As president
of the board of supervisors...
it's my duty
to make this announcement.
Both Mayor Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk...
have been shot and k*lled.
No! Jesus Christ!
The...
- Hold it!
- Hold it!
- Shh!
- Quiet!
Quiet, everybody!
The suspect
is Supervisor Dan White.
On November , ...
San Francisco's
Mayor George Moscone...
and Supervisor Harvey Milk...
were assassinated in City Hall.
Harvey Milk had served only months
on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors...
but he had already come to represent
something far greater than his office.
A year before
he was gunned down...
Harvey Milk tape-recorded a will.
This is to be played only in the event...
of my death by assassination.
I fully realize that...
a person who stands
for what I stand for...
an activist, gay activist...
becomes the target
or the potential target...
for somebody who is
insecure, terrified, afraid...
or very disturbed themselves.
Knowing that I could be assassinated
at any moment or any time...
I feel it's important that
some people know my thoughts.
I stood for more
than just a candidate.
I have never considered
myself a candidate.
I have always
considered myself...
part of a movement,
part of a candidacy.
I wish I had time
to explain everything I did.
Almost everything was done
in the eyes of the gay movement.
I met Harvey like most people
met Harvey, I think... in his camera store.
Um, I'd been living in the city
about a year and a half, I guess, and...
maybe not even that long...
and went into the camera store...
someone recommended it...
to have my film developed...
and was greeted
by this raving maniac.
He was screaming and...
I don't even know what the issue was...
but he was screaming and shouting
at someone in the camera store...
and I... I was
a little intimidated, you know.
I thought,
"This guy is a little too weird for me."
When I really
got to know him was in ' .
I had a miscarriage...
and I was astounded
that... that I'd had...
' or ' I had a miscarriage,
and I was astounded.
I mean, it's a... it's a devastating
physical experience...
as well as a mental experience.
And I was home
from the hospital, and, uh...
Harvey had heard
that this had happened.
And lo and behold,
there was a knock at the door...
and I went sort of like
floating to the door...
'cause I wasn't
feeling well at all...
and he was standing
on my doorstep...
with a dozen roses...
and he said,
"Can I get you anything?
Do you have enough food in the house?
Do you have milk?
Do you have food?
I'll do your grocery shopping."
And I knew him by name,
as he knew me...
but I didn't know him well enough
to have him do my grocery shopping.
But that's
the kind of concern he was.
You know, you could relate
to Harvey on many levels.
One level was his sense of humor,
which I liked, you know.
And you know, making fun of things
that sometimes were very heavy...
which was how I was brought up.
But also I didn't feel
like an outsider with Harvey.
I felt like someone of worth,
you know...
and, uh, some respect...
the teacher thing.
And if I was in fact feminine,
or if I was in fact, you know...
didn't always speak in a certain syntax,
or if I said, you know...
"f*ck that assh*le over there.
He's really a jerk"...
Harvey didn't go,
"You know, this is not a good gay image."
So that meant a lot...
the human factor.
At first, Harvey Bernard Milk...
showed few signs
he would make history.
Born May , ...
the second son
of middle-class Jewish parents...
he grew up
in Woodmere, Long Island.
The little kid with the big ears
became, in high school...
an ordinary student,
a practical joker, and a regular guy.
Or so his friends thought.
After college
he joined the navy.
Then he began a career
as a stock analyst on Wall Street.
What was not on the resume...
was his h*m*...
which Harvey Milk
had known about since he was .
In the s,
Harvey Milk took a step off course.
He befriended
avant-garde theater people...
then worked his way
into a producing job on Broadway.
By the beginning of the ' s...
Harvey Milk had marched
in antiwar demonstrations...
burned his BankAmericard
in protest...
and emigrated to San Francisco.
He and lover Scott Smith
settled down...
and opened a camera store
on Castro Street...
in a quiet old neighborhood
soon to become known as "the Castro."
Harvey Milk threw himself
into neighborhood politics.
When he dubbed himself "the Mayor
of Castro Street," the idea stuck.
In
he tried to make it official...
by running for the board of supervisors,
San Francisco's city council.
To many, Harvey Milk seemed
more like a joke than a candidate.
Well, first time
I heard of Harvey...
was uh... one of these, uh...
conventions at the Labor Council...
and, uh, we're voting
on who we're going to support.
And our union... We get together
with other union delegates...
and talk over who we're
gonna support, and, uh...
we supported a guy that I didn't know
at that time: Harvey Milk.
And, uh, we're talkin'
with the people, and, uh...
somebody said,
"He's... He's gay."
And I thought, "Holy Christ!
How are we gonna go back to our union...
and go back to where we work
and tell guys that we supported a fruit?"
And I thought,
"My God, this is...
What's labor comin' to?"
you know?
And then we found out that, uh...
he got Coors Beer out of all
of the gay bars in San Francisco.
And this Coors Beer boycott...
which labor's been trying to do
throughout the United States...
especially in San Francisco,
a labor town...
uh, really hadn't been
too successful.
You know, I met Harvey
for the first time...
I mean, I had read about him
and had heard a lot about him...
but that was the first time
I really met him.
And it was a rather
strange meeting, because...
Harvey was talking
about all these visionary things...
about, you know,
the oneness of man, and, um...
thinking about all the great things
that needed to be done...
not only in San Francisco,
but throughout the country.
And I said to myself...
"Gee, this man
is never going to make it."
Between and ...
Harvey Milk
ran for political office...
and lost three times.
But in each race he garnered
more and more votes...
enough to establish himself
as a broker for his neighborhood...
and the growing gay community.
In , neighborhood activists
like Harvey Milk...
found a strong supporter
in their new mayor, George Moscone.
Moscone had campaigned
on the conviction...
that a city is enriched
by more than downtown development.
...to make our city work once again.
As the new mayor,
Moscone showed respect...
for his city's many neighborhoods,
cultures, and peoples.
My late father
was a guard at San Quentin...
and who I was visiting one day
and who showed to me...
and then explained the function
of the, the death chamber.
And it just seemed inconceivable to me,
though I was pretty young at the time...
that in this society
that I had been trained to believe...
was the most effective
and efficient of all societies...
that the only way
we could deal with violent crime...
would be to do
the ultimate ourselves...
and that's to governmentally sanction
the taking of another person's life.
Moscone and his allies,
including Harvey Milk...
set about designing a plan...
for neighborhood people
to run the city they lived in.
The plan,
called "district elections"...
would allow candidates for supervisor,
such as Harvey Milk...
to run from districts
rather than the city at large.
They had this crazy idea that they're gonna
change the form of government...
the way we elect
our, uh, officials in this town.
There was one meeting,
it was supposed to be...
behind this guy
Harvey Milk's camera store.
And so I went to the meeting,
and I kinda thought...
"What the hell am I doin' here
with all these fruits and kooks?"
Behind the camera store...
a little crummy camera store.
It was nothing like Brooks.
It was a little crummy camera store, and
in the back was this little crummy room...
with a bunch of worn-out
old sofas and chairs...
and a bunch of people
in jeans and Levi's, and, uh...
Harvey Milk was there,
and, uh, he's not...
He doesn't dress
in a distinguished manner.
He's, uh... Just looks
like any workin' stiff.
But the way he handled
the people there...
Some of the people
get kind of emotional...
and, uh... outrageous...
and he would control 'em
and calm 'em down...
and get the thinkin'
going a certain way, and, uh...
