Join our Solidarity & Pride committee at our first movie night social! Please RSVP below.
Date: Friday, 16 Nov 2018
Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Society office (2239 Yonge Street, Toronto ON)
This event is free and open to Society members who identify as members of the LGBTQ2 community or as an ally. We're also inviting members from other labour unions who are doing work with their unions on LGBTQ2 issues. Drop in after work for pizza and conversation, we’ll get the movie started around 6:00pm.
We're going to watch the 2008 major motion picture Milk. Watch a trailer here.
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Milk is based on the true story of Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn), and his struggles as an American activist who fought for gay rights. In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.
The film charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood that was soon to become a haven for gay people from around the country.
With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. He seeks equal rights and opportunities for all, and his great love for the city and its people brings him backing from young and old, straight and gay, alike – at a time when prejudice and violence against gays was openly accepted as the norm. With vitalizing support from Scott and new friends and volunteers, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics.
Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5. Milk serves San Francisco well while lobbying for a citywide ordinance protecting people from being fired because of their orientation – and rallying support against a proposed statewide referendum to fire gay schoolteachers and their supporters. At the same time, the political agendas of Milk and those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin), increasingly diverge and their personal destinies tragically converge.
Milk’s platform was and is one of hope – a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now.