An LGBT History Month Icon, Franklin E. Kameny was the chief strategist and founder of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. A first-generation American, born in New York on May 21, 1925, Kameny became a decorated World War II veteran and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He made enumerable lifelong contributions to LGBTQ+ equality. Kameny fought to overturn the ban on gay and lesbians in federal employment and filed the first LGBTQ equality brief with the United States Supreme Court. He cofounded organizations that would become the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Washington Blade. He led seminal protests and coined the slogan “Gay Is Good,” at a time when LGBTQ+ people were vilified as deviants. He waged a successful effort to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. He remained a prominent activist until his death in 2011.

In honor of Frank Kameny’s 100th birthday, 100 demonstrators will raise candles in activism and remembrance on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. They will be joined by prominent national LGBTQ leaders carrying picket signs, many of which will include messages from the early iconic LGBTQ protests. We invite you to join this historic celebration, organized by LGBT History Month in collaboration with national partner organizations.

With fellow activists Craig Rodwell and Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny orchestrated the Annual Reminders — the first organized public demonstrations for gay and lesbian equality, held in front of Independence Hall each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. Kameny and Gittings recruited protesters from Philadelphia, New York, and the District of Columbia to participate. At the first Annual Reminder, 40 brave gay and lesbian picketers carried signs demanding equality. By 1969 their numbers had more than tripled.