Tuesday, Board Members of Equality Action NOW, Tina Reynolds, Executive Director; Benancio Garza, Youth Spokesperson; Angela Luna, Education Lead and Author of "In Celebration of Harvey Milk"; and Ken Pierce, Board President and Communications Director attended the Sacramento County Division of Behavioral Health Services and Office of Education's "Sacramento Countywide Bullying Prevention Project" (SC-SPP) workshop. Under the direction of Pamela Robinson and Cheryl Raney of the Sacramento County Office of Education, the main purpose of the project is to "develop the capacity of (school) districts and their demonstration school sites to implement sustainable bullying prevention programs an

Equality Action NOW Hosts Event at the Crocker Art Museum Today, California Governor Jerry Brown officially proclaimed Sunday, May 22, Harvey Milk Day. Last year Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the Harvey Milk Day bill, in honor of the slain San Francisco supervisor who fought for LGBT rights. The proclamation begins by saying, “In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man in the history of the United States to be elected to public office. This milestone achievement gave hope to millions of gays and lesbians across the country that a day would come when they could live their lives openly and honestly without fear

Criterion Films is re-releasing the Award Winning Documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk" and the Harvey Milk Foundation will host the official viewing celebration in Sacramento on Tuesday, May 17. This viewing is the first of many weeklong events to celebrate Harvey Milk Day 2011. The evening kicks off with an exclusive conversation between Stuart Milk, nephew of LGBT activist Harvey Milk and the founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) on Harvey Milk’s impact and efforts underway in Sacramento to keep his legacy alive. Greg Lucas, the chief correspondent of California's Capitol, will moderate this conversation.  This event is brought to you

Whitney Avenue Elementary School fourth grade teacher Angela F. Luna recently self-published a children's workbook aimed at fostering compassion and understanding toward the LGBTQI community. Luna, a member of the Equality Action Now leadership, said the activist group encouraged her to work on LGBTQI curriculum for school-age children after the first Harvey Milk Day on May 22, 2009. What resulted is her new 32-page book called “In Celebration of Harvey Milk: Educational Materials for Grades 4 through 12” that honors the memory of the gay rights activist who was assassinated in 1978. To Luna, it was Milk's courage to be himself at a time when it wasn't popular to do so that she admires

Background Notes Harvey Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. This made him the nation’s first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. It was on November 27, 1978 when San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death by a former city supervisor, Dan White, who had just recently resigned but changed his mind and wanted his seat back. This sent a shockwave throughout San Francisco, California, and throughout the nation when the major networks carried the story during the evening newscasts. On October 12, 2009, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the highly contro

 To commemorate Harvey Milk Day, on his birthday, May 22, 2010 Equality Action Now will host a fun and historic Rally and March on the West steps of the State Capitol. Invited guests include adult and youth speakers from the community as well as entertainment. Highlighting the entertainment will be the cast of Broadway’s hit, A Chorus Line. The road tour of A Chorus Line will be playing at the Sacramento Community Theatre May 19-23. According to their tour manager the cast will perform their matinee show then head over to the Capitol to perform a musical number from A Chorus Line, “What I Did For Love”. A Chorus Line, one of the most recognized Broadway musicals, won nine Tony Awards, in

Sacramento, CA - On October 12, 2009, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the highly controversial bill (S.B. 572) establishing “Harvey Milk Day” to take place each May 22nd, Milk’s birthday. The signing came on the heels of President Obama awarding Harvey Milk posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom last August. Equality Action Now, a local grassroots civil rights organization wanted to make sure Sacramento wasn’t left out in providing community-based affordable events commemorating Harvey Milk’s 80th Birthday, his Presidential Medal of Freedom award, and the California’s first official Harvey Milk Day. During the last several months EAN’s leadership and volunteers collaborated with se

The Harvey B. Milk Foundation and Founder, Stuart Milk, invites you to the Harvey Milk-A Celebration! on May 12th, 2010 at The California Museum. Sacramento will host an event to launch the new Harvey B. Milk Foundation and to celebrate the first ever “Harvey Milk Day” – thanks to the California State Legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s enactment of SB 572 last year, which declares every May 22nd Harvey Milk Day. "The mission of the Harvey B. Milk Foundation, a not-for profit charitable organization, is to provide opportunities that lift up the LGBT community along with other marginalized communities. The foundation will preserve, promote and apply the legacy and universal v

Equality Action Now and Contest Sponsor, Barnes & Noble at Arden Fair is hosting an essay and art contest to commemorate California’s first Harvey Milk Day, Saturday May 22, 2010. Harvey Milk Day was enacted and signed into law last October by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under the measure, May 22 is officially Harvey Milk Day in California, coinciding with Milk's birthday. While it is not a state holiday, schools are encouraged to hold lessons "remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognizing his accomplishments and familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state". Equality Action Now is a local grassroots civil rights organization and is leading the way in organizing S

A Single Man Directed by Tom Ford By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Colin Firth plays George Falconer, a professor in 1962 Los Angeles who loses his long time partner in a distant car wreck and struggles through the lonely aftermath, trying to get through each day without him. There’s nothing unique about losing a loved one but Falconer, as a gay man in that period, has only one person he can share his feelings with, his best friend Charley (Julianne Moore) with whom he also shares a complicated past. At work and in his daily life, he maintains a stoicism that hides the lost romance that was always hidden. “A Single Man” is based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood – the Chris of “Chris

It must have been a surreal experience for those on the RT at 10th and O streets to spot the likes of John Madden, Carol Burnett and George Lucas walking down the red carpet in their awards-show best at the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. Anyone who actually got off at the stop may have caught Burnett's signature Tarzan call or had a chance for Lucas to sign any surface capable to be written on. Dozens of others, however, thought ahead and brought glossy “Star Wars,” “Terminator” and sports stills for Lucas, Gov. Schwarzenegger and Madden to sign, respectively. The occasion for this "who’s who" of California’s best, 13 in all, was their induction into the state’s Hall

As a tribute Harvey Milk, the American politician and first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, the Lambda Players Studio Theatre will hold a readers theatre tribute to his life and legacy on his birthday, May 22. In 2008, Diversionary Theatre of San Diego commissioned Patricia Loughrey to write the tribute play Dear Harvey, which the Lambda Players premiered to Sacramento audiences last Thursday, May 14. The play shows the story of Milk's life through the people around him and shows how he influenced the lives of so many people. "Milk fought not only for gays and lesbians, but for minorities, the elderly, unions, public transit, health care and even dope smokers