THETIMESThursday15January2009 times2 611

artsscreen CORBIS

he came from woodmere to change the world A triumphant leads marchers in the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade in . Below, Sean Penn as Milk in the same scene

leve Jones got an into the eddying waters of Seventies gay e-mail recently from a liberation. Sean Penn absolutely inhabits Mormon father of six Milk’scharismaticpersonality. The Mayor of who had been to see Like so many gay men, Milk came to San the movie Milk. The Francisco in the early Seventies. He man had voted “yes” opened a camera store in the Castro with on Proposition 8, a his lover , mobilising the gay Castro Street move to ban gay mar- communityagainstpolicehostilityandthe riage in . bigotry of shopkeepers. He was a hippy, Gus Van Sant’s movie then cut off his ponytail and started play- had changed his mind. The man told Jones ing politics. In office,he lobbiedtheMayor, C— a longtime activist and adviser on the , to sign a gay rights ordi- rides again movie — that he was sorry and that he nance. He fought the anti-gay campaigns would do whateverhe could to makeup for of Anita Bryant and (successfully) Senator supporting thediscriminatorylegislation. John Briggs’s attempt to ban gay teachers Were he still alive, Harvey Milk would from workingin California. Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk in a new have been at the forefront of fighting it too. Milk was assassinated, along with Mo- film about the murdered San Francisco He was the first openly gay elected public scone, by , a fellow city supervi- official in California, winning a seat on the sor, in 1978. White received a seven-year politician. Here the people whose lives Board of Supervisors in San Francisco sentence for manslaughter, which led to (after three failed attempts to gain political rioting. Today, there’sa bust of Milk in City Milk changed talk to Tim Teeman about office) in 1977. He was the self-declared Hall, a memorial plaza in the Castro, a dis- “MayorofCastroStreet”,thecity’sgayhub, play of his life in San Francisco’s Public the film, and the man who inspired it witha signature rallying cry:“You’ve got to Library. There are even schools named give them hope.” Milk is an astonishing, after him. But behind the crusading image, even landmark film, not for its sexual con- his friends here remember his wit, passion, tent but for its politics, plunging the viewer flirtatiousnessandloveof custard pies. W THETIMESThursday15January2009 612 times2 arts arts First night La Bayadère: luminous showcase for the corps de ballet — page 16

JEAN DIERKES CARLISLE . I have her to thank for what was left of his face. Oh God, it was ationist. I asked him once why he was run- because he didn’t sound like a politician. Ernie: The shoe-box they were in was my campaign.” I remember thinking, “Oh horrible.Iwasinshockforseveralmonths. ning for office. “Nothing happens there,” I He was talking about civil rights, how he wrapped up in Doonesbury cartoons, one AnneKronenberg myGod,I’mgoingto CityHall.” It never crossed my mind that Dan said. He said there was a place for both ac- wasthere forpeople.Itjusttalked tome. of his favourite comic strips. That was very Milk’scampaignco-ordinatorfor is amazing as Dan White. would do something like that. He was very tivism and conventional politics. I sniffed I Ernie: He had a wicked sense of humour Harvey: he used humour to undercut seri- Dan was not a monster, he was tormented. childish and was in way over his head at never would become a politician . . . Being that doesn’t come across in the movie. If ousness. He didn’t have much truck with hissuccessfulbidtobecomea Josh shows that he was crazy rather than CityHall. Thepolitical system baffled him. district supervisor paid s***. He couldn’t you close your eyes you could just about formality. You can see his legacy outside. citysupervisor. AlisonPillplays bad. Harvey thought White was in the Harveyalwaysbelieved hewouldbekilled. afford the rent and had to close the shop. I hearhim,buthewastallerthanSeanPenn. People come from all over the world to the her in the film. closet; that he was so afraid of being outed I’d joke with him, tell him: “Get over it. You saw him leaning against a car and called Martha: There was a