Los Angeles Times

Activist replaced slain supervisor

He was appointed after Harvey Milk’s assassinat­ion

- Associated press

Harry Britt, who took up the mantle for Harvey Milk after his assassinat­ion in San Francisco, dies at 82.

Harry Britt, who replaced assassinat­ed San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and over 14 years fought for progressiv­e and gay rights measures, has died. He was 82.

Britt died Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A onetime Methodist minister, Britt worked with Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official, on his campaigns. Britt was also gay and appointed to the board in 1979 after the 1978 fatal shooting of Milk and then-Mayor George

Moscone by former Supervisor Dan White.

Britt wrote the nation’s first comprehens­ive domestic-partner legislatio­n, which was passed more than a decade later, the Chronicle said.

He also fought against the AIDS epidemic and for expanding rent control, and increasing civilian oversight of police and limiting downtown growth. He left the Board of Supervisor­s in 1993.

“Harry was progressiv­e before the word became vogue,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who appointed Britt after she became mayor. “He was a powerful advocate for the gay community who never took no for an answer.”

As mayor, Feinstein vetoed Britt’s bid to allow domestic partners of city workers to collect benefits and to expand rent control to vacant apartments.

In 1987, Britt ran for Congress but lost to current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he accused of being too conservati­ve.

Pelosi called Britt “a leader who carried forth the mission of Harvey Milk while building his own beautiful legacy of progress for all people in our city.”

“Harry Britt was a pioneer in the LGBTQ community’s entry into electoral politics,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “Harry helped create political space for people like me to serve in elected office.”

 ?? Paul Sakuma Associated Press ?? ‘BEAUTIFUL LEGACY OF PROGRESS’ Supervisor Harry Britt, center, walks down San Francisco’s Castro Street with two friends on what would have been Harvey Milk’s 49th birthday in 1979.
Paul Sakuma Associated Press ‘BEAUTIFUL LEGACY OF PROGRESS’ Supervisor Harry Britt, center, walks down San Francisco’s Castro Street with two friends on what would have been Harvey Milk’s 49th birthday in 1979.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States