Dan White gave up his job with the San Francisco fire department to go into politics. Running on a strongly anti-gay platform he was elected to the post of supervisor but soon found himself in financial trouble. When he resigned in 1978 Mayor George Moscone was persuaded by another supervisor, Harvey Milk, who was the city’s first openly gay elected official, to offer the job to a replacement who would support the gay community. Appalled, White withdrew his resignation and when Moscone refused to accept this, he shot him and Milk.