A Conversation with Stuart Milk: Global LGBT rights in the 21st century, with open Q&A

The LGBTQ+ Staff Network at the University of Westminster are very proud to welcome Stuart Milk on the afternoon of Thursday 1st December, World Aids Day, for an informal interview and open Q&A hosted by Maggie Lee.

Stuart is a global LGBT rights activist and political speaker. The nephew of the late Harvey Milk, he is the founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, an organisation engaging in domestic (US) and international activism, including work with LGBT movements in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, and was sworn in in January 1978. Ten months later, on November 27th 1978, he was assassinated in his office by his political rival, Dan White, alongside then Mayor of San Francisco, George Moscone. White was tried for first-degree murder, but in 1979 was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter as a result of diminished capability, the lightest possible conviction for his actions.

The verdict sparked a great deal of anger in the LGBT community in San Francisco, and lead to the White Night Riots, the largest protests by gay Americans since the Stonewall Riots of 1969, credited as being the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement in the United States. The unpopular verdict also led to a change in California state law that ended the diminished-capacity defence.

Harvey’s life has been immortalised in the films The Times of Harvey Milk and Milk.

Stuart continues the work of his uncle and keeps Harvey’s legacy alive through tireless international campaigning for LGBT rights. He has given major formal addresses on multiple continents, including to the House of Lords, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the Panamanian National Assembly, and the Turkish Grand Assembly. He is frequently quoted in international news and seen on broadcast television, and is also a featured writer for the Huffington Post, focussing on human rights.

In a rare break from his busy schedule, we are lucky enough to have Stuart to ourselves for the afternoon, so do please register to come along.