genuine warmth Castro to be out. In the Seventies there was he went on the offensive himself. When arenot that important. You’renot Dr King, out that Iwas sorry. “Whatcan youdo?”he aboutHarvey.Sean didn’thavethatforme, a slight air of perpetual adolescence and The film really captures Harvey told me he had made tapes to be Malcolm X, you’re not a big enough said and shrugged. A few days later he was buthecaptureswhatHarveywasall about: ongoing party to the atmosphere. Harvey gavethat somedirectionandpurpose. the truth of the time. played in the event of his death I told him I threat.” I always thought it was the police dead.WhenIheard,Ihadasickeningreali- howhe gotpeoplemotivated. Theyre-createdCas- thought it was morbid. He was 48 when he or CIA he was referring to. If he had stayed sation, like a lot of gay people. Back then Ernie: And the chair . . . he had a barber’s tro Camera in the died.Iwas22andatanagewhereyoudon’t alive,Ithinkhewouldhavebecomemayor. you felt you could be out but you could get chair in the camera shop where you would old shop and it was havethatsenseofhowfragile lifecanbe. Ihope thefilm bringshislegacyalive. harmed. The candlelight march con- sitandtalktohim. Nick Romero exactlyhowit used to On our bulletin board Harvey always verged at 18th Street and Castro, and what look, it was like going Martha: I remember Jack coming in. put up a letter from a bigot which we called was surprising wasn’t how long it was but Jack was crazy. You’d think, “What does Owner,Given,575CastroStreet back 30 years and seeing the “letter of the week”. “Let them see,” howwide.Everytypeof personwasthere. This shop is on the site of the original our “office”. The whole experience was DanNicoletta Harvey see in him?” He must have been a Harvey would say. He knew there were There are a lot of out people in politics good lay, that’s all I can think. He would , and was transformed back cathartic. Losing Harvey the way we did, homophobic people out there who would Photographer.LucasGrabeel now, but Harvey is still an inspiration. He into it for the movie. They had to cover the it’shard to remember the good times when come to the store and charge something to want to take his life. But he never lived his was a maverick, but he also built alliances. Harvey’s account and sign the bill “Mrs mural I commissioned from John Baden, thingsendinsuchatragedy. playshimin thefilm. which shows a bullet heading towards a life in fear. Scott Smith (who had Aids and Sean Penn captures his sweetness. When HarveyMilk”. I met Harvey when I was 22 in 1977.I was died of pneumonia in 1996) was Harvey’s I met him in August Dan White was not people called the Castro a gay ghetto he print of Harvey’shead. It’sprovocative and a , the only woman surrounded by a Ernie: Harvey was a human being. We love, I’m sure. Scott suffered a lot with all 1974. I had taken wouldalwayssayitwasaneighbourhood. very striking and includes his famous team of gay men who were very suspicious a monster, he was allhavefoibles. Jackfilledsomeneed. the politics. Harvey was not necessarily some film in for quote:“Ifa bulletshouldentermy brain,let of me. A friend of mine suggested to Har- processing. Both he ‘‘ Martha: Harvey needed love. I remem- that bullet destroy every closet door.” It’s the most sensitive person in the world and tormented. Harvey vey that he employ me. I was very political ber getting up the morning that he was Scott felt he was No 2. Every day Scott and Scott were re- the contrast of something ugly leading to but working at a wholesale seafood com- thought White was Ernie and killed and thinking that now the dust had would bitch about Harvey and Harvey markably friendly. I somethingbeautiful. pany, typing invoices and making coffee. I settled after the election, we should have would bitch about Scott. Then he went out didn’t realise they in the closet, afraid I feel Harvey’sspirit — doors sometimes hated it. I didn’t know Harvey but he was a Martha Asten Harveyoverfordinner.Iheardhehaddied with Jack [Lira] and Jack was a raving were checking me out. openand close—butit’sneverscary.As an hero of mine. He was out and open, vocal We became friends and I worked as an of being outed OwnersofCliff’sVarietystore, onthecarradioandnearlycrashed. out gay businessman