It was very, very impressive.
The voters of San Francisco decided...
to give the district elections
plan a try.
In the Castro, a new kind
of politics was taking shape.
More and more men and women
were arriving in San Francisco every day...
to take up the gay life.
The Castro was booming.
Each summer, Harvey Milk helped
organize the Castro Street Fair...
where the neighborhood
celebrated its very existence.
When we're out there
dancing on the floor, darlin'
And I feel like I need some more
And I feel your body close to mine
And I know, my love
it's about that time
Make me feel mighty real
Make me feel mighty real
You make me feel
Mighty real
You make me feel
Mighty real
When we get home, darling
and it's nice and dark
And the music's spinning
Harvey Milk realized that the Castro...
was ready to elect
its own representative to city hall.
In , Milk launched
his fourth political campaign...
this time
for the board of supervisors...
from the newly created District .
Oh, you make me feel
Mighty real
You make me feel
There's just too many candidates,
the vote is split all over the place...
and there's too many things
happening nobody knows about.
There are at least seven candidates
with a shot at capturing...
the heart of the city,
District No. .
The liberal vote is split between three
main candidates and many lesser ones.
One main is Terence Hallinan...
an attorney with endorsements
from Democrats and labor.
Hallinan splits the liberal vote
with two gays:
lawyer Rick Stokes...
and Castro Street businessman
Harvey Milk.
I think when it comes to a matter of who
came first, that's fairly easily provable.
I don't think anyone ever heard of Harvey
Milk until he ran for office in .
Any single neighborhood issue
or city issue for the last five years...
you found Harvey Milk taking a stand...
one way or the other, but taking a stand.
Every candidate claims to know of polls...
showing him the winner
or running strong...
but the one candidate who seems
to run best of all has very low visibility.
That's the one
named "undecided."
In San Francisco, Linda Schacht
for Channel Eyewitness News.
When he decided to run
for supervisor, he did call me...
and I went in to meet with him...
and we just hit it off instantly.
That very first day, he asked me
if I would run his campaign.
I was .
Here's this punk kid who knows
nothing about campaigns...
except that I loved them.
What he offered me
was an opportunity.
He had no money.
But he was a very
difficult person to work with.
He did have temper fits...
where he would just be
like a little kid sometimes...
for no good reason except that
he was probably exhausted.
Getting involved in that campaign
was so special...
especially after the number
of campaigns that I had been through...
with the Democratic Party...
and the normal type of politicians
and the normal kind of campaigns.
That campaign
was anything but normal!
One day I was in there
in the campaign headquarters...
and I'm looking around
at this motley group of people.
It was a lot of fun,
but give me a break!
And I said to Harvey, I said,
"Well, who's that?"
And there's this desk
over in the corner. It's really dark.
I don't think there's a plug back
in that corner. There's a telephone.
I remember seeing
the lights on the telephone...
was like the brightest thing
in that corner.
And he says,
"She's really good.
Her name is Anne Kronenberg.
She's really good."
And I'm looking at her and thinking,
"Oh, my Lord! Your image!"
Here he's trying to run,
you know, in a very big district.
He'd run in our neighborhood,
and anything goes in our neighborhood.
But when you get out, you know,
you kind of have to kind of blend in.
And I looked at Anne,
and here she was, you know...
like a big d*ke,
with the motorcycle clothes on.
And then there's John
with his three-piece suit...
and there's little Mike...
Michael Wong...
who Harvey always called
his lotus blossom...
and a couple of old ladies that would be
in there too, bless their hearts.
And then people silk-screening
on the side...
and you could smell the ink
and, you know, all this hubbub.
And he's trying to run
a business in the front.
Everything happened
in this long, dingy camera store...
everything from "save the whales"
to "get elected."
We had volunteers...
in all different shapes and sizes...
from Medora Payne-size...
up to -year-old women
who wanted to be doing something.
Maybe they couldn't be walking precincts,
but they wanted to do something for Harvey.
It was a nice mix of people.
He never stopped,
and he did most of everything himself...
which meant, you know, every day
he was out on the street...
to hit the morning rush hour
and the afternoon rush hour.
He'd walk precincts. He'd go to shops,
you know, door-to-door.
At the age of ,
on his fourth try for public office...
Harvey Milk was elected
to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.
When Harvey got back to the campaign
headquarters that night...
people went crazy.
He rode up on his...
Not his motorcycle, my motorcycle.
They all got off the bikes then...
and Harvey
was just encircled with people.
I mean, the feeling there
was just one of such total joy.
And it was more than just,
you know, a candidate winning.
It was the fact that all of these lesbians
and gay men throughout San Francisco...
who had felt like they'd had
no voice before...
now had someone
who represented them.
You just feel so good for Milk...
but feeling good for Milk,
you were feeling good for yourself.
You know, this was elation.
Just absolute elation.
Harvey never ever drank...
but that night
the champagne was flowing freely...
and he picked up one bottle
and poured it all over himself.
It was incredible.
We can hear it.
We can't really see too much...
but it looks and sounds to you
and to me like New Year's Eve...
on Market Street,
a place called Alfie's.
And the reason
for all this merriment...
and gaiety,
if you'll pardon the pun...
is the man standing to my right...
the first gay supervisor
elected in San Francisco.
His name is Harvey Milk.
First of all, congratulations...
and I've never seen
anything like this, Harvey.
Oh, it's all over the city tonight.
What does this mean,
your election, your activity now...
on the board of supervisors
in San Francisco?
Does that mean,
as many straights are concerned...
that maybe the gays
are taking over San Francisco?
Are you going to be
a supervisor for all the people?
I have to be.
That's what I was elected for.
I have to be there
to open up for the dialogue...
for the sensitivities of all people,
with all their problems.
The problems that affect
this city affect all of us.
It was really a "monumentous" occasion.
You know, he had been waiting at that
point for four years for that victory...
and I think it was
very sweet for all of us.
Thank you, San Francisco.
All right!
I first met Harvey Milk
when I was sent to do a story...
on this guy out in the Castro
who had a camera store...
who was running for supervisor...
and he was getting
a lot of attention...
so I had to go out there
and do an interview with him.
And I thought, "Oh, brother.
A guy who owns a camera store?
What could he know
about politics or anything?"
I knew he was going
to be a dud.
But I got out there,
and he was full of life.
He was a great speaker.
And I was impressed on the spot,
and it made a good story.
It's as if he knew. "You came here
with an attitude that I was just...
a h*m* with a camera store,
and I'll show you!"
And I thought he did, you know.
He was much more impressive
than just that kind of image.
This will be the first time
in many years that we've seen...
so many relatively new faces
on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
And this is probably because
it's the first time in a long time...
that supervisors have been elected
by district instead of citywide.
Harvey Milk, a h*m*...
the first avowed women's rights
advocate, Carol Ruth Silver...
the first Chinese-American,
attorney Gordon Lau...
the first black woman,
Ella Hill Hutch...
and Dan White, a city fireman
who gave up his job to take his seat.
After the formal swearing-in ceremony,
the board elected...
Dianne Feinstein
to be its new president.
In a -to- vote,
Feinstein beat out Gordon Lau.
But then we got
the first taste of the new politics.
Someone suggested the board vote again
to make it unanimous for Feinstein...
but newcomers
Milk and Silver refused.
They stuck to their votes for Lau,
to cheers from their supporters.
