Longtime LGBT activist Frank Kameny passed away on October 11, 2011. In 1957 Kameny was dismissed from his job as an astronomer from the Army Map Service for being gay. This discrimination began Kameny’s lifelong commitment to LGBT equality.
An original founder of the seminal gay rights organization the Mattachine Society, Kameny fought for gay civil rights, particularly equal employment treatment by the federal government. Kameny also used direct action protests to expose the discriminatory practices of the federal government by picketing the Pentagon and the U.S. Civil Service Commission. In 2007, signs from his protests were displayed at the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1963 Kameny also initiated protests against sodomy laws in conjunction with the Mattachine Society. Ultimately he authored the bill that was passed in 1993 overturning the laws. A culmination of 30 years of activism. Kameny was also the first openly gay candidate to run for the United States Congress in 1971.
More details as they become available.
