The Times of Harvey Milk documents the political career of Harvey Milk, who was San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor. The film documents Milk's rise from a neighborhood activist to a symbol of gay political achievement, through to his assassination in November 1978 at San Francisco's city hall, and the Dan White trial and aftermath.
Frank Ripploh se réveille. Encore nu, il va sur le palier pour voler le journal de la voisine, mais sa porte se referme derrière lui. Il doit alors demander à sa voisine de passer par son balcon pour rentrer chez lui. En classe, il raconte aux écoliers sa mésaventure du matin, en mimant le passage d'un balcon à l'autre. On le voit ensuite, en manteau de cuir, aller dans des toilettes où des hommes guettent le passage d'autres hommes en se masturbant. Il s'enferme dans une cabine où, assis, il corrige des cahiers tout en regardant par une ouverture un homme qui se caresse les fesses. Ce dernier sort, un autre homme prend sa place et introduit son sexe dans le glory hole.
A gay African-American hustler and aspiring cabaret performer, Jason is the sole on-screen presence in the film. He narrates his troubled life story to the camera, behind which Clarke and her partner at the time, actor Carl Lee, provoke and berate Jason with increasing hostility as the film progresses. The film employs avant-garde and cinéma vérité techniques to reach the tragedy underlying Jason's theatrical, exaggerated persona.
The film begins with a narrator, called The Scientist, making cryptic comments about humanity. He first comments that humanity's constant search for the unknown, results in startling things coming to light. But most of these "new" discoveries are actually quite old, to which he refers to as "the signs of the ages". Later, the scene turns to the streets of a city, with the narrator commenting that each human has his/her own thoughts, ideas, and personality. He makes further comments on human life, while sounds accompany some comments. The cries of a newborn baby are followed by the sirens of an ambulance. One is a sign that a new life has begun, the other that a life has ended.