Earlier, I did a write up on the 1984 Academy Award winning documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk. Last night I watched the biopic Milk.

The film was roundly hailed by critics and won Sean Penn Best Actor awards at the Austin Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

The film went on to be nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Director for Gus Van Sant and Best Motion Picture, ultimately winning both Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) and Best Actor (Sean Penn).

The long production history of the film dates back to 1991 when Oliver Stone planned to produce a biopic about Harvey Milk. In 1992, Gus Van Sant was signed to direct Robin Williams in the role of Harvey Milk. Thankfully, that version didn't come to pass. No offense to Mr. Williams, but Sean Penn utterly dominates this role.

Milk begins with a montage of archival footage showing police raids on gay bars through the 1960's. Then it cuts to New York City in 1970 as Milk meets a young Scott Smith (James Franco) on the eve of his 40th birthday.

The two spend the evening together and when Scott points out that it is now past midnight and Milk is officially 40, Harvey bemoans the fact that he hasn't done anything to make himself proud. Scott suggests that Milk needs a change and this is our cue to cut to San Francisco as the two settle into owning and operating a camera store in the Castro district.

Milk soon becomes an openly gay activist and thereafter begins his many runs for government office. Losing his bids for city supervisor in 1973 and 1975, Milk makes a run at the California State Assembly in 1976. This, too, fails. The silver lining is that each time Milk garners more and more votes.

In 1977, Milk is finally triumphant and wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Here Milk comes in contact with Dan White (Josh Brolin).

The film is perfectly cast with everyone delivering amazingly passionate and convincing performances. Praise should go to both Josh Brolin and Denis O'Hare (portraying State Senator John Briggs author of the Briggs Initiative aka Proposition 6) for playing characters that are the antagonists and imbuing them with full characterization instead of simply demonizing them and making them easily dismissed "evil people".

When lingers when watching this film is the lack of cathartic release. When one watches something like Amistad one can easily say "Thank God slavery was outlawed." Even though it took until the 1960's to pass voting and civil rights acts, the fact is that today in America we don't have segregated buildings, bathrooms, water fountains, etc.

When watching Milk, one is reminded that we haven't come far at all when it comes to gay rights. While the film deals with Prop 6, California courts are deciding Prop 8. While the Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled that a state law defining marriage as being limited to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection, anti-gay activists are hunkering down and figuring out how to fight it.

We don't have equal rights for gays and lesbians in America today...and that is both tragic and pathetic. Harvey Milk died believing that we were on the cusp of a new world filled with peace and equality. 31 years later, we aren't much closer to achieving his dream.

As I noted in the article on The Times of Harvey Milk, Brazilian actor Marco Ribeiro who has dubbed Sean Penn into Portuguese for various films refused to do so for Milk saying he didn't feel comfortable with the job. Ribeiro is a pastor in the conservative protestant God's Assembly Church and apparently is quoted on the church website claiming that families with same sex parents are a "distortion".

Milk ascribed his success at defeating Prop 6 to showing Californians that gays are just people, too. Not evil. Just people who have the same desires and deserve the same rights as anyone else.

Hopefully, Milk will open more eyes and continue Harvey's work. Maybe it will show more people that there is no valid reason to persecute homosexuals. That America is supposed to be about equality for all. Regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, color, or religion.

And hopefully it will give young people struggling to come to terms with their sexuality some hope. For themselves and for the future.