In his long life he took on the Nazis, the USA Civil Service, the Pentagon, the FBI, the medical establishment, & the police. Mostly he won, & so did gay Americans.
Frank Kameny was one of the first few gay Americans to refuse to be ashamed of his sexual orientation & he did it in a very public way. Kameny was paramount in changing the perception & the promotion of gay people. Years before Stonewall, he was picketing in front of the White House. In 1971, he ran as an openly gay candidate for D.C.'s non-voting seat in Congress. He gave us the phrase ''Gay is Good'' in 1968, when homosexuality & shame were partners.
Born & raised in NYC, Kameny saw combat as an Army soldier in WW2 in Europe. After the war, Kameny gained a doctorate degree in astronomy from Harvard University.
He went to work as an astronomer for the US Army map service in the 1950s & was fired after authorities discovered he was a homo. Kameny fought the firing & appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first known gay person to file a gay-related case before the high court. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling against Kameny & declined to hear the case, but Kameny’s decision to appeal the case through the court system motivated him to become a lifelong advocate for LGBT equality. This week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case from Louisiana on gay people adopting children.
Kameny understood that we must keep working. In August, 1961 Kameny & Jack Nichols co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington,the organization that embrassed aggressive action for gay & lesbian civil rights. In 1963 the group was the subject of Congressional hearings over its right to solicit funds.
Kameny’s collected papers have transferred to the archive at the Library of Congress. He & lesbian activist Barbara Gittings were the first recipients of the American Psychiatric Association's John M. Fryer, M.D., Award, recognizing their contribution to battle against that association’s earlier homophobia. In 2006, the Human Rights Campaign presented him with the National Capital Area Leadership Award. In February 2009, Kameny’s home in Washington was designated as an Historic Landmark by the District of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Review Board. The Smithsonian Institution includes Kameny's picket signs carried in front of the White House in 1965, in the Smithsonian exhibit Treasures of American History. The Smithsonian now has 12 of the original picket signs carried by gay & lesbian Americans the first ever White House demonstration for gay rights.
KAMENY: “We certainly have come further than we ever could have dreamed. & I don't think anybody could have ever imagined where we'd be. I simply didn't expect to see where we're at. But it has increasingly elicited a backlash from the conservatives. They are rigidly & nastily anti-gay. I always find it very useful in arguing with them to wrap myself in the American flag & say that as a gay veteran of World War II combat I didn't come back here for second-class citizenship. They are fighting for all they're worth. Ultimately, I think we'll win because we're right & they're wrong. But it's going to take awhile. There is still a good deal of a fight ahead of us for the coming years. The battle is not over, but at this point we have a good, solid base. Things change.”
Frank Kemeny left us today for the great disco in the sky. Thank you, Frank! You were brave during a time when being brave was brave. We owe you so much.
Frank Kameny was one of the first few gay Americans to refuse to be ashamed of his sexual orientation & he did it in a very public way. Kameny was paramount in changing the perception & the promotion of gay people. Years before Stonewall, he was picketing in front of the White House. In 1971, he ran as an openly gay candidate for D.C.'s non-voting seat in Congress. He gave us the phrase ''Gay is Good'' in 1968, when homosexuality & shame were partners.
Born & raised in NYC, Kameny saw combat as an Army soldier in WW2 in Europe. After the war, Kameny gained a doctorate degree in astronomy from Harvard University.
He went to work as an astronomer for the US Army map service in the 1950s & was fired after authorities discovered he was a homo. Kameny fought the firing & appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first known gay person to file a gay-related case before the high court. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling against Kameny & declined to hear the case, but Kameny’s decision to appeal the case through the court system motivated him to become a lifelong advocate for LGBT equality. This week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case from Louisiana on gay people adopting children.
Kameny understood that we must keep working. In August, 1961 Kameny & Jack Nichols co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington,the organization that embrassed aggressive action for gay & lesbian civil rights. In 1963 the group was the subject of Congressional hearings over its right to solicit funds.
Kameny’s collected papers have transferred to the archive at the Library of Congress. He & lesbian activist Barbara Gittings were the first recipients of the American Psychiatric Association's John M. Fryer, M.D., Award, recognizing their contribution to battle against that association’s earlier homophobia. In 2006, the Human Rights Campaign presented him with the National Capital Area Leadership Award. In February 2009, Kameny’s home in Washington was designated as an Historic Landmark by the District of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Review Board. The Smithsonian Institution includes Kameny's picket signs carried in front of the White House in 1965, in the Smithsonian exhibit Treasures of American History. The Smithsonian now has 12 of the original picket signs carried by gay & lesbian Americans the first ever White House demonstration for gay rights.
KAMENY: “We certainly have come further than we ever could have dreamed. & I don't think anybody could have ever imagined where we'd be. I simply didn't expect to see where we're at. But it has increasingly elicited a backlash from the conservatives. They are rigidly & nastily anti-gay. I always find it very useful in arguing with them to wrap myself in the American flag & say that as a gay veteran of World War II combat I didn't come back here for second-class citizenship. They are fighting for all they're worth. Ultimately, I think we'll win because we're right & they're wrong. But it's going to take awhile. There is still a good deal of a fight ahead of us for the coming years. The battle is not over, but at this point we have a good, solid base. Things change.”
