When was harvey milk elected to office

Martin's, Stryker, Susan, and Jim Van Buskirk. San Francisco: Chronicle, Harvey Milk - Inductee. Lesson Plan. Resources Related Images. Related Resources. Black, Dustin Lance. New York: Newmarket Press, On the other side of Moscone was Supervisor Dan White, a Vietnam veteran and former police officer and fireman, who was troubled by what he perceived as a breakdown in traditional values and a growing tolerance of homosexuality.

Elected to the San Francisco City-County Board in , he frequently clashed with the more liberal Milk on policy issues. But White was prodded on by his police supporters and subsequently changed his mind regarding his resignation and asked Moscone to reappoint him. The mayor refused, however, encouraged by Milk and others to fill White's spot with a more liberal board member.

For White, who was convinced that men like Moscone and Milk were driving his city "downhill," it was a devastating blow. On November 27, , White entered City Hall with a loaded. He avoided the metal detectors by entering through a basement window that had been negligently left open for ventilation.

His first stop was at the mayor's office, where he and Moscone began arguing, eventually moving to a private room so that they could not be heard. Once there, Moscone again refused to re-appoint White, and White shot the mayor twice in the chest and twice in the head. White then went down the corridor and shot Milk, twice in the chest, once in the back and twice again in the head.

Soon after, he turned himself in at the police station where he used to work. White's trial was marked by what came to be known as the "Twinkie defense," as his lawyers claimed that the normally stable White had grown slovenly prior to the shootings due to abandoning his usually healthy diet and instead indulging in sugary junk food such as Coke, doughnuts and Twinkies.

In a surprising move, a jury convicted White of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder, and White would subsequently serve just six years in prison. In , a year after his release, a distressed White committed suicide. As a result of White's downgraded conviction, peaceful demonstrations by Castro's gay community outside City Hall turned violent. More than 5, policemen responded by entering nightclubs armed with truncheons and assaulting patrons.

By the riot's end, people were injured, including 59 policemen. This episode is known in history as "The White Night Riots. In the years since the killings, Milk's legacy as a leader and pioneer has endured, with numerous books and films made about his life. By that time, the Human Rights Party had already been successful in electing two members to the city council: Jerry DeGrieck, a gay man, and Nancy Wechsler, a lesbian, who were both graduates of the University of Michigan.

While DeGrieck and Wechsler were not out at the time of their election , the pair made history by becoming the first LGBTQ elected officials to come out while still in office.

This year we talked about rent control. We talked about police priorities, and we had a record of action to run on. After two years on the city council, she opted not to run for a second term. After graduation, Kozachenko moved to New York City, where she joined a group of lesbian and gay socialists, and also volunteered for a group called Dykes and Tykes. In , she met her longtime partner, MaryAnn Geiger, through mutual friends. Three years later, the couple had a son together, Justin, whom Kozachenko gave birth to in Geiger died in from cancer, five years before same-sex marriage would be legalized.

In the s, Pittsburg was far from the liberal safe haven Kozachenko had found in Ann Arbor. The Discarded Soldier. How Chevron imprisoned environmental lawyer Steven Donziger.

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