Sean Penn set to lobby for Harvey Milk Day

I am very proud of Sean Penn.

The two-time Oscar winner, the first to win an Academy Award for portraying a gay man with a sex life (sorry Tom Hanks!), Penn spoke eloquently for LGBT rights in his acceptance speech. Now I see that the actor will be by State Senator Mark Leno’s side later today when Leno introduces a bill designating Harvey Milk’s birthday a “day of significance in California.” Milk was one of the state’s first elected openly gay politicians.

The bill designates May 22 as “a day of special significance in California,” in which public schools would be encouraged “to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on Milk’s life and his contributions to the state,” according to a news release.

Leno introduced the bill last year only to have Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the same bill last year saying that Milk should be honored in San Francisco but not statewide. The governor has also vetoed same-sex marriage bills more than once. It seems his only positive gesture toward the LGBT community was his not being in favor of Proposition 8.