And just about everyone at City Hall
today was agreeing on one thing:
They may be a lot of things,
but they probably won't be dull.
It was interesting to see that Harvey...
did not vote for Dianne Feinstein
to be president...
and it really shocked many of us
in the audience, because...
We said, "Wow!
Here was this gay supervisor...
who really didn't have to do it...
and maybe even might be
committing political su1c1de...
and yet he was standing up
for what he believed...
and making
a very strong statement."
And it was clear what Harvey Milk
represented on that board.
He represented change.
He was different.
He was different from the conservative
majority on the board of supervisors.
Lost in the hubbub...
over the rise of California's
first publicly gay official...
was the election of Dan White...
another kind
of neighborhood populist.
Dan White has worked
and lived virtually all his years...
in this southeastern section
of San Francisco.
The neighborhood problems
are the city's problems.
You see, the transportation,
the crime...
the education, the taxes...
these are problems that we're all
gonna have to, uh, solve.
Hello, Anne.
Come on out here and...
- Come out and say hello!
- No, I don't want to...
Dan White comes across as the kind of
son almost any mother would be proud of.
Anne was one of my big,
big supporters here.
A lot of the ladies here
are getting their hair done.
Clean-cut, respectful to his elders...
and seemingly possessed
of small-town values.
When was the last time
you heard a San Francisco politician...
talk about setting up
neighborhood athletic teams?
And then, when we get the best team...
we will challenge, say, Harvey Milk's
district to a game of softball...
where they have
champs out there.
In a sense you could say
it's old-fashioned...
but it's old-fashioned values
that built this country.
To me,
this is what society's all about.
If you see someone in trouble,
you go to help 'em out.
Dan White says nobody's gonna
ignore his corner of the city anymore.
Dan White and Harvey Milk...
became symbols
of the new district election system.
Dan White, a fireman
and native San Franciscan...
Harvey Milk, a small businessman
and a gay immigrant.
Milk's victory sparked euphoria
among his supporters...
and a sense of something new
arriving at City Hall.
He wanted to meet Carter,
and he thought that was very important.
And I think he even brought
a photographer along...
even though Carter didn't want to be
photographed with a gay person.
And Ruth Carter Stapleton was...
you know,
the evangel... evangelical sister...
was carrying on
a mission on gays.
She told Harvey
that she could convert him...
and that, even though he was Jewish,
if he gave himself to Jesus Christ...
that his h*m*
would disappear or something.
And he made a couple
of very wry comments...
and one of them was that...
I think they shook hands, and he said,
"I'm surprised you shook my hand."
And she said, "Why?"
And he said, "Because you never know
where my hand's been."
Isn't that awful?
Well, she just looked at him.
She was just starstruck.
I mean, what could she say?
Before Harvey was elected,
I can remember...
looking at City Hall
and feeling like that was not my place.
I didn't belong there.
I wasn't welcome there.
I didn't feel comfortable there.
And the people
on the board of supervisors...
were names you read about
in the newspaper...
not people you would expect
to see in the grocery store...
or much less have a conversation with
on a personal or a human level.
And Harvey was really
a part of changing all that.
We're interviewing Harvey Milk.
What's it like being
a so-called in-person...
as opposed to having been
an out-person for years?
- Being one of them?
- Yes.
Um... incredible.
The, uh, establishment...
the white power establishment,
non-gay, very wealthy establishment...
have to deal with me.
It's an incredible position.
- Excuse me. Cut!
- Careful.
I have a slight cold.
- Take two. Wanna repeat that, please?
- Okay, sure.
Go.
In San Francisco,
as in anyplace else...
you have the blacks
and browns fighting...
and you have the Filipinos
not talking to the Asians...
and they all hate the gays,
and so forth.
And that has existed,
and we've had...
We over the years have fought
for the crumb.
But I think because of the election,
district elections...
and this particular board,
and myself, uh...
we're overcoming
a lot of those problems.
There's tremendous
harmony developing.
It's not perfect, by any means.
On the citywide level,
I think it's vital...
that the minorities...
the traditional,
ethnic minorities...
and the gays
and the feminists link together.
And possibly
the rank-and-file union...
not the union leaders,
the rank-and-file...
link together to form
a very solid, strong coalition...
so that we can influence
the total direction of the city.
As supervisor,
Harvey Milk had the political skills...
to advance the issues
that neighborhood people cared about:
rent control,
limiting high-rise development...
public transportation,
and the rights of senior citizens.
And the biggest crime
in this city is the fact...
that there's some
government elected officials...
who don't care
about senior citizens.
And I got news for them:
They're gonna grow old to be a senior
citizen themselves or drop dead.
Maybe I like Harvey
because almost everything...
Anytime he'd make a speech
about anything, I agreed with him.
So then I thought
he was a great man...
because I agreed
with what he talked about.
But you could hear
where he was coming from.
He was coming
from people positions.
If it had to do with parks...
or it had to do with schools,
or it had to do with police protection...
anything that affected
the little people.
He wasn't only for gay rights.
He was for gay rights
because that was... that is a minority.
But there's other minorities.
There's handicapped people.
There's senior citizens.
And so, uh,
there's more and more.
You start listening to him
and getting involved with him...
'cause, gee, this is the kind of guy
that is gonna talk about you.
Harvey said
that if anyone solved...
the dog shit problem
in this city...
that they could be elected mayor.
And so he started,
in the first month of being in City Hall...
to come up with some kind of ordinance
to take care of dog shit.
And he knew that
the pooper-scooper ordinance...
along with a few other things,
would really give him good press.
He was a master
at figuring out...
what would get him
covered in the newspaper.
And so the day of his press conference
for the pooper-scooper ordinance...
he went out early
and planted some shit on the lawn...
so that after
his press conference he knew...
just where he was gonna stand
that he would step in it.
Supervisor Milk took to the grassy lawn...
at Duboce Park this afternoon
to publicize the new law.
Under the ordinance, dog lovers
who don't clean up can be fined.
I think what needs to happen
is what happened in New York:
that people use their own ingenuity,
their own ideas, their own concepts.
Some people are using
their pie tins...
some people are using
The Wall Street Journal...
and other people are using
doggie-doo's and shovels.
Milk put his foot down
to emphasize that the city...
intends to enforce,
and you guessed it...
In Supervisor Milk's words,
"This really is the bottom line."
Harvey Milk's stand
on which voting machine...
the city should purchase
was a critical role.
At that time, George Moscone
favored Votomatic...
and Harvey
really was quite vocal.
And he said the city should go
with Votomatic...
because
non-English-speaking citizens...
particularly those who are elderly,
who have experienced discrimination...
can exercise their right to vote
in the most accessible manner.
He locked heads
with Quentin Kopp...
and Dianne Feinstein
over the issue.
And I was
tremendously impressed...
because Harvey
never once called us and said...
"Is this the right machine
for the Chinese community?"
He knew that it was
the right machine...
and he didn't have to call
any one of us and say...
"Gee, I want to remind you folks
that I'm doing you this great favor...
and I want you
to be indebted to me."
The issue closest to Harvey Milk's heart...
was a gay rights bill
for San Francisco.
With the gay rights ordinance
in San Francisco, the main focus is...
is to prevent the people who are
already employed who are gay...
who, if they want to come out
and break down the stereotypes...
prevents them from being fired.
For example, you will see
in this Gay Day parade...
a group of at least
gay doctors.
That is the tip of the iceberg.
