Harvey Milk

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected the first openly gay member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

In 1972, Harvey Milk founded the Castro Valley Association (CVA) in San Francisco. Through the CVA, the Gay community became politically organized and gained allies in the labor unions and with some political leaders. His election to the Board of Supervisors was directly opposed by then anti-gay activist Anita Bryant. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, Milk lobbied for gay civil rights legislation. On November 27, 1978, he was assassinated by former City Supervisor Danny White, who had opposed the gay civil rights bill.

In 1979, 100,000 people marched on the nation's capitol in support of gay civil rights chanting "Harvey Milk Lives."