An interesting first-person account of the White Night Riots in San Francisco in 1979. That was the largely gay/lesbian riot in response to the verdict in the Dan White case, he being the assassin of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and gay city supervisor Harvey Milk.

(Speaking of which, what a bizarre 10-day stretch that must have been in San Francisco in November 1978 — first, the Jonestown massacre (which involved a San Francisco cult and the murder of a San Francisco congressman), then the mayor gets murdered in city hall.)

White got only a seven-year sentence for the murders — in large part, many believed, because the jury thought that killing a gay man was basically not that big a deal. (There was also the famous “Twinkie defense” to contend with.)

The most interesting part of the first-person account is the series of videos from TV coverage of the Moscone-Milk murders. They’re all interesting, but these stand out to me:

— NBC national coverage of the murders. Notice how there is no mention of Milk being gay until the very end of the clip (which cuts off). It’s understandable that the focus was on Moscone — he was the mayor, after all — but if anything it’s Milk’s death and his status as gay martyr that is remembered more today. Listen to the pronunciation of “homosexual,” too. Another era.

— Then there’s this big of video from local TV of the gay pride parade that followed the White verdict. You’ll see Robin Tyler, who was the named plaintiff in the case that just legalized gay marriage in California. There’s also the odd tactic of giving almost two minutes of airtime to a guy straight out of central casting — a boxer named Mick Kowalski, for heaven’s sake, who goes on about how gays are the downfall of American civilization.

Kowalski on his two-year-old son, now being raised by his lesbian wife: “I’d rather have him have an attitude, be senile, stupid, and make trouble, like the real…I dunno.” Reporter: “Than what?” Kowalski: “Than be a sissy, you know?”

10 June 2008

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