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Milk's killing probably awakened as many gay people as his election had. His death inspired many associates--most notably Cleve Jones, who later envisioned the greatest work of American folk art, the AIDS quilt. But while assassination offered Milk something then rare for openly gay men--mainstream empathy--it would have been thrilling to see how far he could have gone as a leader. He had sworn off gay bathhouses when he entered public life, and he may have eluded the virus that killed so many of his contemporaries. He could have guided gay America through the confused start of the AIDS horror. Instead, he remains frozen in time, a symbol of what gays can accomplish and the dangers they face in doing so.
John Cloud is a staff writer for TIME magazine and covers politics, crime and other social issues [BOX]
BORN May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, N.Y. 1951 Enlists in the Navy 1964 Campaigns for Barry Goldwater 1972 Moves to San Francisco with lover Scott Smith. They open a camera shop in the Castro, the emerging gay enclave 1973 Makes first run for city board of supervisors 1977 Wins seat, becoming the first openly gay elected official of any large city ASSASSINATED Nov. 27, 1978, by conservative former board member Dan White, whose light sentence sparks riots