CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Trailblazing gay activist, astronomer, and World War II veteran Frank Kameny passed away Tuesday, the Washington Blade reports. He was 86.
Kameny was an early pioneer in taking the Pentagon to task for discharging gays and lesbians. In 1961, Kameny filed a lawsuit challenging his discharge from the Army Map Service because he was gay, decades before the U.S. Supreme Court declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. He led a demonstration against the military in 1965, and his death comes just weeks after a new era began in the military, as gays and lesbians began serving openly after "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed.
Kameny and the city's local Mattachine Society chapter later took Washington, D.C. by storm for its treatment of gay federal employees. After years of protest, the Civil Service Commission (now the Office of Personnel Management) announced it would end its ban on openly gay employees in 1973. He was also instrumental in pushing the American Psychiatric Association to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness.
In 2009, Kameny received a formal apology from OPM for being fired because of his sexual orientation. He was also honored by the Obama Administration when the president signed a policy to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
More Photos of Kameny Are on the Following Pages.
How Do You Remember Frank Kameny? Share Your Memories in the Comments Section Below.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
60 wild photos from Folsom Street East that prove New York City knows how to play
June 21 2024 12:25 PM
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
If you think Project 2025 is scary, take a look at Donald Trump's Agenda 47
July 09 2024 2:35 PM
Latest Stories
'A betrayal': Trans people respond to Sarah McBride's bathroom ban compliance
November 21 2024 12:36 PM
Jussie Smollett’s homophobic hoax conviction overturned by Illinois Supreme Court
November 21 2024 12:02 PM
Watch AOC slam Nancy Mace for 'endangering all women' with transgender bathroom ban
November 21 2024 11:40 AM
82% of trans workers have suffered discrimination or harassment: report
November 21 2024 11:18 AM
Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival returns to L.A. just in time for the holidays
November 21 2024 8:54 AM
President Biden, HHS Secretary Becerra mark Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 20 2024 6:39 PM