- Anachronisms: As marchers leave the Castro and pull the trolley pole off a PCC streetcar, it has the destination sign "F Market". The F-Market line was not put into operation by SF Muni until September 1, 1995 as a tourist line between the Castro and the Embarcadero.
- Anachronisms: When Harvey Milk moves from New York City to San Francisco, a shot of Highway 280 shows the modern freeway signs (bright green, with exit numbers) instead of the 1970s versions of the signs (darker green, no exit numbers).
- Continuity: During one of the elections, the characters discuss losing Imperial County and marking it on the wall board only after we'd seen the shot of them already marking it.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Late in the movie, while making a speech Harvey quotes the saying on the Statue of Liberty as being, in part, "Your huddled masses yearning to be free". The actual quote is: "Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free".
- Factual errors: At the end of the film the title cards claim that Dan White's lawyers claimed that his consumption of junk food had caused a chemical imbalance in his brain. In reality, White's lawyers claimed that his massive consumption of junk food was a symptom, not a cause, of his depression. Psychologists employed by White's defense argued that he was clinically depressed, and pointed to several changes in behavior, among them the consumption of mass quantities of junk food. One of these psychologists claimed, as an aside, that the food may have contributed to White's mood swings, but it was never claimed that they caused his mental problems.
- Anachronisms: During rally scenes in the San Francisco Civic Center, the old and new San Francisco Public Library buildings are visible in the background. The Pei Cobb Freed designed New Main Branch Library was not built until 1995
- Continuity: Scott is seen swimming underwater in David Goodstein's pool. In the next shot, his head is out of the water, but his frizzy hair is dry.
- Continuity: In the scene where Scott leaves Harvey, Scott pets the family dog who is sitting in an easy chair and exits. Immediately after, we see Harvey pacing the room, and the chair is empty. He sits down in the chair opposite a second later, and the dog is back,in the same position as before.
- Continuity: During Milk's speech in front of City Hall (after he received the threatening postcard) the microphone he uses switches between two different types.
- Anachronisms: In the scene where Milk and allies dispose of Coors Beer, contemporary Bud Light and Budweiser taps are clearly seen in the bar.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Dan White (Josh Brolin) is sitting shirtless looking out the window while contemplating his murderous deed, you can clearly see Josh's tattoo on his right shoulder blade. Dan White did have a tattoo, but it was a shamrock on his arm.
- Anachronisms: During one of the first scenes in the camera shop, a Kodak cardboard is on the shelf. The Kodak logo is one of the newer logos that was not designed yet in the 1970's. Kodak has changed its corporate logo of the "K" several times.
- Continuity: When the mayor is about to sign the ordinance, the pen is in his left hand and it's evident from here and later in the movie that he's left-handed. However, when the camera focuses in on him actually signing his name, it's obvious that the signer is right-handed.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: A scene shows Harvey Milk in the opera house during the last act of 'Tosca'. In the next scene (the next day) he says he saw Bidu Sayao (late Brazilian soprano) the night before. While Ms. Sayao never sang the role of 'Tosca', Harvey was actually referring to his date, Bidu Sayao - not anyone on stage.
- Continuity: When Scott and Harvey are lying in bed together in the beginning of the film, Scott tells Harvey he is going to get fat. The scene is shown again at the end of the film, but this time Scott tells Harvey he is going to be a "fat ass."
- Anachronisms: During a scene where Harvey Milk and Jack Lira with a group of people stroll down Polk Street in the San Francisco Civic Center, the Civic Center Courthouse building is visible in the left background. In 1978, the San Francisco Superior Court was located on the fourth floor of City Hall. The Civic Center Courthouse designed by Hood Miller Associates and Ross Drulis Architects was not built until late 1997.
- Anachronisms: In the scene where Harvey Milk mounts a soapbox, in the distance you can see a U.S. Postal Service vehicle that was not manufactured until the late 1980s. It disappears in the next shot of that background - which comes about two sentences later.
- Factual errors: During the baptism of Dan White's son Charles, there are two godfathers and one godmother. When a child is being baptised in the Roman Catholic faith, they have one godfather and one godmother; having two godparents that are the same gender as the child being baptised (as well as one of the other gender) is typical of a baptism within the Protestant faith.
- Anachronisms: The Chinese food containers looked like the old standard white ones but were missing the wire handles that would hold them together. Microwavable glued containers didn't exist until fairly recently.
- Anachronisms: In the bar scene when you see the Bud Light tap is in the background. Bud Light wasn't around until the year 1982.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: While the parking meters on Castro Street were appropriately changed, the more modern painted T-lines (to define each parking space) were not covered up. However, T-lines are visible in 1970s archival footage used in the 1984 documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk".
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: At one point, Harvey Milk uses the term "African-American," which didn't come into popular use until the 1980s. Although mostly popularized by the Reverend Jesse Jackson in the early 1980's, the term had been in use since the 1850s.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the trailer, the "Rainbow" flag in unfurled behind Milk at a rally. The Rainbow flag was not adopted as the official symbol until the year following Milk's death. However, in a behind-the-scenes interview on the DVD, the person who was at the actual rally said he suggested to Milk to use the flag, and they did.
- Anachronisms: When Milk is walking the streets gathering support to run for supervisor, in one shot there are cars to the right of the screen that are clearly modern-day, including a black SUV.
- Anachronisms: In the scene in the camera shop after Harvey has given his speech on the soap box, a red "UNITE HERE" poster is visible. "UNITE HERE" did not join together until 2004.
- Factual errors: When Harvey and Dan are being interviewed on TV in January 1978, Dan says he's expecting his first child; however, at the baby's christening, which appears to takes place no more than a few weeks after the interview, baby Charles is able to hold his head up. Babies typically become able to hold their heads up when they're around four months old. Also, in real life, Charles White was born in mid-June 1978 - after the contentious vote on the youth campus and after Harvey's forty-eighth birthday in May. (Despite the fact that Dan's grudge against Harvey developed before Charles's birth, Harvey was still invited to the christening.)
- Factual errors: 1978 did not have a Friday, November 18th.
- Factual errors: The site of the Milk/Briggs debate is incorrectly identified as a school within the Walnut Creek Unified School District. The debate did take place in the city of Walnut Creek, at Northgate High School. Northgate High School was and still is part of the Mount Diablo Unified School District.
- Factual errors: The characters refer several times to The Advocate as a magazine, but in the 1970s it was a tabloid newspaper. It didn't become a magazine until 1992.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: SPOILER: Dan White fires seven shots: Three to Moscone and four to Milk. The numbers of shots is accurate and well-documented; what the film doesn't show is White reloading between the murders (one of Prosecution's key issues in attempting to establish premeditation - bringing extra ammo).
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