Milestones
Frank Kameny
May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011
Born in Queens, NY, a first-generation American.
Serves in the U.S. Army as a WWII combat infantryman.
Earns a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University.
Joins the U.S. Army Map Service as an astronomer and is fired months later for being a homosexual.
Begins the fight to overturn his dismissal from the Army Map Service. Leads the battle to end federal workplace discrimination.
With Barbara Gittings, provides advice to gays and lesbians concerned about current or potential discharge from federal civilian jobs or military service.
Cofounds the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., and is elected its president.
Files first LGBT equality brief with the Supreme Court of the United States.
Collaborates with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union attorneys to identify cases to challenge discrimination against homosexuals in federal civilian and military service.
Initiates effort to overturn D.C.’s sodomy laws.
With six other gay men, participates in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial.
Helps found the first regional gay and lesbian organization—the Eastern Conference of Homophile Organizations (ECHO)—with representatives from D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. ECHO elects Kameny its leader.
Helps organize the first gay rights protest outside the White House.
With Barbara Gittings, helps organize ECHO’s participation in the Annual Reminders, groundbreaking protests held each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969 in front of Independence Hall. They are the first organized gay rights demonstrations that demand equality, involve multiple cities, and are held successively. With 40 picketers in 1965, the inaugural Annual Reminder was the largest gay rights protest in world history.
Coins the slogan “Gay Is Good,” signaling a paradigm shift in self-identification and pride.
Helps found the National American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO), the first national gay rights organization.
NACHO adopts Kameny’s Homosexual Bill of Rights, which includes the right to federal employment, taking test cases to court, and adopting the slogan “Gay Is Good.”
Helps found The Gay Blade, which evolves into the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest gay weekly.
The final and largest Annual Reminder takes place, featuring approximately 160 protesters. Inspired by the Stonewall uprising, 40 picketers from New York participate.
With Kameny presiding over the fall meeting, the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) votes unanimously to discontinue the Annual Reminders and organize a march marking the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Held in New York in June 1970, the Christopher Street Liberation Day March helps transform the nascent LGBTQ movement. It is now known as the first New York City Pride parade.
Participates in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March carrying the sign “Gay Is Good.”
Becomes the first out gay person to run for Congress.
With leftover funds from his congressional campaign, Kameny funds the first television ad for gay rights.
Helps found the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington, the next generation of gay and lesbian activism.
Demonstrates at the American Psychiatric Association, demanding the right to be heard about its designation of homosexuality as a mental illness.
With Barbara Gittings and John Fryer, M.D., Kameny serves on a panel about homosexuality at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). It is instrumental in the APA’s declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness.
Cofounds the Task Force, which later becomes the National LGBTQ Task Force.
Becomes the first gay member of the Washington, D.C., Commission on Human Rights.
As the leader against the ban on gays in federal employment, Kameny is notified by the Civil Service Commission that it will eliminate homosexuality as a basis for denying or terminating federal civil employment.
Counsels Leonard Matlovich, a decorated Vietnam War soldier, in challenging his discharge from the military for being gay. Matlovich appears on the cover of TIME beneath the quote, “I Am a Homosexual.” TIME subtitles the story, “The Gay Drive for Acceptance.”
Attends the first White House meeting of gays and lesbians.
Appears in the documentary “Gay Pioneers,” broadcast on PBS and screened nationwide.
Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus presents Kameny with its Achievement Award.
The American Psychiatric Association presents Kameny and Barbara Gittings with its first annual John Fryer Award for their pioneering work toward LGBTQ equality.
The 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Annual Reminders, held in front of Independence Hall, honors Kameny and Barbara Gittings.
The Library of Congress includes Kameny’s 70,000 letters and documents in its permanent collection and the Smithsonian Institution includes his picket signs and buttons.
LGBT History Month names Kameny an Icon.
Receives a letter from the federal government apologizing for his discharge from the Army Map Service.
Washington, D.C., lists Kameny’s home as a historic landmark.
At a White House ceremony, President Obama shakes Kameny’s hand after signing a law that expands health care benefits for the partners of gay federal employees.
Kameny is invited to attend the White House ceremony for President Obama’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which eliminates discrimination against gays and lesbians in the military.
At the age of 86, Kameny dies in his sleep on National Coming Out Day.
Interment takes place in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The inscription on Kameny’s headstone reads, “Gay Is Good.”
Posthumous Honors
Kameny’s Washington, D.C., home appears on the National Register of Historic Places.
”Gay Is Good, The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny,” written by Michael G. Long, Ph.D., is published.
The 50th Anniversary of the Annual Reminders honors Kameny.
The U.S. Department of Labor inducts Kameny into its Hall of Honor.
”The Deviant’s War, The Homosexual vs. The United States of America,” a biography of Frank Kameny, written by Eric Cervini, Ph.D., is published.
Kameny 100, a national remembrance of the father of the LGBTQ civil rights movement, takes place on his 100th birthday in Washington, D.C.