US Postal Service to issue stamp this week honoring gay rights pioneer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Postal Service will dedicate its Harvey Milk stamp during a ceremony at the White House on Thursday.

The event coincides with the first day the Postal Service plans to issue the stamp, which honors one of the nation’s gay rights pioneers.

Another ceremony is set for May 28 in San Francisco.

Milk won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming one of the nation’s first openly gay elected officials.

The Postal Service said in a statement that Milk’s achievements “gave hope and confidence to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination.”

A former colleague of Milk’s assassinated him and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in November 1978, less than a year after Milk took office.

Customers in the U.S. can order the stamp at the USPS website and receive it on the release date.

© 2014, The Washington Post

Recommended: President of Costa Rica raises LGBT flag over Casa Presidencial

Also, see: Dismantling Costa Rica’s lesbian and gay closet