Shortly after the buzz about the passing of Proposition 8 dominated the talk show circuit, audiences around the country were introduced to the story of slain gay-rights icon, Harvey Milk and his memorable cry: "I am Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you."

On Sunday, "Milk" won two of the eight Academy Awards it was nominated for -- best actor and best original screenplay.

In his acceptance speech, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black recalled his childhood in a Mormon home and the first time he heard Milk's story.

"It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am," said Black at the 81st Academy Awards. "And then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married," said the first-time nominee and writer on HBO's hit series "Big Love."

But the recently praised film "Milk," directed by Gus Van Sant, has left some in the gay community questioning the way some people in the 70s gay-rights movement were portrayed or completely excluded from the first feature depiction of Milk.

More than 80 people gathered in the GLBT Historical Society on Feb. 19 to discuss Harvey Milk the history versus Milk the fable at the event titled: Milk Skimmed.

Coordinator of the group discussion, Don Romesburg, helped put together this second annual themed dialogue series. Last year's focus was "Passing on the Pen," aimed at generational conversations between queer authors of past generations and those up-and-coming. This year's series is titled "Talking Back" where people will discuss how history has marginalized queer icons of color, lower income and of those in the transgender community.

"History tends to be collected by the white, wealthy, male people. So they get represented more. Even in our archives," said Romesburg. "This is a chance to discuss the groups and individuals who the media find to be not as bankable."

The standing room only space included at least a dozen people who were present and active during the White Night Riots, a violent reaction that came after the murderer of Harvey Milk. Dan White was convicted of manslaughter instead of murder after using the now infamous Twinkie Defense.

One of the speakers of the night, Ruth Mahaney, held up a shirt with an illustration of the White Night Riots and a burning police car with text that read: We Will Not Apologize. The crowd cheered in support of the shirt's statement.

Mahaney, a current and former professor at many Bay Area colleges, including SF State, posed the question regarding where all the women and lesbians were in the picture "Milk." She noted that the makers of the film boiled down the hundreds of females involved in Milk's efforts and other gay initiatives into the lone lesbian representation in the film, Anne Kronenberg.

Mahaney even shared her personal conversations with Milk and the parades they marched in with floods of active lesbians and bi-sexuals. But the women were rarely photographed because they often marched together in the middle of the crowd rather than the males who occupied the front.

Another speaker at the event was Dr. Tomás Almaguer, Ethnic Studies professor at SF State. He discussed the way latinos and other gays of color were portrayed as hyper-feminine was a strike against the strides the media has made thus far.

"The representation of latino men could be made more complex," said Almaguer.

He also expressed that Milk's message didn't ring as strongly with him, even though he was in the Bay Area around the time the Supervisor was active. Almaguer said that this was partially because he was more active in Chicano initiatives and because, at the time, he was a closeted married man.

Several people in the audience got a chance to tell the crowd about their memories of Milk and the climate of San Francisco in the late 70s.

"Some people forget that in the 70s, the Castro was a ghetto," said Demian Quesnel, Castro resident since 1971. "We were being beaten up in the Mission. We were being beaten up on the fringe of the neighborhood. It was a the definition of a ghetto."

Joshua Gamson, sociology professor at USF, agreed with the other speakers by expressing how much he enjoyed the movie but that he felt "it wasn't made for me."
Gamson felt that straight individuals have reacted more strongly to this tale than many in the gay community.

Gamson also added that the portrayal of all gay people in the film was one-dimensional.
"[In the movie] gay people don't just share a common enemy, but also a common identity."

Gwenn Craig, one of the co-chairs for No on Proposition 6 in 1978, talked to the group about how the movie glossed over the non-gay members who were active in getting Milk elected and fighting Proposition 6. She said it would be a disservice for people to think that it only took the gay community to get Milk elected.

"Harvey worked to get all of the have-nots to get together," said Craig. "Some of the things that were left out of the movie are things that we should hold dear."

Every speaker admitted that the movie couldn't be held up to a standard of telling everyone's version of the story, but that engaging in discussions, such as Milk Skimmed, help inform and pressure storytellers to strive to tell complete stories as often as possible.

Randy Alfred, a member of the GLBT Historical Society, shared his appreciation that even though all the people present saw the same movie, they each got something different from the tale.

"Everything I've heard tonight has a truth to it."