Harvey Milk (1930 – 1978)
He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk only served 11 months in office and sponsored a bill that banned discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation, which was signed into law.
Milk was assassinated by a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk's bill.
He has been called the most famous and most significant openly LGBT official ever elected in the United States.