Terminal 1 at San Francisco Airport is set to be renamed in honour of murdered LGBTIQ+ rights hero Harvey Milk.
Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the State of California after being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. The very next year he was assassinated alongside Mayor George Moscone by Dan White, another city supervisor.
The move comes five years after former city supervisor David Campos first proposed that the entire airport be named after Milk. However, Jeff Sheehy, one of the city's Budget and Finance Committee supervisors, said a "good compromise" had been reached in renaming Terminal 1.
“It’s a long time coming. It’s the gateway to San Francisco, and so recognising Harvey and making that connection to our community is appropriate. It's beautiful,” Sheehy told the San Francisco Examiner.
The legislation for the change states: "In order to honour one of the nation’s great gay leaders, raise awareness of the history of the LGBT movement, and give hope to young LGBT people in cities everywhere, the Board of Supervisors finds it fitting that a terminal at the San Francisco International Airport be named in honour of Harvey Milk."
There are now plans to commission artwork which memorialises Milk for the terminal by later this year.