in his thirties I owe it and passionate. I couldn’t believe it when alcoholic. Harvey liked to rescue people. Ernie: I ran up to Castro Camera. Scott Jack committed suicide at the apartment assistant there. Every other sentence was to Harvey’s legacy to do something. I he called me. He said: “You’ll be my cam- 479CastroStreet said:“Harvey’sbeenkilled”.Ihelpedhimto wouldn’t have any of the advantages I and Harvey found him. It was devastating sexualinnuendo.Theseatbehindthecoun- paign co-ordinator, not manager, because MOVIESTORE Martha:IfirstsawHarveycampaigningon closetheshop.Hewasbesidehimself. enjoy now if I was living in the earlySeven- buthe carriedon working. ter ensured your eye was level with the no one manages me. I’ll teach you every- really tough time after Harvey died. I customer’scrotch. thestreet when he ran for supervisorin the Martha: Weclosed early that night. A lot ties. Ioweittothemovement. When Harvey liked someone he court- thing youneed to know andI have nothing moved to Washington to get away from There was a real sense of ferment in the mid-Seventies. He was down on 18th of people bought candles for the march. Milk is released on January 23. The topayyou.”Isaid: “Great,I’ll quitmyjob.” ed them, but he could only pursue it for so SanFranciscoandexplorewhoIwas.Iend- Street standing on a park bench wearing a Ernie and I were invited to go on the boat Castro features in the Travel section of long because politics were so important. Castro, of history unfolding. Harvey and I We were family. We had such a blast. We ed up getting married to a man I have been talked about the arts, which he loved. He ’’ ponytail, a politician I could believe in toscatterHarvey’sashes. thisSaturday’sTimes But sex was important to him too. He’d re- worked 14 or 16 hours a day, then party. with for 23 years. At one premiere of Milk a loved being photographed and I took port if he’d got lucky the night before. Har- Drinking, drugs — we did it all. It was wild, reporter asked my husband: “Did you pictures of him for his campaign, though I vey didn’t drink but he would cruise bars fun times. One of his lines was: “Wanna know Anne was a lesbian?” My husband remember the best one was rejected, and pick up young men. When he died he buy me a drink?” He loved to play practical replied, “Well, that what was so appealing because it was felt he couldn’t be seen with was seeing this very smart guy, Doug, who jokes, like throw custard pies in people’s abouther.”Mykidshavebeenbought upto histieflappinginthewind.Harveyfeltpas- died of Aids in the late Eighties. He was facesontheir birthday. be open and accepting. Harvey was always sionately that you should love whom you such a nice man, and I thought, “This will The campaign was intense. We walked aboutcelebrating whoyouwere. choose and took great umbrage that being betheone”.ThedayHarveywasmurdered every precinct three times. He was a smil- He would have loved all this movie stuff. gay should put your own safety at risk. He I had flown to Seattle to see my family. My er, electric. You could not meet him with- He’d be on the red carpet prancing and would tell me about the threatening letters father told me when I landed. My mind out feeling drawn to him. He had this bowing and eating it up. My favourite and say I could choose to come to work or energy about him. He was not a saint. He couldn’t grasp it. They didn’t want me to go memory is of starting every day with a not. He would joke, “This one will kill me”, had a bad temper. When we met he said: back. There were all kinds of crazy coffee with him. He’d call me his “little “Thatone’sa dangerousone”. theories. Was the killer still out there? I got “I’ll yell, you’ll have to yell back at me. If dyke-ette” and talk about all the dramas in I remember being in City Hall and Dan on the next flight and went straight to City you don’t yell back you’re not going to my love life. Was he fulfilled? That’s a hard White walking by and Harvey saying: Hall and saw what seemed like a sea of make it.” He’d leave little notes on my desk question. Harvey always wanted more. He “That’s a dangerous guy”. There isn’t a day candles from the procession along Market or call me at night, two-minute conversa- was a visionary. The film helps to establish