575 Castro Street is the location of what once was gay rights activist Harvey Milk's Castro Camera store. The shop would get daily calls from struggling youths who were trying to come to terms with their sexuality. "He would say (to the callers), 'You've got to have hope,'" said Anne Kronenberg, Milk's campaign manager. The Trevor Project--a nonprofit that provides suicide prevention and crisis counseling to GLBT youth-- opened a call center in the back of the Human Rights Campaign store that now occupies Milk's former office space. "It's probably very similar to Harvey in that we listen to them without judgement and try to figure out what's going on with them at that time," interim executive director David McFarland said. Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the film "Milk," came up with the idea for the center with gay rights activist Cleve Jones about six months ago, Black said. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and state Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, were on hand yesterday to present the Harvey Milk call center with proclamations of commendation from the city and state. "This proclamation thanks the Trevor Project for all the lives they have saved," Leno said. That they're doing it at Harvey's old desk really moves the spirit."
· Harvey Milk's Former Office Becomes Suicide Prevention Center [SF Appeal]
· photo via Amoeba
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