Film: MILK (2009) - Strongly Recommend

Sean Penn's acting is masterful, but it is the true story of the gay rights activism of Harvey Milk that makes this a meaningful film to watch. What is documented is the fight in 1970 and 80s San Fransisco for gay rights to be respected within a culture where the sexual bias of the heterosexual majority has the possibility of being formulated into religious and cultural laws of what is "normal" or "acceptable." The highlight of the film is Milk's campaign victory to vote down a "bigot" bill in California that would allow all schools to fire teachers for being homosexuals.

In the 2010s in the USA, it is hard to think of such a bill being passed in a referendum, so that shows how far gay rights activists have come since the 1970s. Personally, I have never been directly part of the gay rights movement, but have always supported protection of rights for sexual minorities. As activists in the film argue, if society cannot respect freedom of personal choice in one case (provided it has no harm to others), how can we expect to keep freedoms in other cases?

I will admit that gay kissing or sex scenes such as the few that appear in this film feel strange to me as a heterosexual, but I have no reason to oppose it and don't think religions should either. I think societies of the world (including all religious groups) have much more important things to worry about. Also, it has taken the world a long time to admit this (and some people still deny it), but based on what gay people testify, and what scientific evidence seems to show, a homosexual orientation is not a psychological or physical abnormality that needs to be fixed or suppressed. See this statement by the American Association of Pediatrics, which includes the quote: "the current literature and most scholars in the field state that one’s sexual orientation is not a choice; that is, individuals do not choose to be homosexual or heterosexual...current studies conclude that somewhere between 3% and 10% of the adult population is gay or lesbian, and perhaps a larger percentage is bisexual..

I strongly recommend this film. If nothing else, we should to deepen our understanding about the fragility of justice in democratic societies where a biased majority can use the voting system make laws to reject the rights of a minority. If we don't accept sexual minorities, what minority group is next?