News broke Thursday that slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk is among the 16 "agents of change" who will be awarded the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom .
Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city, will be posthumously bestowed the country's highest civilian honor by President Barack Obama in an Aug. 12 ceremony. Milk was killed by a fellow San Francisco supervisor in 1978, and his life story was the subject of a 2008 Academy Award-winning film.
The White House lauded Milk as "revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights."
But when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill last year that would have created a day of remembrance in California for Milk, he said the late San Franciscan "should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions."
He may get another chance.
Another bill to designate May 22 "Harvey Milk Day" to honor Milk passed in the Senate earlier this year. The bill, SB 572, is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor has no position on the current bill until he sees it.
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