White Night Riots
1 2015-12-15T13:42:20-08:00 Jordan Lachica 529fcc41357dd55e724e0cf286fdc53ec8743709 7469 1 The "White Night Riots" erupted after a jury found Dan White not guilty of murdering Harvey Milk. Source www.razoo.com/us/story/Out-In-The-Bay plain 2015-12-15T13:42:20-08:00 Jordan Lachica 529fcc41357dd55e724e0cf286fdc53ec8743709This page is referenced by:
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Scene 4: Not-As-Nice Little Fairies
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November 1978: Although Keiko and Tran lived in gay-friendly city, they believed that acts of homophobia took place which worried them. In November 27 1978, San Francisco Mayor, George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by former Supervisor Dan White. It was claimed that White was mentally unstable, proven by his unhealthy diet, which lead to his action. The jury sided with White and he was deemed guilty of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter.
Keiko and Tran were among the many gay San Franciscans who believed that White received a rather light punishment due of homophobia by the jury. They believed that White essentially got away with murder. The couple joined a crowd of angered gays and gay supporters in what was known as the White Night Riots.
In May 21, 1979 Tran and Keiko, along with hundreds of demonstrators marched through the Castro district of San Francisco, yelling: “Out of the bars and into the streets!” The crowd grew as more people heard about the riot from bars. The crowed then proceeded to the San Francisco City Hall where violence took place. Keiko participated in setting fire to police cruisers and yelled to the police, “Make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies!” Keiko helped destroy the ornament from the building’s doors and used it to smash the glass doors of the City Hall. As a result of the demonstrations, 61 police officers and 100 public members were hospitalized ("Verdict On Dan White," 1979).
The following morning, new Supervisor Harry Britt responded to the pressure from Mayor Dianne Feinstein for gays to apologize for the riot. He states:
“Harvey Milk’s people do not have anything to apologize for. Now society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence. We’re not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore.” (qtd.in Strub "Body Counts," 2014)
January 3, 1980: The relationship of Tran and Keiko faced a turbulent turn. One day after work, Keiko found a piece of paper inside the pocket of Tran’s jeans. It read “440 Castro St., San Francisco, CA 94114” Keiko drove to the location which lead to a bath house. Inside the bath house he found Tran having sex with another male partner. Keiko was hurt by Keiko’s affair and immediately ended his relationship with Tran. Not only did he lose respect for Tran, he also knew that bath houses were becoming a prominent destination for gays where HIV was being spread. No government funding had been issued for this growing issue and there was no established research conducted. Given the risk of contracting HIV and the desire to forget about Tran, Keiko moved to Los Angeles.
