In May 1979, there was an outcry against the lenient sentence received by one, Dan White, who had murdered a gay rights activitist, as well as the mayor. Thousands of gay members of San Francisco's Castro District community took to the streets to protest.

These riots were the most violent in San Francisco's history. Police cars were torched, buildings damaged in the public's fury. Dan White exemplified harsh, uncompromising views against the LGBT community. This night of riot was a turning point for gay rights as it brought the unfairness to the eyes of the world.

In the late 1970s, Harvey Milk and George Moscone were killed by Dan White. Milk was known for being gay and holding political office. Many people were against his holding office, but others supported him and his views. At one time, Dan White worked with Milk and Moscone. However, he became upset and went to their offices and killed them immediately.

After this took place, people began to riot in San Francisco and this became known as the White Night Riots. This was brought about not so much due to the anger towards Milk’s killing, but for the light sentence that White got. Dan White received a voluntary manslaughter sentence and was to serve a seven-year sentence for killing two people.