SALT LAKE CITY — City and LGBT community leaders have announced a proposal to rename 900 South as "Harvey Milk Boulevard" after the fallen LGBT activist.
The proposal was unveiled Saturday during a fundraiser for Equality Utah. The LGBT advocacy group has been working with Salt Lake City Councilman Stan Penfold and Mayor Ralph Becker for about a year to rename the street.
"Harvey is a true pioneer and icon. He encouraged all people to share their lives openly and to build coalitions with other groups," Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams said Monday. "Our hope is by naming a prominent downtown street after him, we'll send a message to all LGBT Utahns that they have value, they're loved and, like Harvey, they too can change the world."
Milk became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. in 1977 when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in California. He spoke openly of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and helped pass the city's nondiscrimination ordinance, but his career was cut short when he was assassinated about a year after he took office.
Williams said 900 South is fitting because it's near other streets already named after civil rights leaders, including Rosa Parks Boulevard (200 East), Cesar Chavez Boulevard (500 South) and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (600 South).
The City Council placed a moratorium on renaming streets in 2006 to craft a policy, but Penfold said that moratorium is unofficial and not legally binding. Penfold, the first openly gay member of the Salt Lake City Council, said he expects the street to be renamed by the end of the year.
"We hope it helps people know locally that regardless of who they are, they're valued as people and that they, too, have opportunities to change the world," he said. "The importance of the (street's) visibility is to let people know locally that they're not alone and that somebody stuck their neck out for you at some point."
Penfold, who is also executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation, said he expects the City Council to consider to the proposal in October or November.
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