American politician and the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, where he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk served almost 11 months in office, during which he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis ofsexual orientation. On November 27, 1978, Milk was assassinated. Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. In 2002, he was called “the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States.