Watch Live: Harvey Milk Stamp Unveiling Ceremony

(by United States Postal Service)

This Thursday, May 22nd, the White House Office of Public Engagement, the United States Postal Service and the Harvey Milk Foundation will host a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp at the White House.

The event will feature remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Representative John Lewis, Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman, and other distinguished guests including the Co-Founders of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Stuart Milk and Anne Kronenberg.

Watch live starting at 3:00 p.m. EST at whitehouse.gov/live.  If you’re following on social media, the hashtag is #HarveyMilkStamp.

Harvey Milk was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s achievements gave hope and confidence to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services.

Tragically, his political career was cut short less than a year after he took office in California when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978.

In 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Harvey Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And in 2013, the White House Office of Public Engagement honored ten openly LGBT elected and appointed officials as “Harvey Milk Champions of Change.”                          

For more information on the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp, please visit: http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2014/pr14_026.htm

Gautam Raghavan is an Advisor in the White House Office of Public Engagement.