Milk was the first openly gay person and first gay man to win office in California when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Harvey Milk Promenade Park is part of the last phase of The Promenade Master Plan, funded by the former Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, that has led the way to pedestrian-oriented improvements between Ocean Boulevard at the Long Beach Convention Center to the north side of Third Street to revitalize an under-used three-block area downtown. “I certainly couldn’t be here as an openly-gay elected official if it wasn’t for all the incredible work for the people in front of me, around me and certainly Mr. Vice Mayor Robert Garcia said Milk and others locally like him stood up for equality and inclusion, and because of them, society is at a turning point that would not have otherwise been possible. Others, like some of the first participants in the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade 30 years ago, wore bulletproof vests to guard against threats to their lives. LONG BEACH - The country has changed since the days of Harvey Milk, officials said Tuesday as they gathered for the opening of the first park in the nation named for the gay rights pioneer.ĭignitaries shared memories of a time decades ago when homosexuals were consigned to a mental institution, or forced to submit to electric shock treatment, simply because they were gay. Galleries: Long Beach celebrates first park in nation named for Harvey Milk