In the Bay Area, there are hundreds
and hundreds of gay doctors...
most of who are closeted
because of fear of loss of jobs.
In San Francisco,
they can "come out"...
and not have to worry
about their jobs.
And that's the main focus
of our ordinance.
Supervisor White says
people are getting angry...
and he believes that anger
could lead to a backlash...
that will wipe out all of the gains
the gays have made thus far.
You can have someone
that's a tr*nsv*stite...
a man that for his
sexual, um, kicks or
orientation, whatever
you want to call it...
loves to dress up as a woman.
If he is a qualified teacher,
he can go into any school...
or he can go into any business,
and they can't refuse him.
Ten supervisors
voted for the gay rights bill.
Dan White cast
the only dissenting vote.
Mayor Moscone enthusiastically
signed the bill into law.
We got lots of hate mail...
and it started out that
the hate mail really upset me.
Again, I just was not
prepared for that at all.
I mean, people saying
awful, awful things.
Just nasty, disgusting things.
And it was Gay Freedom Day...
and I was driving the car in the parade,
and Harvey was in it.
I was terrified. I was afraid someone
was going to take a shot at him.
And Harvey said, "It could happen
any day, at any place, at any time...
and I'm just not going
to worry about it."
Right on!
The statement
that the Gay Day parade is...
"No more.
No more will we be harassed.
No more will we stay
in our closet."
The people from all over the state
and all over the country...
for them to see , ...
to , gay people
and friends...
marching through
the downtown area...
this is our city too...
they will go back to Des Moines, Iowa...
to Richmond, Minnesota,
to Santa Cruz.
They will go back
and say, "My God...
, gay people
and their friends marching!
You know, I almost think
I saw my son there."
Come on out!
Just come on out.
What did you see
that you felt was obscene?
Well, I see naked men walking around,
naked women walking around...
which, uh, doesn't bother me...
as far as my personal standards
of nudity or what...
but it's not proper.
Many people do not approve
of outward displays of sexuality...
be it heterosexuality
or h*m*.
And this is a point
I stand firm on.
And I think the gay
community themselves...
would find hard to refute
the statements I'm making now.
And this is a problem. We wouldn't allow it
for any other parade in San Francisco...
and it should not be allowed
for the gay parade.
They want to bring their sin
out of the closet...
and parade it on the street...
and be called respectable,
decent, natural people.
It's not decent...
it's not respectable,
and it's not natural.
And by the way,
God doesn't make people that way.
Don't blame God for that.
Who wants the children?
I'll tell you who wants your children.
- The h*m* crowd wants them.
- That's right.
In and ' ...
gay rights measures were being
repealed across the United States.
In California, lawmaker John Briggs
took a further step.
Every h*m*,
every lesbian...
Briggs mounted a campaign...
for Proposition ,
a statewide measure...
to deny h*m*
their jobs in public schools.
Now, what Proposition
is really all about...
is the right of parents
to determine...
who will be teaching
their children.
We don't allow people
who believe in practicing bestiality...
to teach our children.
We don't let prostitutes
teach our children.
And the reason we don't is because
it's illegal to be a prost*tute.
But it's not illegal to be
a h*m* in California.
Proposition
brought the issue of h*m*...
into the homes
of millions of Californians...
and it thrust Harvey Milk
into a statewide spotlight.
There are already laws on the books
to protect our children.
Everybody from Superintendent
of Schools Wilson Riles...
to Jerry Brown to newspaper editors
across the state agree...
that indeed we have the laws
to protect our children.
I was born of heterosexual parents,
I was taught...
by heterosexual teachers...
in a fiercely
heterosexual society...
with television ads and newspaper ads...
fiercely heterosexual.
A society that puts down
h*m*.
And why am I h*m*
if I'm affected by role models?
I should have been
a heterosexual.
And no offense meant...
but if teachers are going
to affect you as role models...
there'd be a lot of nuns
running around the streets today.
Harvey knew
that he had to have...
or that the gay community had to have...
some kind of a repository for money...
so that groups that were fighting
the Briggs Initiative would have the...
you know, could get funds
to do the things that they had to do.
And I ended being his cochair...
of the United Fund
to Fight the Briggs Initiative.
And that began our association,
which over those months...
when Proposition came into being,
became a real close association.
And I got to know him on a level
that I had never anticipated.
Nobody took Harvey Milk very seriously...
when he first ran for the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors in ...
but last year Milk won election
to the board of supervisors...
where he's the first openly gay
city official in the United States.
And representing the Bay Area Committee
Against the Briggs Initiative...
is Sally Gearheart... a lesbian,
a former high school teacher...
and now a speech professor
at San Francisco State University.
I remember that just before that debate...
we had had a lot of talk, Harvey and I,
about how we would dress...
and we had agreed that the image to project
was sort of "Mama and Papa U.S.A.":
as neat and conservative
as we possibly could.
So a half hour before we start
to leave for the television station...
Harvey calls me and says...
"I've lost my earrings, dear!
Whatever shall I do?"
Right? And I freak out,
thinking, "Oh, my soul!"
You yourself say that
the heterosexual is the child molester.
And if in your statements here,
and all these newspapers, and tonight...
that child molestation is not an issue,
if it is not an issue...
why do you put out literature
that hammers it home?
Why do you play
on that myth and fear?
Same thing with V.D., Harvey.
We put out publications about V.D...
- so you can avoid it.
- This is campaign literature.
Yes. We're trying to keep people
from falling into that trap.
We're trying to prevent it
by pointing it out.
And I don't make the statement
that % of all the heterosexuals commit...
- What percent is it?
- I don't know. You tell me.
The state says - %.
I've never seen that in writing.
I don't make those statements... you do.
- You even say here... - We are
not talking about child molestation.
The fact is, at least %
of the people are heterosexual.
If we took heterosexuals out
and h*m* out, you know what?
We'd have no teachers.
No child molestation.
So you're saying that
the percentage of population...
is equal to the percentage of child
molestation. Then there's no difference.
- No, I'm not saying that at all.
- That's what you just said.
No, I was saying we cannot
prevent child molestation...
so let's cut our odds down
and take out...
the h*m* group
and keep in the heterosexual group.
Why take out the h*m*
group when it's more, you know...
Overwhelmingly it is true,
that it's the heterosexual men...
I might add,
who are the child molesters.
I believe that's a myth.
I've never seen...
Oh, Senator!
The FBI, the National Council
on Family Relations...
the Santa Clara County Child Sexual Abuse
Treatment Center, and on and on and on...
Sometimes I think what we were
faced with in Proposition ...
was not so much
a conflict of values...
as two sets of fears.
The incredible fears that
the gay community had, all of us...
that here we were,
being stomped on...
by what was turning out
to be the Moral Majority.
I mean, our very lives were being,
you know, threatened...
the ways that we live,
what our lifestyle is...
and our reaction was extreme,
and it should have been extreme.
But then when you get
into the other person's shoes...
you figure that there was a lot of fear
on the part of the fundamentalists as well.
I mean, when you've lived
your entire life...
believing in a certain
social structure...
believing in certain sex roles...
believing in the ways that men
and women should relate to each other...
believing in the family...
you know,
believing in what God...
what you believe God says
should be the way...
human beings should relate
within the family structure...
and all of a sudden,
there are these "perverts" out here...
saying there are ways to live
that are different from that...
and that furthermore it's great
and beautiful and true and good...
then you're threatened.
