Harvey Milk, first openly gay elected official in the United States, served as San Francisco Supervisor here. It was in in City Hall on November 27, 1978, that Milkhe was assassinated by Dan White within moments of White shooting Mayor George Moscone. On May 21, 1979, after a jury gave White a sentence of less than six years for the two murders, that the “White Night Riots” erupted out of what had began as a peaceful but angry protest.
More than two decades later, the ornate rotunda of City Hall became the site of many commitment ceremonies as San Francisco became one of the first municipalities in the country to recognize same-sax unions.