22 May: Harvey Milk Day

Today is Harvey Milk Day. In 1978, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors — making him the first openly gay elected official in the state of California. Milk was assassinated in November 1978. Here are 10 quotes from him:

1. Unless you have dialogue, unless you open the walls of dialogue, you can never reach to change people’s opinion.

2. To sit on the front steps — whether it’s a veranda in a small town or a concrete stoop in a big city — and to talk to our neighbourhoods is infinitely more important than to huddle on the living-room lounger and watch a make-believe world in not-quite living colour.

3. If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.

4. Hope will never be silent.

5. Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

6. I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.

7. Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.

8. Politics is theater. It doesn’t matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, I’m here, pay attention to me.

9. Go after her because that’s what you should do if you love someone.

10. We must understand that the quality of life is more important than the standard of living.

Character birthday

Nadir, aka Nadia Ogilvy. A weak, weedy child, Nadia was often bullied by her classmates. At home, she was somewhat spoiled by her rich parents. She grew up respecting no-one save her older brother, Tristram. She looked up to him and as a teen, would do anything he asked. Hence when he wanted to test out a potion he'd developed which he hoped would give him special powers, he asked Nadia to drink it to see if it worked.

The potion worked and Nadia became a super-athlete. She joined forces with her brother to kill their grandfather, who had left them a fortune in his will.

Nadir still believes her brother wanted to do her a favour by giving her the potion – she doesn't realise he used her as a guinea pig.