page_title: White Night riots
section_title: Causes
hierarchical_section_title: White Night riots / Analysis / Causes
caption_attribution_description: Castro Street, San Francisco, California
context_page_description: 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 San Francisco Mayor George Moscone 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. That White was not convicted of first-degree murder had so outraged the city's gay community that it set off the most violent reaction by gay Americans since the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.
  The gay community of San Francisco had a longstanding conflict with the San Francisco Police Department. White's status as a former police officer intensified the community's anger at the SFPD. Initial demonstrations took place as a peaceful march through the Castro district of San Francisco. After the crowd arrived at the San Francisco City Hall, violence began.
context_section_description: The community had a long history of conflict with the San Francisco Police Department. Following World War II, gay bars were subject to frequent raids and attempts by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to revoke their alcohol licenses. They were accused of serving alcohol to homosexuals, a criminal act at the time.
  The growing political and economic power of the city's gay community conflicted with the established but dwindling numbers of the conservative institutions, such as the police and fire departments. By 1971, police were arresting an average of 2,800 men per year on public sex charges; by contrast, 63 such arrests were made in New York City, although up to a quarter of San Francisco was reported to be gay at the time. Many charges were dismissed due to entrapment, but several men were given harsh sentences. In March, 1979, an attack on a lesbian bar by off-duty police officers made the national news and highlighted  the tension between the LGBT community and police. The Washington Post  cited the incident when it reported a week before the White Night riots that anti-homosexual violence had  "increased to a level unparalleled in San Francisco's recent history", including what the gay community perceived as "increasing harassment and abuse directed toward homosexuals by the police themselves,"  as well as indifference by city officials.
  When Dan White was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, his successful diminished capacity defense enraged the gay community. That the police and fire departments had raised money for his defense gave their anger a focus, turning it against the city government and especially the SFPD.
caption: San Francisco's Castro district became an early stronghold for the emerging gay community.
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