In January 2003, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez proposed establishing a donation drive to place a memorial to slain Supervisor Harvey Milk to honor Harvey's contributions to the City of San Francisco. As one of the nation's first openly-gay elected officials, and an unabashed radical, Harvey Milk transformed City Hall and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community in the historic moment of his election then galvanized it with the tragedy of his death.

The memorial will be similar in likeness to the bronze sculptures of historic figures and former San Francisco Mayors which grace the halls of San Francisco's resplendent City Hall. It is designed to incorporate this important historical figure into the art history of the City of San Francisco and the world as the first-ever depiction of an openly gay individual to be permanantly placed in a civic institution.