Name: Harvey Milk
Age: 48 (at time of death)
But how did it happen?
I don’t know, Janet
Why not ask the internet?
“He was shot five times
On the street”
Oh my god,
Audible gasps ring through the room
It’s hard to imagine these are
The same people who whisper
He’s a fag in the locker rooms
He was the first openly gay elected official?
My lips are pressed tight.
Oh my god, I can’t believe that
I cannot bring myself to unclench my fists.
I want to shout at them
That they don’t have to pretend
They can speak their mind
To be honest,
They’d get away with it, too
That’s just the way it is,
With this school
Here’s the thing:
I don’t have a problem
With school teaching about this stuff
I have a problem
With the way the students react
As if they are not a part of the problem
I don’t endure being called
Dyke
or
Lesbo
Every single day
For you to then say
“I can’t believe they did that
To Harvey Milk”
I don’t keep quiet
When you call your friends
Faggots
So that you get to pretend
Like you give a shit about this
Do you know where the word
“Fag”
Comes from?
Probably not. Right?
Small history lesson:
A faggot was a bundle of sticks
They would use to burn
Gay people in the medieval times
We didn’t even get a stake
Because we were not worthy enough
Being gay was worse than
Being a witch in that time
Maybe you’ve heard about
The Stonewall riots
Maybe you haven’t
And yet, still, you go to the pride parade
With your friends, ever summer
It’s so much!
Gay people are the best!
There’s just one thing you always forget
First pride was a riot
First pride was a riot
First pride was a riot
You don’t seem to be aware of that.
So here is my piece of advice:
Before you start feeling bad for us
And apologizing about the deaths
Take a look at your own life.
Think about the things you have done,
You have said.
Think about how that might have an effect
On us.
Reevaluate.
Apologize for your own actions,
Not for the actions of others.