California governor Gavin Newsom has condemned an “offensive” statement from an “ignorant” school board president who called Harvey Milk a “pedophile” during a book ban debate. The bigoted remark occurred when the Temecula Valley School Board in California voted to reject a social studies textbook with supplemental materials that contained information about Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the state and a pioneering LGBTQ+ rights activist. The school board voted 3-2 on 16 May to reject the books, but it only began receiving attention this week after local news outlets reported on the members’ remarks. During the vote, two members of the school board said they opposed any mention of Milk in the textbook’s supplemental material and made the accusation that the LGBTQ+ rights icon was a “pedophile”. Another member who voted against the inclusive book denounced the discussion of LGBTQ+ people in a book meant for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Temecula Valley School Board president Dr. Joseph Komrosky was among those who voted against the materials and made the bigoted accusations against Milk. Harvey Milk made history as the first openly gay man in the US to be elected to public office when he was voted onto San Francisco’s Board of city supervisors in 1977. #Queer Up Education