Jack Lira Jr (May 5, 1953-Aug 28, 1978) was an American gay rights activist who was one of the lovers of Harvey Milk during the 1970s.
Biography[]
Lira on the news with Milk after his victory
Jack Lira came from Mexico, but his father beat him when he discovered that his son was gay, leading to Lira heading for San Francisco in the US state of California. He settled in The Castro, where he met the gay activist Harvey Milk and began a relationship with him after drunkenly approaching his office and asking him if he was more like the fast Palomino horse or a stallion ("with big balls", as Lira described it). Lira and Milk spent the night together and became partners, and Lira was there for Milk's celebration of his victory in the 1977 Board of Supervisors election against Rick Stokes. Lira appeared on the news with Milk, and he walked side-by-side with him during his march to be inaugarated as a supervisor by Mayor George Moscone in 1978. However, Lira grew disillusioned with Milk's political life, as he hated Milk's activist friends; he once locked himself in a closet after being humiliated by being in the same room as the activists for twenty minutes. The last straw for Lira was Milk being late to come home at 6:00 PM, and Lira left notes across the house, with his last note being "You always liked the circus, Harvey. How do you like my last act?". He hanged himself, and his body was discovered by Milk later that night.