Harvey Milk Biography

Harvey Milk was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977 and became the first openly homosexual elected official in California. Less than a year after taking office Milk was murdered — along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone — by Dan White, a political opponent and former member of the Board. Milk was a charismatic New Yorker who was a graduate of the University of Albany (1951) and a U.S. Navy veteran (discharged in 1955). He moved to San Francisco in 1972 and set up a camera shop in the city’s Castro district, then quickly got involved in local politics. After two unsuccessful bids for a seat as a city supervisor (1973 and 1975), he made it into city politics as an appointee of Mayor George Moscone, then won the 1977 election for a seat (one of six) on the Board of Supervisors. Milk made national news — he was an openly gay elected official at a time when homosexuality was not part of the public debate. The “Mayor of Castro” was a champion of urban neighborhoods and grassroots activism, but he’s most famous for his role as a symbol for gay and lesbian rights. On 27 November 1978 he was killed by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor who felt wronged by Moscone and Milk. White climbed through a window at City Hall and killed both men with a pistol. White’s defense was his “diminished capacity” from depression, exacerbated by sugary junk food — what became known as the “Twinkie defense” (after a popular snack food). White was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in jail, an outcome that caused a riot outside San Francisco’s City Hall on 21 May 1979 (called the “White Night Riot”). Milk’s legacy as a martyred hero has inspired books, plays and movies, including the Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) and the Gus Van Sant film Milk (2008, starring Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as White).