And the very fabric of what this nation
is supposed to be made up of...
in the eyes of the fundamentalists,
was actually being att*cked...
or is actually being att*cked,
by gay people.
You know about Prop ?
In August,
four months before the election...
opinion polls predicted
that the majority of California citizens...
would vote
for John Briggs' Proposition ...
- and against the rights of gay teachers.
- What do you think about it?
We had lost repeatedly. Every time
that gay rights had been up for a vote...
we had lost, around the country,
usually by huge margins.
Almost everyone thought we were
going to lose, and lose badly.
I don't remember
anyone being optimistic.
We were so pessimistic...
or at least I was,
and a lot of other people were...
that we thought we might
even lose San Francisco.
The bulk of Briggs'
support lies in Southern California...
so his appearance here
was more symbolic than functional.
He called San Francisco
the "moral garbage dump of the nation."
If they're gonna lead
such an open life of h*m*...
that they want a -g*n salute
every time somebody goes by them...
those people are gonna be in danger
of being removed from their job.
People are very emotional.
They don't want to listen.
Look what happened in Germany.
Anita Bryant already says that
Jews and Moslems are going to hell.
You know she's got a shopping list.
John Briggs said this morning
that Dade County, Oklahoma...
and St. Paul, Minnesota,
were only preliminary battles.
He called his California campaign
against h*m* teachers...
"the main event."
At San Francisco City Hall, Linda Schacht,
Channel Eyewitness News.
This was such
a personal issue for me.
This is something
I did every day.
And of course, the gay teacher
issue is very volatile.
To sit down with somebody
who's a parent...
and maybe not particularly
vitriolic against people...
but to really say, "This is a myth.
I've been teaching here a long time.
I'm not interested
in getting in his pants."
You know,
people didn't want to hear it.
I mean, how do you win people
over to your side...
on something that's
so ingrained and so emotional?
I mean, their children!
So even though he was a buffoon,
and even though he was ludicrous...
he was also... at least the people
who advised him... were brilliant...
because they picked
on this particular issue: children!
Um, it would be hard for me...
if we're talking about schools,
to go along with you. I...
Any other adult thing
that you do...
the decorator, the hairdresser,
whom I love, whom I have...
I'd take him on every vacation if I had.
I don't care what he does.
You went to people's
houses and talked to them.
And you didn't have to have a lot
of money to do some of the things.
You went to shopping centers.
Because a lot of it was face-to-face.
This was a very brave thing.
- How are you?
- May I ask you something?
We're volunteers working against
Proposition , the Briggs Initiative.
Do you know
about the Briggs Initiative?
What is No. ? Smoking?
No, that's No. .
No. would force
local school districts...
to fire any teacher
that was gay...
or who believed that gay people
have rights like other people.
And we're concerned that
that would be a real attack...
on human rights for everybody.
How do you feel about the initiative,
on what you do know?
Well, we don't have
any definite opinion on this.
No comment.
- Could I leave some literature with you...
- Sure.
So you could learn
a little bit more about it?
- Are you registered voters?
- Yes, I have registered already.
Whoops! Sorry.
I believe this is
kind of personal matter.
It sure is, but, uh...
Yeah, it's something
that we feel real strongly about.
You know, a lot of my friends
are gay teachers...
and they'll lose their jobs over this,
so I really wish you'd...
- That is bad.
- give some thought to it...
because a lot of people will really
be affected very badly by it.
It's also something
where once you set up one kind of thing...
to discriminate
against one group of people...
lots of times it makes it easier
to discriminate...
against other groups of people
next time around.
- Right.
- Well, give it some thought.
- Okay.
- I agree with you.
If, by their silence and their doing
nothing, Briggs should win...
I think a lot of people are gonna realize
they have to make an ultimate decision.
The decision is to go back
in their closet real good...
slam the door tight...
which some will do...
or burst down those closet doors
once and for all...
and stand up and start to fight.
Because if we learn from history
that the struggle goes on...
eventually we will win.
And all the president has to do is...
or the governor...
is to turn the pages
of history a little faster.
Join me in this message!
Jimmy Carter, listen to us.
You want to lead?
You want to be the world's
leader on human rights?
Well, damn it, lead!
There are ...
There are million
lesbians and gay men...
waiting to hear your voice!
The grassroots No-on-
campaign was proving effective.
One month before the election,
the polls predicted a close vote.
Many people
had come to believe...
the Briggs Initiative would
violate constitutional rights.
A surprising array
of political figures...
including former governor
Ronald Reagan...
and Supervisor Dan White...
went on record
against the proposition.
President Carter spent less than an hour...
at this downtown Sacramento rally.
As the president
left the podium...
Jerry Brown whispered
to him briefly...
and he came back for one more
word of advice for voters.
Ford and Reagan have already come out
against it, so I think it's perfectly safe.
Also, I want to ask everybody
to vote against Proposition .
On November , ...
Proposition was defeated
by a resounding % to %.
On election night...
Mayor George Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk...
joined the jubilant
celebration in the Castro.
Harvey Milk was at the height...
of his political power.
Oh! That was one of the most...
That was one of the most
exciting nights in my life.
I don't think there's any doubt
about it. It must have been...
for most lesbians and gay men,
at least in the state of California.
Because it wasn't plain...
even up until
the evening of the vote...
that we were gonna win...
it wasn't plain at all.
And then here was Harvey.
And who had been the man
who had carried the banner
for gay people, you know?
Who had been the man
who had fought all along...
in his politics
on the board of supervisors...
but particularly
during the campaign?
It had been Harvey.
He had been the symbol for all of us.
He had been the image.
And he mounted that platform...
and I thought the place
was gonna collapse.
I've never heard
such cheering in my life.
To the gay community all over this state...
my message to you is...
so far a lot of people joined us
and rejected Proposition ...
and now we owe them something.
We owe them to continue
the education campaign that took place.
We must destroy the myths,
once and for all shatter them.
We must continue
to speak out...
and most importantly...
most importantly,
every gay person...
must come out.
As difficult as it is...
you must tell
your immediate family.
You must tell your relatives.
You must tell your friends,
if indeed they are your friends.
You must tell your neighbors.
You must tell
the people you work with.
You must tell the people
in the stores you shop in. You...
And once they realize
that we are indeed their children...
and we are indeed everywhere...
every myth, every lie,
every innuendo...
will be destroyed once and for all.
And once... once you do...
you will feel so much better.
...can't stand for anymore.
I'm angry.
Four days
after the Briggs Initiative lost...
Dan White engineered
his own defeat.
Surprising everyone, he resigned
from the board of supervisors.
In the last year, Dan White
had left a secure job as a fireman...
been elected a city supervisor
for little pay...
launched a risky
new business...
and become a father
for the first time.
Dan White had entered
City Hall an idealist.
Unlike his flourishing counterpart,
Harvey Milk...
he was often frustrated
by the job.
White had never learned
to operate in City Hall's atmosphere...
of back scratching
and compromise.
If there's members
that don't want to cooperate...
White's resignation left
Mayor Moscone...
with the task of finding
a replacement.
Mr. Mayor, what's happened
since Dan White has resigned?
I understand you're getting
a lot of phone calls?
The phone calls and cards
and letters have been coming...
I will tell you,
as Dean Martin used to say.
I was lobbied from just about
the evening that Dan White resigned...
all through the weekend, and the phones
have been ringing off the hook today.
This is Supervisorial District ,
Dan White's former district.