that goes by that I don’t imagine what his tions that really said, “Anne I love you” Streetthatseemed tostretchforever. hislegacy.Ihope ithelpsthemovement. advice might be. I still haven’t properly without actually saying that. When he was I was so sad and angry. I just felt my life reel to real Hewasashopkeeper.HehadbeenaRepub- Clockwise from above: mourned him. Watching a bit of the film elected, he pulled me up onstage and said: had been ripped from me. Harvey was a lican. He wasn’t progressive enough for left medevastated forthreedays. ‘This is my new administrative assistant, friend, mentor and father figure. I had a James Franco as Scott me.Buthereached across boundaries. CleveJones Smith and Sean Penn as Older gay men clothed, fed and shel- his lover and business teredalotofthestreetkids.Harveyencour- MetMilkasayoungmanand partner Harvey Milk in aged us to go back to college. I studied film. TomAmmiano washispoliticalaide.Hewent Milk; Dan Nicoletta, I remember showing my first film at the GaySanFranciscopolitician. ontocreatetheAidsMemorial Milk and Dean Anthony Castro Cinema and Harvey coming and Kelly — the son of the saying: “Cleve, you have no talent.” I was MemberoftheCaliforniaState Quilt.EmileHirschplayshimin woman who took the crushed. This was just before he ran for photograph — clowning supervisor for that final time, and to soften Assembly,anduntillastyeara thefilm. around at Castro the blow he said: “I’m going to get elected citysupervisorinSanFrancisco. I arrived in San Francis- Camera in 1975; Milk’s this time. Change your major to political co aged 17 and unem- killer, Dan White science and come and work for me as an Heplayshimself inthefilm. ployable. I was a intern toget somecollegecredits.”I’m glad I first saw Harvey Milk one night in the street kid and got by Idid or today I could be a bitter, unsuccess- early Seventies. At that time, the police got through hustling and ful film-maker. The speech he gives me in a kick out of intimidating the queens com- begging. Most nights the film about falling in love at some point ing out of the bars. There was a black men’s I didn’t eat. I slept in in my life was true. He was very sweet and bar and that was a double whammy for the doorways. My parents he loved young people: gay, straight, boys police. They’d shake the patrons down. weren’t bad people — we get on great — and girls. He had the knack of making you Someone had a joint in their pocket! Oh, butwhen Icame out they didn’t respond so feelbetteraboutyourself.Hewasamentor, the horrors! There was Harvey on the well. I panicked, and when you were gay, 17 too, he identified strength and potential. corner, asking the police why they were andinPhoenix,Arizona,intheearlySeven- Meeting him was the single most impor- there.Ithought,“Ilike thisguy”. ties . . . there weren’t a whole lot of places to tant thing that happened in my life. The He became a force on Castro. He com- gosoIcameto San Francisco. Aids Memorial quilt [which Jones con- piled a list of shops that were homophobic. I was political long before I met Harvey. Milk’slast ceived in 1985] would never have hap- I remember one liquor store guy who That was in early 1975 just as I was prepar- penedwithoutHarvey. would not serve you, but after that list ing to go travelling inEurope.Harveyliked words I was in the Castro when I heard that the came out he couldn’t do enough. He’d take to combine cruising and campaigning. I “I could be assassinated at mayor had been shot. At City Hall I found your bag to the car! I was a teacher, and wouldn’t like to say which was his priority, any moment . . .” Listen to Harvey’s body in Dan White’s office. I approached Harvey about the issue. I but I was quite hot for about six weeks in the Harvey Milk tapes and remember coming around the corner and remember him coming to one meeting, the mid-Seventies. When I came back read the archive Times seeing a pair of dress shoes poking out expressing his strong support and taking from Europe in 1977 I didn’t think he could report of his killing, at from around the door: they were Harvey’s. home a handsome young man. Harvey win a seat as a supervisor. I was a radical. timesonline.co.uk/film A cop was turning his body over and I saw hadastronglibido.Iwasaradicalgayliber-