 82 on Tuesday, was not a leader but an immoral "sexual role model."

SF Weekly came this close to contacting Save California President Randy Thomasson to discuss all this, but then we saw this promise on the S.C. website and decided there's no way we could ever take them seriously enough to bother with: "Whether it's a one-on-one interview or debate format, with Randy, you'll get it real and you'll get it straight." Hey, Save California, when denouncing the "homosexual agenda," maybe you should try not to sound like an ad for lube.

What it comes down to: If there were fewer noisy teens on Muni yesterday morning, we hope you enjoyed the respite. But any peace gained is evidence of something more disturbing: local parents who live in fear of the values that make this city great.