Letter to President Jimmy Carter from Harvey Milk

Milk Letter

Harvey Milk wrote President Jimmy Carter asking him to speak out against Proposition 6, which would have banned gay men and lesbians from teaching or otherwise being employed by California school districts.

The initiative sponsored by state senator John Briggs was opposed by a number of leading politicians, including former Governor Ronald Reagan, and former President Gerald Ford.
The initiative was ultimately defeated at the polls in November 1978.

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

This document is being featured in conjunction with the National Archives’ National Conversation on Civil Rights and Individual Freedom.  Click here to see more related records.

The “National Conversation on Rights and Justice” in Chicago is presented in part by AT&T, Ford Foundation, Seedlings Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, and the National Archives Foundation.

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