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Queer Power Hour

REVISITING THE GAY LIFE: e02: The Life (and Afterlife) of Harvey Milk

Elaine Gay Jarvis
/
GLBT Historical Society
Supervisor Harvey Milk at the 1978 Gay Freedom Day March in San Francisco (a.k.a. The SF Pride Parade)

In this episode of Revisiting The Gay Life, we consider the life and afterlife of Harvey Milk, who was one of the key figures of what was then called the Gay Liberation Movement, as well as the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to public office.

Revisiting The Gay Life is a new 12-episode series from KALW’s Queer Power Hour. It explores a pivotal moment in SF’s LGBTQ history — from the rise of Harvey Milk to the early days of what would later be called AIDS.

We reconsider this time through a perhaps unexpected lens: a radio show called The Gay Life that aired on KSAN, a commercial rock and roll station in the Bay Area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Revisiting The Gay Life is produced by KALW Public Media in collaboration with the GLBT Historical Society and The Gay Life's longtime host Randy Alfred.

LIVE EVENT: July 15th, 2026
Join us for Out on the Air, a live conversation about the history of LGBTQ radio on July 15th at 7pm at KALW’s community event space at 220 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco.

David Boyer is KALW's Executive Producer of New Programming and former Managing Editor of KALW News. He is also the producer/host of the Murrow Award winning podcast THE INTERSECTION, which looks at our changing cities, one street corner at a time.