To celebrate LGBT History month I’ve asked writers, historians an scientists to write about interesting queer people who now reside in our cemeteries and crematoriums.

To start us off, I’m thrilled to have a blog post from Loren Rhoads, author of ‘199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die‘ and ‘Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel‘. She blogs about graveyards as travel destinations at CemeteryTravel.com.

Visionary civil and human rights leader Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930 in Woodmere, New York.

His Lithuanian-immigrant grandfather owned Milk’s Dry Goods, which became the largest department store on Long Island, and sponsored the first local synagogue.

Although Harvey Milk knew he was gay in high school — where he sang in the opera and played football — he followed in his parents’ footsteps and joined the United States Navy in 1951. Milk served as…