Protests in San Francisco over Dan White's release by Michael Helquist It happened at 8 am on January 6th: Dan W hite, convicted assassin o f San Francisco M ayor George Moscone and gay supervisor Harvey Milk, became a free man. W hite was released from prison after serving just over five years o f his voluntary m anslaughter sentence. All political and judicial efforts to prevent his release had failed. Angry San Franciscans rallied to protest the widely perceived travesty o f justice, and several thousand in the city refused to let the day pass with business-as-usual. A num ber of incidents o f civil disobedience occurred, but there were no reports o f violence. The full day o f protests began on January 5th ju st before m idnight, the hour at which W hite becam e eligible fo r parole. Two pro testors joined the sm all crowd o f reporters cam ped outside the entrance o f Soledad p ri son where W hite had served m ost o f his sen tence. Health activist and person with AIDS, B obbi C am pbell and his lover Bobby H illiard carried candles and signs w hich declared “Dan W hite Is More Dangerous than AIDS" and “ B ut He Can’t K ill Gay Pride.” Cam pbell to ld reporters that AIDS currently has a m o r tality rate o f 40% whereas Dan W hite has a fatality rate o f 100%. The C alifornia State Parole Board announced the next day that W hite had al ready been m oved from Soledad to another prison facility fo r his release. Authorities cited concern over W hite’s safety as the reason for the unprecedented security surrounding his release. Two m ajor protest rallies drew thousands o f San Franciscans during the day. The Ad Hoc C om m ittee to Protest the Injustice had issued a call to all city workers to support a w ork-stoppage and not to go to w ork that day if possible. A bout 500 dem onstrators rallied at noon at U nion Square in downtown San Francisco. Speakers included lesbian activist and attorney Mary D unlap and recent candi date fo r city supervisor Sister Boom Boom . A ttorney D unlap called upon the dem on- s tra to ri, "to turn against the governm ent that perm its us to be ¡(legitim atized and that al lows us to be turned ou t o f ou r houses and jobs." D unlap underscored the feelings o f m any o f the protestors when she addressed the issues o f violence. “ We dem ean our m o ve m e n t ou r lives, and our values if we join in the chain o f violence begun by Dan White. It is to the death to his ideas and actions that we m ust dedicate ourselves.” Sister B oom Boom , a m em ber o f the p o lit ically active gay m ale group Sisters o f Perpetual Indulgence, also refrained from any calls to violence, but he did indulge in som e plausible conjectures about W hite s fu ture. He stated, “Yesterday was the last day Dan W hite could be assured he’d live through the w hole day. Today he begins his life sen tence, and I’m sorry to say it’s going to be a short one.” Sister Boom Boom brought a lig h t m o m en t to the protest when he ex plained, “ I d o n ’t call fo r violence, but who knows, maybe one o f us som eday will be a little depressed, maybe o ff our diets, and who know s what may happen." At this point he began eating a Twinkie, sym bolic o f W hite’s successful defense o f “ dim inished capacity” due to to o m uch stress and to a diet o f junk food. A fter a half-hour o f speeches the crowd too k to the streets fo r an im prom ptu m arch th ro u g h the financial district stopping traffic fo r six blocks. D em onstrators blew shrill police whistles and banged pots and pans. The m arching crow d quickly swelled to over 50 00 as m en in business suits and wom en in fashionable attire joined the casually dressed protestors. At the sam e tim e about 150 dem onstrators blocked tra ffic at 18th and Castro streets. M any o f them later walked to the Castro and M arket street intersection to sit down and block tra ffic on that m ajor city thoroughfare. The H aight-Ashbury neighborhood became defeaning with widespread w histle-blow ing and yelling. Lesbian and gay em ployees at the U niversity o f C alifornia San Francisco dem onstrated outside the cam pus student union building. T hroughout the city there was a concerted and intense outpouring o f em otion. Frequently dum g the day the question of w hether violence w ould erupt kept surfacing am ong dem onstrators and observers alike. M ost city residents either rem em bered or had been to ld about the violent "W hite Night R iots" on May 21.1979 when W hite's volun tary m anslaughter verdict was announced. Many observers suggested that if violence occurred, it w ould take place during the evening dem onstration scheduled for 8 pm on C astro S treet At the beginning o f that rally, however, protest organizer Donald M ontw ill declared the evening a tim e of celebration. Standing before a huge hand- painted banner splattered with red paint that read “He G ot Away W ith Murder,” M ontwill congratulated the crowd o f 9000, “ We have bro u g h t this incident into the forefront of th in kin g in this city. This part o f our history m ust always be rem em bered. We celebrate o u r ability to rem em ber and to protest We w ill not give up our power to do so." Cleve Jones, an activist who led the first m em