Republican state Rep. Trevor Lee says he wants to get rid of Harvey Milk Boulevard — or 900 South through the heart of Salt Lake City — and rename the road for Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot and killed earlier this month at an appearance at Utah Valley University.
The Salt Lake City Council voted in 2016 to name the street in honor of the gay rights icon. Milk was an early champion of LGBTQ+ rights, became a supervisor on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was murdered in 1978.
Lee, a Layton Republican whose district is about 30 miles north of Harvey Milk Boulevard, initially set his sights on removing Milk’s name from the 20-block stretch, posting on social media in June that he intends to sponsor legislation to remove Milk’s name from the street after the U.S. Navy decided to remove Milk’s name from a vessel.
This week, Lee posted on X that, rather than just removing Milk’s name, he intends to sponsor a bill to name the stretch after Kirk.
Lee could not be reached by The Salt Lake Tribune, but in an interview with KUTV, he said Milk is not relevant to Utah and he feels that the name is the result of “activists who are trying to push something and an agenda and most people don’t like that or agree with it.”
Lee said he chose Harvey Milk Boulevard for the change “because it had already been renamed to someone who has no relevance to Utah whatsoever, it makes it a really easy street to go and say, ‘Hey, this is one that could be for Charlie Kirk Boulevard.”
Former Salt Lake City councilman Stan Penfold, who sponsored the ordinance to name the road after Milk, said Lee’s proposed name change “just feels so spiteful.”
“It seems like if he wants to do a Charlie Kirk thing, Orem seems really receptive or UVU. Why this?” Penfold said. “There are lots of places you could do that where I think it would be significant and people would welcome it. But instead you’re making this a war? … It seems so unnecessary.”
Penfold said he has been “amazed” at how the community has embraced Harvey Milk Boulevard and how residents and businesses up and down the corridor identify with it.
“I didn’t expect that when we were going through the process, but clearly it is important,” he said. “It’s important to this community. It’s important, not just to the LGBTQ community, but it’s important to the city. It’s important to the residents.”
Troy Williams, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Utah, said the state and country need leaders who are “bridge builders and peacemakers.”
“We’re all weary of conflict entrepreneurs who go online to stoke division and strife,” Williams said, employing a phrase — “conflict entrepreneurs” — that Gov. Spencer Cox used in the aftermath of the Kirk shooting.
“Utah’s best politicians are builders not arsonists,” Williams said. “Harvey Milk was a true builder, and we will preserve and protect his legacy in Salt Lake City.”
Earlier this year, Lee sponsored legislation that banned Pride flags and other flags from being displayed on public buildings. He has criticized Utah sports teams for posting messages on social media in support of Pride Month and has called Pride Month “satanic” on a social media account under a fake name.
Unlike 700 East, State Street and other thoroughfares through Salt Lake City, Harvey Milk Boulevard is not a state road. Utah law gives cities the authority to name municipal “streets, courts, parks, thoroughfares and other public places” in their jurisdiction.