As you know, most people were very
surprised when Dan quit last Friday.
No one seemed to know. He didn't tell
any of his fellow supervisors...
nor did he tell
any of his political supporters.
Obviously, you know,
if the time I spent to become elected...
the time I spent down at the board,
the hours, the many hours I've spent...
I don't want to see wasted.
But for now, I can only deal
with my family's responsibilities.
Many don't agree with Dan White.
They say he gave up
all of his political chits...
when he resigned so quickly
without making any arrangements...
for someone whom he liked
and supported to take over this district.
In Supervisor District ,
I'm David Fowler...
Channel Eyewitness News.
Well, now it starts all over again,
because this morning...
former supervisor
Dan White says...
he wants to be called
supervisor one more time.
I didn't run for election to resign
ten months later. I worked awfully hard.
My wife and my supporters
worked awfully hard...
so that I would be elected.
And it was a major decision,
as you can all understand, on Friday...
that I had to come...
to arrive at.
But since that time,
people unknown to me...
plus my family and friends, uh...
have come to me and stated
that they want me to stay in office...
that they supported me
to stay in office.
Mayor Moscone
learned from the city attorney...
that Dan White could not
take back his resignation.
It was up
to the mayor to decide...
who would get
the District seat.
Harvey Milk lobbied hard
against reappointing Dan White.
Harvey's story was that the mayor
was thinking of reappointing Dan...
and that Harvey went in and said,
"How can you possibly do that?
Dan is the sixth vote
on the board we need."
And certainly Harvey
was courageous in that stance...
because no one else
was doin' it.
And there were other supervisors
on the board who felt just as strongly...
but they weren't going
to get involved in that.
I mean, what if Dan got reappointed,
you know? Think of the animosity.
Moscone started
to get word from his coalition...
of neighborhood groups
and ethnic voters.
Most of the problems
of the people here tonight...
were that they were not consulted...
they might have helped...
and the fact that they weren't
even given the dignity...
of his concern bothered them.
So that's obviously
not the best way to go.
I think a -month supervisor
can be excused for political naïveté.
I'm simply saying it may not
have been the best way to go.
But the issue
is bigger than his style.
The issue is what's fair, right,
and just for the people of District .
White was at City Hall
with his group of backers:
some citizens, firemen...
and a delegation representing
large real estate firms.
I'm overwhelmed at your support,
that you would take time out...
to come down here
on a Friday at this time...
to show not only me
but the people of my district...
and the people
of San Francisco...
that you approve of the way
I'm conducting myself.
But then Dan White
and the shambles of his political career...
were upstaged by chaos
of an entirely different order.
The city learned
of the m*rder-su1c1de...
of some people...
most of them San Franciscans.
In Jonestown, Guyana.
On Monday, November ...
Mayor Moscone planned
to announce District 's new supervisor.
It was not
going to be Dan White.
Good evening. To outsiders
and even to some San Franciscans...
it must appear the city
has gone a little insane.
Just as everyone is beginning
to come to grips...
with the mindless m*rder-su1c1de
of over members...
of the San Francisco-based
People's Temple...
word screams out over the radio,
the television, the newspapers...
that another tragedy is upon us.
Code , room .
I'm in the mayor's office.
One moment.
We're trying to ascertain
what's happening.
Room , please.
Get another ambulance
over here, will ya?
Where are the victims going?
I don't know if they're going anywhere.
Harvey Milk and the Mayor
are supposed to be D.O.A.
As president of the board, I-I'm, I'm...
As president
of the board of supervisors...
it's my duty
to make this announcement.
Both Mayor Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk...
have been shot and k*lled.
No! Jesus Christ!
The...
- Hold it!
- Hold it!
- Shh!
- Quiet!
Quiet, everybody!
The suspect
is Supervisor Dan White.
Is he in custody?
He's not... He's not at this time.
Thank you very much.
Attention all units:
suspect named Dan White.
White male adult, years...
six feet, pounds...
wearing a three-piece brown suit.
Considered armed and dangerous.
Attention all units: Former supervisor
Dan White is now in custody.
Repeating: Former supervisor
Dan White is now in custody. Clear.
Dan, why'd you do it?
Dan, why? Why?
Okay, that's it.
Enough. That's it.
At approximately : a.m...
realizing he was not going
to be reappointed...
Dan White went directly
to the mayor's office unannounced.
There was a brief argument.
Dan White pulled out a g*n
and shot George Moscone.
The mayor fell...
and White fired
two more b*ll*ts into his head.
White then reloaded his g*n.
He walked
to the other side of City Hall...
and into Harvey Milk's office.
Five sh*ts rang out.
According
to the coroner's report...
Harvey Milk was rising,
both hands out in front of him...
when the first shot hit.
He fell.
White fired three more times.
He leaned over and,
from above...
put the g*n nearly
against Harvey Milk's head...
and fired a last time.
The day that Harvey was k*lled...
I was flying up to Seattle
to visit my folks...
and it's really...
I think it was the first time I had seen
them since our talk about coming out.
I, um... got on the plane
at : in San Francisco.
Harvey was k*lled at : ,
but I had no idea.
And so I screamed,
and I came back up Van Ness Avenue...
and I remember thinking, "People are going
about their business in an ordinary way.
How dare they go about
their business in an ordinary way!
Don't you realize the course
of history's been changed?"
We had a black-and-white television, and
we turned it on in the office and, um...
I think it was just too painful,
you know?
I mean, it was clear that both of them
were dead, brutally assassinated.
And I... You know, I...
I walked out of the office.
I had the radio on...
and the guy came on,
and he said it with such a certitude.
Sometimes you hear things on the news,
and they're not gonna be true.
He just said it,
and I knew it was true.
In fact, I... It's interesting.
Later I thought...
"I've always kind of thought
this might happen"...
and never dwelled on it,
and here it was happening.
He was saying,
"Harvey Milk and George Moscone...
were shot and k*lled
by Dan White."
And I just screamed, "No!"
It just kinda came out.
People looked, but I had a feeling
people knew why I was screaming.
So I drove down to City Hall.
I wasn't going to sit here and go crazy.
And I had to park far away...
so I walked past this entrance
that I ordinarily...
would not walk past...
and they were bringing out
the bodies then.
You know, it's kind of...
I mean, you can think somebody's dead,
but I mean, there...
And I knew it was Milk
because I knew how tall he was.
And they hadn't covered
part of his feet or something, and I...
You know, you trip out
on different things, and you think...
"God, what a big foot, Harvey.
I never realized you had such a big foot."
And so then I went around
to City Hall in the front...
and there these...
a lot of media people.
And the thing that struck me
the most was...
I don't know. I guess,
again, this expressive
southern Italian
background I have.
I thought people would be going "Ahh!"
but instead it was quiet.
It was silent.
We got back, and my roommate
picked us up at the airport, and he said...
"There's gonna be a candlelight march.
Do you want to go to it?"
And we said, "Of course."
So he said, "Well, by now
it's probably reached City Hall."
So we drove directly
from the airport to City Hall...
and there were
maybe people there.
And I remember thinking, "My God,
is this all that anybody cared?" you know.
And somebody said,
"No, the march hasn't gotten here yet."
So we then walked
over to Market Street...
which is two or three blocks away,
and looked down it.
Market Street runs in a straight line
out to the Castro area.
And as we turned the corner...
there were people...
as wide as this wide street,
as far as you could see.
