I am writing to express my strong opposition to HB196, a proposal to rename Harvey Milk Boulevard in Salt Lake City after Charlie Kirk.
Although I now live in Illinois, Salt Lake City is my hometown. It is where I grew up, where my Mormon ancestors first trekked to in 1847, and where I first learned what it meant to be part of a community. I am also a member of the LGBTQ community, and the naming of Harvey Milk Boulevard meant something deeply personal to many of us who spent our lives in Utah feeling out of place.
Harvey Milk was a civil rights pioneer who valiantly stood for the simple idea that LGBTQ people deserve dignity, safety, and equal treatment under the law. Naming a street after him was not about politics; it was about acknowledging that queer Utahns exist and that our lives have value.
Charlie Kirk, by contrast, was a highly polarizing political activist who built his career attacking LGBTQ rights, questioning our legitimacy, and encouraging hostility toward our community. Replacing Milk’s name with Kirk’s is not neutral, and it is not harmless. It sends a clear message to LGBTQ Utahns that their government is willing to erase their history and replace it with someone who openly opposes their existence.
Street names should be reflective of shared civic values and enduring societal contributions, not as tools for ideological point-scoring. Utah has a long tradition of respecting faith, family, and community — values that are better honored by recognizing someone who fought for human dignity than by rewarding a culture-war provocateur.
HB196 would transform a symbol of inclusion into a symbol of division. Salt Lake City deserves better than that.
Ryan D. Curtis, West Frankfort, Illinois
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