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Volt 4, No* 5
June 1979
Jury Convicts White
s In San Franciscc
Dan White >ms convicted of
manslauf.hter for the killings of
San Francisco Mayor George Moscone
and gay supervisor Harvey Milk.
As a result, violence erupted in.
the streets of San Francisco. .
White, a former supervisor,
had resigned his position and,later
asked to be reinstated. Milk, who
was a leader of the liberal members
on the supervisory board, had urged
that Moscone not reappoint White,
who was known for his conservative
views, Moscone was on the'verge of
announcing the appointment of
another individual when White shot
him.
In court, White admitted
shooting both men. Ibe jury .
vias instructed to determine whether
the killings were premeditated.
White faced a possible death
sentence if convicted of first-
de^rree murder or eight years
maximum if convicted of manslaughter.
The jury deliberated for six days
and returned a verdict of iiian-
slaughter.
Some supporter of gay rights
around the country were shocked. Jean
O’Leary and G. F. Brydon, co-execu
tive Directors of the National Gay
Task Force, issued a statement:
•’The verdict in the trial of former
San Francisco supervisor Dan White
is a travesty and an outrag;e. While
we deplore the violence that occurred
last evening, the maximum 8-year
prison tena is intolerable for the
senseless slaughter of two out
standing public officials. When
10 to 20 years for violation of state
sodomy statutes, the comparison is
simply ludicrous.” .
A candlelight march had
originally been planned for the nighi
of the verdict. The march began witl
f^y men and was soon joined by large
numbers of lesbians and heterosexuals
Demonstrator's began to break windows
in the Civic Center Plaza in front
of City Ttall, chanting, ”We want
justice.” Bottles and rocks were
thrown through windows; a fire was
set in the basement of one building;
and police cars were set on fire.
When police began to actively oppose
demonstrators who attempted to enter
iJity Hall, further violence broke oui
The police drove people and reporters
back into the ria25a with clubs and
chemical laace, while gay leaders
tried in vain to calm the crowd.
By 11:30 p.m., the crowd, which
had earlier 'been mostly gay, was
joi2»ed by rowdies. When police
finally forced people out of the
plaza, stores were broken into and
looted, and the area was lit by
flames from dozens of trash fires and
thii'teen blaming police cars. The
organizers of the march had attempted
to divert the violence of the crowd
but did not have enoiigh monitors or
a strong enough public address system
to be effective.
The following evening, however,
a.peaceful crowd of 4000 people
assembled to celebrate Milk’s birth
day, Meg Christian and other enter
tainers and fmy community leaders
(San Francisco cont. P*lly
Statement By The Lambda Collective
We have worked on this issue of lambda as a collective, sharing certain
philosophies. These have led us to propose goals for jan^a in order to best
meet the various needs and interests of gay communities and Individuals. We
will cover diverse issues and events and provide information on the national,
°tate and local levels. We propose to use non-classist, non-racist and non-sexist
lanruage. Lambda can also be a forum for I'eader input: we welcome articles,
announcements, letters to lambda, sugf.cestions and criticism. With increased
participation by Lambda readers, we can better meet our goals and promote
communication among gays in the area.
'U\