January 15th, 2013
That would be SFO’s new name if this proposal passes the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and is approved by voters:
Supervisor David Campos will introduce legislation Tuesday that would place the proposal to rename San Francisco International Airport as Harvey Milk San Francisco International Airport before voters in November. To send the name change to voters, Campos needs the support of five other supervisors, and Monday he already had four co-sponsors.
Campos said about 80 other U.S. airports are already named for individuals, none of whom are gay, and that SFO – which moves 40 million passengers annually, including 9 million international travelers – has a particularly high profile. He believes it would cost between $50,000 and $250,000 to implement, citing the cost other cities have incurred to do the same, but said he hopes to attract private donations to fund the change.
Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, supports the proposed change:
“When you think of the 9 million international visitors, coming from many of the 77 countries where it’s still illegal to be LGBT – people forget that there are still 77 countries where it’s criminal to be who you are,” he said. “To be in Dubai, and see on the board a flight that ends at Harvey Milk San Francisco International Airport, or to be a young Pakistani, in a country where it is illegal to be gay, look up and see the name of a gay icon and feel, ‘I am not alone’ – it resonates back to my uncle and the calls he got from places like Altoona, Pa., when he was elected.”
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jpeckjr
January 15th, 2013
My respect and appreciation for Harvey Milk is boundless. But I think this is a terrible idea. The current name works fine in describing the airport.
But if the Supervisors insist on naming the airport after an LGBT hero, I’d prefer the Martin-Lyon San Francisco International Airport, after Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, whose contributions to LGBT rights are, well, noteworthy, to say the least. They were San Franciscans, married in City Hall, by the mayor, the first same-sex couple to marry in California when the law allowed it. They are under-honored for decades of consistent work for equality.
Might I also suggest Stuart Milk overestimates the power of a monitor, which will probably use the three-letter designation — SFO — or the city’s full name. I fly regularly into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but the monitor says ATL or Atlanta.
Mark F.
January 15th, 2013
Seems silly to me. Nobody is going to cal it “Harvey Milk Airport,” whatever the “official” name is.
james
January 15th, 2013
Does “Milk International” sound like a global dairy conglomerate to anyone besides me?
Rich Poppen
January 15th, 2013
Mark F.: I’m not so sure. It took a while, but a *lot* of people call Orange County Airport “John Wayne”, even though it’s the only commercial airport in Orange County.
Bob Chapman
January 16th, 2013
Supervisor Milk wasn’t the only person shot that day. Mayor Moscone has a convention center named after him. It is about time the other person shot is remembered. After all, if San José can name an airport after someone, why can’t San Francisco?
johnson
January 16th, 2013
No matter what, it’ll always be “S-F-O”
Coxhere
January 17th, 2013
I was pissed when, overnight, Houston Intercontinental Airport was being called “Houston Bush.”
This article says that SF residents would have to vote for the name change at SFO. Well, I was a resident of Houston at the time, and I certainly did not get to vote against changing Houston’s international airport to “Bush.” I still refuse to call it that. To me, it’s still Houston Intercontinental. Period.
I hope that SFO becomes Harvey Milk International. I’d love that!
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