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Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California,as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence,but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression,a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods. Contrary to common belief,White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions,but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. The product itself was only mentioned in passing during the trial. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder,and served five years in prison.
Daniel James White was an American politician who assassinated George Moscone and Harvey Milk inside City Hall on November 27,1978. White was convicted of manslaughter for the deaths of Milk and Moscone and served five years of a seven-year prison sentence. Less than two years after his release,he returned to San Francisco and later committed suicide.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1978.
George Richard Moscone was an attorney and Democratic politician who served as the 37th mayor of San Francisco from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known as "The People's Mayor",who opened up City Hall and its commissions to reflect the diversity of San Francisco,appointing African Americans,Asian Americans,and gay people. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming mayor;in the Senate he served as majority leader. He is remembered for being an advocate of civil progressivism.
The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of a lenient sentencing of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone,the mayor of San Francisco,and of Harvey Milk,a member of the city's Board of Supervisors who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States. The events took place on the night of May 21,1979,in San Francisco. Earlier that day White had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter,the lightest possible conviction for his actions. The lesser conviction outraged the city's gay community,setting off the most violent reaction by gay Americans since the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California.
The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws,and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors,the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms. Because of San Francisco's status as a consolidated city-county,the mayor also serves as the head of government of the county;both entities have been governed together by a combined set of governing bodies since 1856.
The Times of Harvey Milk is a 1984 American documentary film that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival,the New York Film Festival,and then on November 1,1984,at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The film was directed by Rob Epstein,produced by Richard Schmiechen,and narrated by Harvey Fierstein,with an original score by Mark Isham.
On November 27,1978,George Moscone,the mayor of San Francisco and Harvey Milk,a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors,were both shot and killed inside San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. On the morning of that day,Moscone intended to announce that the Supervisor position from which White had previously resigned would be given to someone else. White,angered,entered City Hall before the scheduled announcement and first shot Moscone in the Mayor's office,then Milk in White's former office space,before escaping the building. Board of Supervisors President Dianne Feinstein first announced Moscone and Milk's deaths to the media,and because of Moscone's death,succeeded him as acting mayor.
Harry Britt was an American politician and gay rights activist. Born in Texas,he worked as a Methodist pastor in Chicago as a young man and later moved to San Francisco. There,he worked with Harvey Milk until Milk's assassination in 1978. He was appointed to his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors,where he remained until 1993,and served as the board's president from 1989 to 1990. Britt was a Democrat and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1987 and for the California State Assembly in 2002,but was unsuccessful both times.
Execution of Justice is an ensemble play by Emily Mann chronicling the case of Dan White,who assassinated San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk in November 1978. The play was originally commissioned by the Eureka Theatre Company,but premiered at Arena Stage on May 10,1985.
Milk is a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk,who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California,as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black,the film stars Sean Penn as Milk,alongside Emile Hirsch,Josh Brolin,Diego Luna,and James Franco.
Carol Ruth Silver is an American lawyer and civil rights activist. She was a Freedom Rider,arrested and incarcerated for 40 days in Mississippi. She was among those on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors allegedly targeted by Dan White in the Moscone–Milk assassinations,but escaped assassination because she was not in her office at the time of the murders.
Anne Kronenberg is an American political administrator and LGBT rights activist. She is best known for being Harvey Milk's campaign manager during his historic San Francisco Board of Supervisors campaign in 1977 and his aide as he held that office until he and mayor George Moscone were assassinated. As an openly lesbian political activist,Kronenberg was noted for her instrumental role in the gay rights movement,both for Milk's campaign and in her own right.
The 1977 San Francisco general elections occurred on November 8,1977,for all 11 newly created electoral districts to be represented on the Board of Supervisors for the 1978 fiscal year,as well as the position of City Attorney,the position of City Treasurer and a roster of 22 propositions. It was the first time in San Francisco's history that Board elections were held on a districted basis rather than on a citywide at-large basis;in the November 1976 general election,voters in San Francisco decided to reorganize supervisor elections to choose supervisors from neighborhoods instead of voting for them in citywide ballots when they voted for Proposition T,which included the definition of the district boundaries.
An election was held on November 3 and December 8,1987,to elect the 39th mayor of San Francisco. Dianne Feinstein,then the incumbent,had served as mayor since the 1978 assassination of mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk and had been elected to full terms in 1979 and 1983,and was thus term-limited. Then-California State Assembly member Art Agnos came from behind to defeat Supervisor John Molinari,garnering nearly 70 percent of the vote.
The 1979 mayoral election was held to elect the mayor of San Francisco. Incumbent mayor Dianne Feinstein,who had succeeded George Moscone after his assassination the prior year,was elected to her first full term as mayor of the City and County,the first woman to be elected to the position in the city's history. Feinstein,with 46.63%,and Quentin L. Kopp,with 44.72%,were the top two finishers in the first-round,and advanced to a runoff. In the first round the two of them had beat out former Board of Permit Appeals president David Scott,musician Jello Biafra,Sylvia Weinstein,Cesar Ascarrunz,Steve L. Calitri,Tibor Uskert,Joe Hughes and Patricia Dolbeare.
The mayoralty of Dianne Feinstein lasted from November 27,1978,to January 8,1988,while she served as the 38th Mayor of San Francisco. Feinstein gained the position following the Moscone–Milk assassinations,in which her predecessor,Mayor George Moscone,was killed by Dan White,a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was formally appointed to the position by the Board of Supervisors by a vote of six to two and inaugurated on December 4,1978.
Harvey Milk is an American opera with music by Stewart Wallace and libretto by Michael Korie,based on the life and death of the American gay activist and politician Harvey Milk,who was assassinated along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone on 27 November 1978. The opera was originally in 3 acts,and was a joint commission by Houston Grand Opera,New York City Opera,and San Francisco Opera,and received its premiere on 21 January 1995 by Houston Grand Opera. A revised version in 2 acts received its premiere on 11 June 2022 by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
References
- 1 2 Times, Les Ledbetter Special to The New York (1978-12-05). "San Francisco Supervisors Pick Mrs. Feinstein as Acting Mayor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-27.
- ↑ Futz, Bob (1978). O'Neil, Michael (ed.). "Assasination [sic] of Harvey Milk and George Moscone - 1978 Year in Review - Audio - UPI.com". UPI. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
- ↑ TIME (1978-12-11). "Nation: Another Day of Death". TIME. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
- ↑ "A Victory and a Massacre". San Francisco Bay Times. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
- ↑ "Wordless fear – and then screams". The San Francisco Examiner. 1978-11-27. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-06-11.