Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in United States history, had been serving on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors only 11 months when he, along with Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, a fellow supervisor disillusioned with the constant compromise of city politics and an opponent on gay-rights issues. Harvey Milk interweaves newsreel footage and personal interviews to construct a compelling portrait of these turbulent times: Milk's rise to prominence in the Castro; Moscone's emphasis on neighborhoods and the subsequent redistricting that allowed Milk to be elected; his successful fight against Senator John Briggs's inflammatory Proposition 6; the assassination; White's trial; and its violent aftermath. The most moving images depict the massive but reverential candlelight march that followed the shootings, a sharp contrast to the riots after White's infamous Twinkies-defense trial.