LGBT History: 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the White Night Riot. "He got away with murder!"
I was not at Stonewall, but I was at San Francisco City Hall ten years later and 3000 mile away when upwards of 5000 people expressed their outrage at the verdict in the trial of Dan White for the murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Like my memories, the opinions that follow are solely my own.
At Stonewall, they slashed the tires of police cars. On White Night they burned police cars. Twelve of them.
For those unaware of the details behind the murders, the short version is this. In November, 1978, former police officer and former firefighter Dan White had resigned his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors because it did not pay enough to support his family. Viewed as their only voice on the board, several of his extremely conservative constituents convinced him to rescind his resignation.
Initially, Moscone agreed to let White stay, but several people including Milk convinced him not to. A reporter told White over the telephone before Moscone could.
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Did you know October is LGBT History Month? How much GLBT history do you know?
