National Equality March/Dr. Frank Kameny/1 of 2/DADT Protest & Memorial for Leonard Matlovich

Part 1 of 2 parts.

FRANK KAMENY, the chief architect of the modern gay rights movement, has been fighting for our equality for over half a century. Quote: "As a gay veteran of World War II combat I didn't come back to America for second-class citizenship." He first led demonstrations against the ban on gays in the military forty-four years ago. He sued the federal government who'd fired him for being gay, one of thousands during the decade-long purge of the perverts, his efforts finally leading to the Civil Service Commission abandoning their ban 18 years later. He challenged harassment of gays by DC's morals squad, founded the first gay group in the nation's capital, and cofounded the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force [NGLTF]. Over the objections of some of our own, he coined the slogan Gay Is Good, and was one of those who forced the American Psychiatric Association to declare that homosexuality is not a mental illness—the first major victory in the movement's history. In 1965, four years before Stonewall, he led the first gay protests at the White House, which President Obama recently declared, "an act of conscience but also an act of extraordinary courage." Despite outrage from the American Taliban, some of those picket signs have been embraced by the Smithsonian, joining one of George Washington's uniforms, the writing desk of Thomas Jefferson, and the first Whites Only lunch counter blacks protested. His personal papers now reside at the Library of Congress along with those of Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony. They include campaign materials from when he was the first out gay person to run for Congress in 1971, and documents related to his most famous protégé—Leonard Matlovich.

www.kamenypapers.org

www.leonardmatlovich.com

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• National Equality March
• Leonard Matlovich
• Frank Kameny
• Dan Choi
• DADT