The White Night Riots

On November 27, 1978 ex-police officer and former conservative San Francisco Supervisor Dan White shot and killed San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California and had huge support of the local gay community. Some estimates say that at that time the gay population of San Francisco was one fourth of the whole city. There was a long history of abuse by the police of the gay community is San Francisco and it finally came to a head with the White Night Riots.

The city responded to the assassinations of Moscone and Milk with tens of thousands of people attending a candlelight march from the Castro District to city hall. It was a solemn and peaceful event, many of the marchers still in shock over what happened.

Dan White turned himself in to one of his police friends and a trial followed. The police and fire departments raised money for his defense fund. The prosecutor was sympathetic to White and pressured by the police. The defense argued that White was unable to plan a murder because he was suffering from depression. The jury was convinced by this argument, and found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter - the lightest possible conviction. When news of this verdict spread, the gay community responded with outrage and anger, many believing that White got away with murder. A spontaneous march once again began in the Castro District, however, the result was far different than the candlelight vigil of the night of the assassinations. When the marchers arrived at City Hall they began breaking windows. The police in San Francisco had a long history of harassing and abusing the gay community. When squads of police officers arrived they were met with rocks and bottles. For a few hours that night the land around City Hall became a police-free zone. Squad cars were captured and burnt and dozens of windows in surrounding government and financial buildings were broken. Eventually the police were able to take back the area and disperse the crowd.

Later that same night, the police, embarrassed and angry, sent squad cars to the Elephant Walk Bar (today known as Harvey's) at 18th Street and Castro, smashing everything. They beat up patrons and anyone on the surrounding streets. This lasted nearly two hours.

St least 61 police officers and an estimated 100 citizens were hospitalized in the course of the night. There were twenty one arrests. The media searched for a gay leader to apologize for the night's rioting. They were unable to find a single one, instead they got statements such as this:

Harvey Milk's people do not have anything to apologize for. Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence. We're not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore.

The day following the riots would have been Harvey Milk's 49th birthday. Tens of thousands of people showed up to the Castro for a peaceful rally and street party. The mood was angry but festive and the police kept their distance.

Today Harvey Milk is remembered as a hero and martyr in the struggle for gay civil rights. The plaza where Castro Street and Market Street meet is named after him and flies a huge rainbow gay pride flag. San Francisco's LGBT community is seen as a political forced to be reckoned with.