Continuing Milk's legacy: a quarter century after gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk was murdered in San Francisco, fellow activist Tom Ammiano may be elected mayor.

In November the city of San Francisco will commemorate the 25th anniversary of a terrible event: the assassination of Harvey Milk, a trail-blazing gay city supervisor, and George Moscone, the city's popular mayor. The two political allies and gay rights advocates were gunned down by former supervisor Dan White at City Hall on November 27, 1978.

Now, in what many gay rights activists are describing as a fitting tribute to Milk's political legacy, Tom Ammiano, one of Milk's fellow activists in the battle for gay rights in the 1970s, is a front-runner in the race for mayor of San Francisco. Furthermore, Ammiano, a city supervisor, shares the ballot with openly lesbian city treasurer Susan Leal. Recent polls, however, show both candidates running behind the leading contender, San Francisco supervisor Gavin Newsom.

On the eve of the November 4 election (a runoff will take place December 9 if none of the six candidates captures a majority), The Advocate spoke with Ammiano about the election and Milk's legacy.

How is the anniversary of Milk's assassination affecting the campaign?

It certainly makes this election very poignant and visceral for everyone involved. It shows the stakes of what we're trying to do. I think Harvey would have been happy to know that Susan Leal and I are running.

Milk was cut down in his prime. Would he have gone on to be mayor?

If not mayor, Congress. He talked a lot about running for the state legislature. He was always moving forward on gay civil rights, so I think he would have gone as far as the voters would have allowed. He was always aware that even as we made gains, others would try to push us back. With assimilation even gay people get complacent, and he would have been very concerned.

How well did you know Milk?

We were not intimate by any means. But he was very supportive of gay teachers, a cause I was involved in, in the early '70s. I remember one meeting we both attended. He met this very handsome teacher and ended up going home with him. The next time I saw him I told him how jealous I was. He was able to make politics fun.

Are there lessons to be learned from his murder?

There are dark forces even in San Francisco, and we have to be vigilant every day.

What did you learn from Milk about politics?

He was an activist at heart. He would have been very aggressive in fighting AIDS from day one. He was not a moralist by any stretch of the imagination, so I think he would have been able to connect with gay men on that level. He believed in public education and wanted to see the schools doing more to protect queer kids. That's something I feel strongly about too. He was also very aware, of class differences within the community, and he knew people of color often got left out.

What did you learn from Milk about appealing to nongay voters?

One of the great things about Harvey was the way in which he created allies and brought people together with different causes. My base goes way beyond the gay community. I work on homelessness, education, housing, supporting the antiwar movement. There are plenty of straight people who agree with my politics and plenty of gay people who don't. Once in a while I'll even come across someone who says, "Is Tom Ammiano gay?" It makes me want to faint. I mean, where have these people been?

What would it mean for you or Susan Leal to become the city's first openly gay or lesbian mayor?

It would mean the community would have another role model and spokesperson. And there is so much we can do on a practical level as well-fighting AIDS; making the city's schools safer for queer kids.