Thousands and thousands of people...
and that feeling of such loss.
Having lost someone
who was so important... and some thing.
Harvey stood for something
more than just him.
The combination
of Harvey being k*lled...
and going down
with all those people...
I don't know if you call it
"expressing your grief" or what it was...
but being
with all those people, and...
it's nighttime in San Francisco,
and a bunch of strangers around you...
and you feel as safe
as you do in your own home.
And there was this black man on the
corner of... whatever... Noe there...
and he kept shouting,
"Where is your anger?
Where is your anger?
Where is your anger?"
And, you know,
I didn't know where it was.
I think that all of us
at that time...
were in such a, a, a state of shock,
you know, that...
I don't know if it was numbed
or we were anesthetized.
Certainly I was angry...
but it seemed appropriate
to do this...
peaceful, kind of internalized thing...
out of some kind of respect
for the enormity of what happened.
It was one of the most
eloquent expressions...
of a community's response
to v*olence that I've ever seen.
I think we
as lesbians and gay men...
and all of the straight people
who were marching with us that night...
and there were thousands...
I think we said it.
I think we sent a message
to the nation that night...
about what our immediate
response was.
Not v*olence...
but a certain respect for Harvey...
and a deep... a deep regret
and feeling of tragedy about it...
because Moscone
had been our friend as well.
And then going down to City Hall...
that tremendous expanse of people.
And I turned to John and I said,
"Harvey would have loved this!"
When we kind of tried
to get close to the stage...
and I saw friends up there
and I thought...
"Oh, I just can't go face anybody."
I started to cry, and everyone started
to cry. It was just so touching.
I'm gonna start to cry now.
But there's a statue down there,
and everyone put candles...
You know, several people,
right that following week...
came out of the closet
because they had been there...
and they had seen,
you know, all of the people...
and they had felt
that they had been living a lie.
Sorry, better stop.
I don't know if I can...
They really felt so moved
that they came out to people...
and said,
"Did you know that I'm gay?"
And, um,
I was so touched by it...
because that's what Harvey
had stood for...
and it took his death
for them to realize that...
They just came out.
No one would fire them from their jobs,
because it's against the law...
and they could
still live a life...
and yet that part of our society
that's very closed could open.
On Thursday, November ...
George Moscone's funeral
was held at St. Mary's Cathedral.
On Saturday, December ...
Harvey Milk's ashes were scattered
into the Pacific by his friends.
Today we went looking for clues
to why White would k*ll the mayor...
who refused
to reappoint him to his post...
and a supervisor
who opposed him politically.
We didn't find any.
For many years,
the Whites lived on London Street...
in the southeast sector
of San Francisco...
which White served
during his few months on the board...
and where he was raised.
Among their neighbors
on London Street were the Cooks.
I don't know. I don't know. He, he...
He must have went off the deep end,
because he was just a nice guy.
Did he ever show
any signs of cracking up?
No, nothing. He was all-American boy,
as far as I was concerned.
I never did see him
really argue with anybody.
I think he was
a very family-oriented man.
Catholic.
He went to church all the time.
He was very devoted to the job.
And I don't think he had
any grudge towards anybody.
I don't think anybody
disliked him, that I knew of.
Five months
after the assassinations...
Dan White went on trial.
Couldn't see how the trial would last
more than... more than a day.
Such a cut-and-dried thing.
You know, there was... You'd follow
the newspapers, but no big deal.
He was automatically
gonna be guilty...
and go to San Quentin
the rest of his life, you know.
Anybody knew that.
As the trial and the jury
selection started...
I sort of developed
this sense of doom...
that justice was not
going to prevail...
because
the jury selection process...
excluded gay people...
minority residents,
and anyone who may have had...
a political point of view
that would be different from Dan White.
And I don't want
to knock the jury system...
because I do believe
in the jury system...
but once you knock
all these people out...
what does that leave you with?
We had turned this over
to be taken care of...
to a system that was actually in many ways
responsible for these assassinations.
So there's this little
feeling in your
stomach when you get
afraid and you think...
"What am I gonna do,
you know, personally?
What are we gonna do?
He's in the hands of the cops."
The prosecution
argued a simple motive: revenge.
Detailing the facts
of the crime...
the state spent three days proving
that Dan White committed the murders.
White's own lawyers had already
admitted this in their opening statement.
To prove its case...
the prosecution played a tape
of Dan White's confession...
but the tactic backfired.
Some of the jurors
wept in sympathy for White.
I've been
under an awful lot of pressure lately.
Financial pressure
that affected my job situation.
Family pressure.
Not being able to have the time
with my family.
The mayor never called me.
He told me he was gonna call me
before he made any decision.
He never did that.
It was only on my...
my own initiative...
when I went down today
to speak with him.
I was troubled.
The, the pressure, my...
The family again.
My, my son's out to a babysitter.
My wife's gotta work long hours.
You know, I just was going
to the mayor to see...
if he was gonna reappoint me...
just all the time knowin' he was gonna
go out and lie to the press...
and tell 'em, you know,
that I wasn't a good supervisor...
and that people
didn't want me and...
And then that was it. Then I...
I just shot him.
And then it struck me
about what Harvey had tried to do...
and I said,
"Well, I'll go talk to him."
I said, "At least maybe
he'll be honest with me."
And he was all smiles and stuff
when I went in.
He knew I wasn't going
to be reappointed and, uh...
he just kind of smirked at me...
as if to say, "Too bad."
And then...
And then I just got
all flushed and hot...
and I shot him.
Now, if Dan White wants
to save himself from the death penalty...
he's going to have to prove that
he didn't plan to k*ll anyone that day.
Prosecutors say he did
premeditate the murders...
because on that day
he put his g*n on...
and he put a bunch
of extra b*ll*ts into his pocket.
Then he got into City Hall here
by climbing in this window...
knowing he couldn't get his g*n past
the metal detector in the main entrance.
Prosecutors say this shows he was
planning to do something suspicious.
White's lawyer claims
it's common for people...
to try to get
into City Hall this way...
that Dan White was only
carrying a g*n to protect himself...
and that other supervisors,
including Feinstein...
have carried g*ns for protection.
But if he was only trying
to protect himself that day...
why did he put all those
extra b*ll*ts into his pocket?
It will be interesting to see
how the defense tries to explain that.
You told the jury that...
although he had the g*n
with him, the . ...
he had no intention of sh**ting
anyone at City Hall, correct?
That's correct.
And that other supervisors carried
weapons with permits. Is that correct?
Well, I didn't mention
"with permits"...
but I did say that other supervisors
and perhaps other City Hall personnel...
do carry firearms presently
and have carried them in the past, yeah.
Do you know if the other people
who do carry weapons...
also carry ten extra rounds
in their pocket?
I think ex-police officers...
and certainly police officers,
on or off duty...
carry extra amm*nit*on, yes.
And that is also why you say he reloaded
after sh**ting Mayor Moscone.
That is what I said, yes.
Now, clarify that though... because
of his experience as an ex-police officer.
Yes, I think it was more instinctive
than anything else.
White was portrayed as an idealist...
disgusted
with the corruption of politics...
a man who felt the city
was deteriorating...
as a decent place
for San Franciscans to live.
Defense attorney Doug Schmidt
told the jury...
"Good people,
fine people with fine backgrounds...
simply don't k*ll people
in cold blood.
It just doesn't happen."
