Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978. His assassin, Dan White, was sentenced to only seven years in prison. Outrage over the verdict lead to widespread rioting in San Francisco by enraged homosexuals and others. Milk is seen by some to be a martyr to the LGBT community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk