The California Senate has just passed legislation that creates Harvey Milk Day in California in honor of the state's first openly gay elected official.

The slain civil rights leader will be honored yearly on May 22nd, his birthday.

“Harvey Milk is an inspiration to Californians who believe in fairness and equality,” says Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who authored the bill. “He fought for many of the issues we value today, including access to education, public transportation, affordable housing and protecting the environment. Harvey Milk gave his life for what he believed in, and with that courage and sacrifice he gave hope to an entire generation of gay and lesbian people whose basic humanity and freedom had been denied and dishonored."

Harvey Milk settled in the Castro district of San Francisco in 1972, where he and his partner opened a camera store. Fives years later, Milk became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California and only the third openly gay elected official in the nation.

During his short political career, Milk fought for social change and championed many issues, including access to education, affordable public transportation, low-income housing and civil rights. His fundamental belief that all people should be treated with respect paved the way for the populist movement he pioneered for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. His legacy continues to inspire the LGBT community to this day.

Milk, who was a San Francisco Supervisor, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated on November 27, 1978.

May 22, 2009 marks what would have been Harvey Milk’s 79th birthday

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