A key witness for the defense
was Dan White's wife, Mary Ann.
I knew the types of pressure...
that Danny was under.
I felt the pressure myself, and...
I think when this occurred,
I felt more for Danny...
than I did for myself
or anyone else.
I really did. I just felt so much
that I wanted to do something for him.
Do you foresee a point in the future...
where your life can return
to some degree of normalcy?
Oh, yes.
I firmly believe that there's...
something for us good
that will come out of this.
White's lawyers introduced
the testimony of five psychiatrists...
to prove that he acted while
in a state of severe depression...
induced in part by consuming
too much junk food.
His attorneys argued he had k*lled Moscone
and Milk in the heat of the moment...
and that under the law...
the charges against him
should be reduced...
from m*rder to manslaughter.
The trial concluded
in just eleven days.
You do expect surprises...
and to be ready
and open-minded for surprises...
the shocking fact
that he did this...
and you might also have
the shocking fact...
that there was some
extenuating circumstances...
or some reason
why he was innocent.
So you're ready for that
kind of possibility,
but I thought he
might get the chair.
I remember
rushing out of the courtroom...
and the news was on line,
waiting for the verdict.
I remember thinking to myself,
"Try to look like you're not so shocked."
Jeannine Yeoman's right here.
What is it?
Yes, the jury has found Dan White
guilty of voluntary manslaughter...
in the killings of both
George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
That's a verdict that carries two, three,
or four years on each of those counts.
He also could receive two years each...
for using a g*n
in the commission of the crime.
And once again to repeat...
that is the verdicts that White's attorney,
Doug Schmidt, had asked the jury to return.
Dan White could now receive
anywhere from four to years in prison...
with a possibility
of parole after...
We have received word that
a demonstration has been called...
for : this evening
in front of City Hall...
to protest
the Dan White verdict.
I was really outraged, and I...
was going to go
down to City Hall...
and I didn't go to City Hall...
because I had to run home
to take care of our kids.
But I had this strong sense.
I said, "Someone
has to say something."
That's our justice system.
He got away with it. Eight years.
If you k*ll a public official...
Especially if I did. What would I get?
I'm an old lady.
I won't be here very much longer.
And I would not like to be here
and see him walking the streets.
- You don't want him to get out?
- No. After k*lling two men, no.
It was a challenge
to your own personal value system.
You know, politically correct...
"I'm against
capital punishment. I
mean, my goodness."
And then all of a sudden,
all you want is blood revenge.
Certain people who were
considered leaders...
certain men and women of the gay
community who were saying...
"Now, now, calm down.
Justice will be served."
I went, "Oh, come on!
Stop it! Stop it!"
"City Hall, City Hall, City Hall!"
It was like a beat, a rhythm.
And going down Market Street,
disrupting traffic.
We want justice! We want justice!
We want justice!
He got away with m*rder!
He got away with m*rder!
We want justice!
We want justice!
Remember Harvey Milk!
Remember Harvey Milk!
Dan White's a pig!
Dan White's a pig!
Dan White's a pig!
The people united will never be defeated!
The people united...
...almost an uncontrollable situation.
Find out if you've got any more squads.
Send me more help.
No more v*olence!
No more v*olence!
No more v*olence!
By about : ,
things had gone from good to bad...
to good and to very bad.
There's a narrow perimeter
of shaky policemen...
on my left over here
in front of City Hall.
Behind them, and sometimes in the
midst of them, are the demonstrators.
Every once in a while, a demonstrator,
a protestor, will come out of the crowd...
throw a piece of burning material
into a police car, and start it on fire.
You'll get a brick in your head!
You'll never know what hit you!
If you look right away, you can see it
coming and get out of the way.
What we have tonight is a...
a mob out of control,
and I think it's a tragedy.
I think it's gonna set, uh, back...
the, uh, fight for human rights
a great deal.
And I must tell you
that if persons are arrested...
for the crimes that have been
committed tonight...
my office is gonna prosecute them
to the fullest extent of the law.
If you remember,
the v*olence that started all this...
was Dan White's v*olence.
I feel that the jury
was violent this afternoon...
by treating Dan White in a way
that nobody's ever gonna believe...
they would have treated
a black person or a gay person...
or someone who did not fit
Dan's type image.
They were saying
that the spirit of Dan White...
with all of its pettiness,
all of its meanness...
and all of its v*olence
right below the surface is okay...
and in so doing
were very violently attacking...
the memory of George Moscone
and Harvey Milk.
We are reacting with anger
because we are angry.
People were outraged
because it was property.
You know, this great institution
of the free world... We dared!
You can replace a goddamned glass door.
You can replace a chandelier, right?
You can replace a police car.
But you can't replace Harvey.
Feeling the rage
and the, the, the...
the extreme emotions...
that seemed to be coming
from all of those folks...
I was right with 'em.
I was right with 'em in saying
I... you know...
"There is no justice
here today...
and anything that we do
is absolutely fine."
And then I thought...
"You know, that's not it.
That's not the way."
And something of a bit
of a cooler head came upon me.
I guess I thought about Harvey...
who had said many times
that he didn't want v*olence...
to follow in the footsteps
of anything that happened to him.
What the verdict did...
to our sensitivity
was to say...
"You know, it's not important
to be civil in American society.
And it's not important to honor
other people's right...
as long as you are white...
and you uphold certain
white, middle-class values...
because you're gonna get away with m*rder.
You're gonna be condoned."
I think if it had just been
Moscone that got k*lled...
I think he would have been
guilty of m*rder...
and been in San Quentin
the rest of his life.
But sad to say, I think there's
a lot of people in this world...
that still think
if you k*ll a gay...
you're doin'
a service to society.
I think I'd have felt that way too...
if I hadn't been associated
with Harvey and the gay community.
I probably would have felt
the same way.
'Cause up till that time, I thought that
a guy that was gay was just...
He's not, uh...
You know, he's not us.
And I remember
when I used to hear about...
the cops would go into gay bars
years ago and rough up the gays...
and I thought,
"What's wrong with that?"
You know?
"That's, that's okay."
And I think the majority
of people felt that way...
and I think a lot of people
still feel the same way.
And it's a shame.
Dan White was released
from prison on January , .
He served / years...
and received no psychiatric
treatment in prison.
Somewheres
in Des Moines or San Antonio...
there's a young gay person...
who all of a sudden realizes
that she or he is gay...
knows that
if their parents find out...
they'll be tossed
out of the house.
The classmates
would taunt the child...
and the Anita Bryants and John Briggs
are doing their bit on TV.
And that child
had several options:
staying in the closet,
su1c1de...
and then one day that child might
open up a paper and it says...
"h*m* elected
in San Francisco"...
and there are two new options.
One option
is to go to California...
...or stay in San Antonio
and fight.
Two days after I was elected,
I got a phone call...
and the voice was quite young.
It was from
Altoona, Pennsylvania.
And the person said, "Thanks."
And you've got
to elect gay people...
so that that young child,
and the thousands upon thousands...
like that child...
know that there's hope
for a better world...
there's hope
for a better tomorrow.
Without hope, not only gays,
but those blacks...
and the Asians...
and the disabled, the seniors...
the "us's."
The "us's."
Without hope, the "us's" give up.
I know that you cannot live
on hope alone...
but without it
life is not worth living.
And you, and you, and you...
have gotta give 'em hope.
Thank you very much.
Times of Harvey Milk, The (1984)
Moderator: Maskath3