Moscone and Milk Assassinated: Tragedy Ignites Gay Rights

Dan White climbed through a basement window of San Francisco's City Hall to avoid the metal detectors at the front entrance. He carried a loaded .38 revolver and ten extra rounds. On November 27, 1978, White walked into Mayor George Moscone's office and shot him four times, then reloaded and walked to the office of Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California history, and shot him five times. Both men died within minutes. White had resigned his seat on the Board of Supervisors nine days earlier, then asked Moscone to reappoint him. Moscone, under pressure from Milk and other progressives, decided to appoint someone else. White, a former police officer and firefighter, viewed the rejection as a personal and political humiliation. He represented a conservative district and had clashed repeatedly with Milk on issues including a gay rights ordinance. The murders sent shockwaves through San Francisco and the national gay rights movement. Milk had anticipated the possibility of assassination, recording a tape stating: "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." Dianne Feinstein announced the deaths from the steps of City Hall, her voice breaking. That evening, an estimated 30,000 people marched in candlelight from the Castro district to City Hall. White's trial produced voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. His defense argued that depression and junk food had diminished his capacity, a strategy dubbed the "Twinkie defense." The lenient sentence sparked the White Night riots as thousands stormed City Hall and burned police cars. White served five years and committed suicide in 1985. Milk's assassination galvanized the gay rights movement, transforming him into a national symbol.