orial m arch five years ago, told the crow d, "D an W hite’s bullets were m eant for you and fo r me. They were aim ed at a m ove m ent and a dream — and they missed!" O ther speakers included a gay activist from Ireland, a Puerto Rican fem inist, popular singer Blackberri — who rem inded the as sem bled m edia that people o f color were aiso am ong the protestors — and the new wave g ro u p The Dead Kennedys. Sister Boom B oom reiterated his message from the noon rally and concluded, “Dan W hite, rem em ber this is 1984, and Big Sister is watching !” Finally, at 10:30 pm the crowd dispersed, Dan W hite was burned in effigy, and Castro Street was opened to traffic. San Franciscans were not alone in their Foundation created to stamp out dangerous heterosexual disease. A foundation, nam ed after com edian E ddie M urphy, has been form ed to cure the dangerous disease o f hom ophobia. The fou nd atio n was nam ed after M urphy since he ju stifie d a six-m inute attack on gay people because he is afraid o f contracting AIDS from grilfrie n d s w ho “ hang ou t w ith gay people.” The verbal attacks were parts o f a Colum bia record album and an HBO television program. The Eddie M urphy’s Disease Foundation stated, “ Yes, Eddie Murphy, like m illions of his friends, suffers fro m hom ophobia: an irra tio n a l and uncontrollable fear o f hom o sexuality. Too m any people are confusing hom ophobia w ith other diseases, like hem o philia, so from now on let’s just call it Eddie M urphy’s Disease.” The Eddie M urphy’s Disease Foundation advocates a letter w riting cam paign to C olum bia Records and HBO to protest M urphy’s anti-gay jokes and let them know th a t M urphy's “ faggot jokes" are as unac ceptable as a w hite com edian telling “ nigger jokes.” They also suggest returning the al bu m o r video disk if buyers find it offensive. And, the foundation wants people to spread the w ord. “ You d o n ’t have to be black to help protests. W hen m idday news reports told of W hite’s release w ithin the city lim its o f Los Angeles, residents o f that city — gay and nongay alike — reacted an grily to the pre sence o f the convicted assassin in their com m unity. W hite w ill serve o u t his one year of parole in Los Angeles under the scrutiny of parole officers. D uring that tim e period, W hite is barred fro m visiting San Francisco. A fter the one year, he is free to live as he chooses. The focus o f attention w asn’t on W hite alone on January 6th. F o r many, W hite is an u n im p o rta n t figure w ho sym bolizes the in adequacies and injustices o f the judicial and p o litica l systems. M uch o f the protest was directed at those in pow er w ho perpetrate these perceived injustices. F o r many, gay and nongay alike, the assassinations and the trial verdict underscored the problem atic nature o f the ju d ica l system. W hite’s release simply focused attention once again on the issues of ju stice and power in this country. The intent o f the day o f protest was just that: to protest an injustice. In a sense, there was nothing m ore to be done. The assassina tions, the trial, the sentence, the political m aneuvers had all been played o u t And the con clusio n rem ained the same: Dan White w ould be free. Many dem onstrators expres sed the belief that the very least they could do was to protest and the ensure that at least on th is one day business w ould not go on as usual. Lesbian/gay pavilion at New Orleans World's Fair E ddie M urphy: new sym bol fo r hom ophobia. Photo courtesy o f Django Records. stam p out racism . You do n’t have to be gay to help elim inate Eddie M urphy’s Disease.” M urphy said on the HBO special, “ I’m afraid o f gay people. Petrified. I have night m ares about gay people." And M urphy also said that, during his perform ances, he tries to avoid the "faggot section” o f his audiences because “ faggots aren’t allowed to look at m y ass when I’m on stage.” The Foundation is distributing bum per stickers w hich read, “ Eddie M urphy’s Disease can be cured!” To get one, send a self-address, stam ped envelope to The E ddie M urphy’s Disease Foundation, Box 691585, Los Angeles, CA 90069. The C rescent C ity C oalition o f New O rleans are planning to open a gay/lesbian pavilion in con jun ction w ith the 1984 W orld s Fair, scheduled to run fro m May 16 to S eptem ber 16 in the Louisiana city. Roger Nelson, a m em ber o f the coalition, firs t conceived o f the idea to set up a pavilion in the French Q uarter, w hich cou ld later be converted to a gay co m m u n ity center. The co a litio n later adopted the idea as a group p ro je c t calling the pavilion “ Stonewall + 15. The C rescent C ity C oalition has leased a 17,000 square fo o t b u ild in g to house exhibi tions, “ illustrating o u r lifestyles and reflecting the best o f gay people, illu m in a tin g our past p re se n t and o u r expectations fo r the future, acco rdin g to Nelson. The C oalition is so licitin g ideas and mate rial fro m gay m en and lesbians across the co u n try fo r inclusion in the e x h ib it For infor m ation: C rescent C ity C oalition, 720 Kerlerec S t, New O rleans, LA 70116. SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS THEY SUPPORT US