Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to parliament, became a martyr for the LGBT community when he was murdered by his former colleague Dan White on November 27, 1978.
Called the "most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States", Milk campaigned for gay rights with his position of prominence on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and became one of the key figures of the gay rights movement at the time, leading movements such as the opposition to the Briggs Initiative, in which the dismissal of homosexual school teachers would have been required. However, many disagreed with Milk's ideology and views, including Dan White, a former Vietnam veteran, who became disturbed by the increasing tolerance of homosexuality in society. When Milk went against a bill put forward by White, tensions between the two began to rise and White went on to be the only opposition to a gay rights ordinance that Milk proposed. As Milk's liberality and stance on gay rights issues saw him becoming more and more popular within society, White began to be overshadowed and caused him to spiral into a depression, causing him to resign from the job in November 1978 - along with the fact that the salary was not enough for him to provide for his family.
Despite his resignation, White requested to return to the office a week later, but was refused a return partly due to encouragement by Milk and other board members to elect a more liberal person. This left White with feelings of betrayal and anger, and he made the decision to exact revenge on Milk and the mayor of the board, George Mascone, intending to kill them both when he took a loaded gun into the City Hall on November 27. White first entered the office of Mascone, shooting him four times - he then proceeded to Milk's office, where he fired five shots, the last of which he aimed at Milk's head. The news of the deaths shocked and devastated the city of San Francisco, with over 40,000 people holding candlelit vigil's later that night.
Called the "most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States", Milk campaigned for gay rights with his position of prominence on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and became one of the key figures of the gay rights movement at the time, leading movements such as the opposition to the Briggs Initiative, in which the dismissal of homosexual school teachers would have been required. However, many disagreed with Milk's ideology and views, including Dan White, a former Vietnam veteran, who became disturbed by the increasing tolerance of homosexuality in society. When Milk went against a bill put forward by White, tensions between the two began to rise and White went on to be the only opposition to a gay rights ordinance that Milk proposed. As Milk's liberality and stance on gay rights issues saw him becoming more and more popular within society, White began to be overshadowed and caused him to spiral into a depression, causing him to resign from the job in November 1978 - along with the fact that the salary was not enough for him to provide for his family.
Despite his resignation, White requested to return to the office a week later, but was refused a return partly due to encouragement by Milk and other board members to elect a more liberal person. This left White with feelings of betrayal and anger, and he made the decision to exact revenge on Milk and the mayor of the board, George Mascone, intending to kill them both when he took a loaded gun into the City Hall on November 27. White first entered the office of Mascone, shooting him four times - he then proceeded to Milk's office, where he fired five shots, the last of which he aimed at Milk's head. The news of the deaths shocked and devastated the city of San Francisco, with over 40,000 people holding candlelit vigil's later that night.
The trial of Dan White, known as the "twinkie defense", occurred relatively soon after the murders of Milk and Mascone, due to his confession of the crimes on the day of the shootings. The lawyers of White asserted that his depression had led him to become unstable, and as evidence they stated that he had abandoned his usually healthy diet for a much less nourishing alternative, indulging on foods such as Coke, doughnuts and Twinkies - thus the case was dubbed the "twinkie defense". Although this defense was not strong, the jury consisted of predominately conservative people and were heavily influenced by their emotions when they were given the confession tape of White to listen to, in which White fervently vented about the supposed pressure he had been under; in turn, the jury felt sympathy for White and he was only convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to a mere six years in jail. In response to this adjudication, Supervisor Carol Silver proclaimed that "Dan White has gotten away with murder" and District Attorney Joseph Freitas stated that "It was the wrong decision. The jury was overwhelmed by emotions and did not sufficiently analyze the evidence that this was deliberate, calculated murder."
Outraged by this lenient verdict also, the LGBT community began to undertake violent protests outside the City Hall, which would come to be known as the "White Night Riots." Numbers exceeded 5,000 people as protesters yelled "Kill Dan White!" and wrecked havoc around the building's exterior. Ornamental work was torn from the iron doors and subsequently smashed into the windows on the first floor. Riots began to break out as police cars were set on fire and tear gas stolen from the police was thrown. This continued for around three hours, until the police began to advance on the rioters, attacking and pushing them further back with tear gas; however, the struggle and resistance of the crowd remained steadfast, with one man setting a police car ablaze, exclaiming "make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies." By the end of the riot, 124 people were injured, of which 59 were police officers.
Dan White was released on January 14, 1984, after completing five years of his sentence. The next year in October, he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, and it is unknown whether he expressed any contrition for his murders of Mascone and Milk. In the years since, though, the tragic deaths of Milk and Mascone have created a legacy for the LGBT community, with Milk becoming one of the key figures in the gay rights movement.
Dan White was released on January 14, 1984, after completing five years of his sentence. The next year in October, he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, and it is unknown whether he expressed any contrition for his murders of Mascone and Milk. In the years since, though, the tragic deaths of Milk and Mascone have created a legacy for the LGBT community, with Milk becoming one of the key figures in the gay rights movement.