Milestones
Frank Kameny
May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011
Born in Queens, NY, a first-generation American.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Serves in the U.S. Army as a WWII combat infantryman” date=”1942-1946″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Serves in the U.S. Army as a WWII combat infantryman.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Receives a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University” date=”1956″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Earns a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Joined the U.S. Army Map Service as an astronomer and was discharged the same year for being a homosexual” date=”1957″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Joins the U.S. Army Map Service as an astronomer and is fired months later for being a homosexual.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Begins his fight to overturn his firing. Becomes the leader of the fight to end federal workplace discrimination.” date=”1957″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” date_tablet=”1957″ date_phone=”1957″ date_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Begins the fight to overturn his dismissal from the Army Map Service. Leads the battle to end federal workplace discrimination.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”With Barbara Gittings, he provides advice to gays and lesbians who are concerned about or have been discharged from federal civilian or military service” date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
With Barbara Gittings, provides advice to gays and lesbians concerned about current or potential discharge from federal civilian jobs or military service.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Co-founder, Mattachine Society of Washington. Kameny elected its leader” date=”1961″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Cofounds the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., and is elected its president.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Files first gay case before the U.S. Supreme Court” date=”1961″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Files first LGBT equality brief with the Supreme Court of the United States.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Collaborates with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union” date=”1961″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Collaborates with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union attorneys to identify cases to challenge discrimination against homosexuals in federal civilian and military service.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Initiates effort to overturn D.C.’s sodomy law” date=”1963″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Initiates effort to overturn D.C.’s sodomy laws.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”With six other gay men, participates in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial” date=”1963″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
With six other gay men, participates in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Helps found Eastern Conference of Homophile Organizations (ECHO) with representatives from DC, Philadelphia and New York. Kameny elected its leader. ECHO is first regional gay and lesbian organization” date=”1963″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Helps organize first gay rights protest outside the White House” date=”April 15, 1965″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Helps organize the first gay rights protest outside the White House.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”With Barbara Gittings, helps organize ECHO’s picketing at Annual Reminders each July 4th in front of Independence Hall from 1965 to 1969. First time a gay rights demonstration involved multiple cities, called for equality and was not a once and done demonstration. When 39 picketers showed up at Independence Hall on July 4, 1965, it was the largest demonstration for gay rights in world history” date=”July 4, 1965″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Coins the slogan “Gay Is Good”.” date=”1968″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Coins the slogan “Gay Is Good,” signaling a paradigm shift in self-identification and pride.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Helps found the National American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO), the first national gay rights organization” date=”1968″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Helps found the National American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO), the first national gay rights organization.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”NACHO adopts Kameny’s Homosexual Bill of Rights, which includes the right to federal employment, bringing of test cases in court, and adopting the slogan “Gay Is Good”” date=”1968″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.”
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Helped found The Gay Blade, which morphed into the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest gay weekly” date=”1969″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Helps found The Gay Blade, which evolves into the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest gay weekly.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”The last of the Annual Reminders, which included 40 picketers from New York in response to Stonewall attend. With about 160 picketers, it was the largest of the Annual Reminders” date=”July 4, 1969″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
The final and largest Annual Reminder takes place, featuring approximately 160 protesters. Inspired by the Stonewall uprising, 40 picketers from New York participate.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”At the fall meeting of Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) and with Kameny presiding, the organization voted unanimously to terminate the Annual Reminders and to organize a Christopher Street Liberation Day March to be held in New York in June 1970 to commemorate Stonewall. That March is now known as the first New York Pride Parade and helped transform the nascent movement.” date=”1969″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny marched in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March holding a picket sign with the message “Gay Is Good”” date=”1970″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Participates in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March carrying the sign “Gay Is Good.”
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”First out gay person to run for Congress ” date=”1971″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Becomes the first out gay person to run for Congress.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”With leftover funds from his congressional campaign, he funded the first television ad for gay rights” date=”1971″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
With leftover funds from his congressional campaign, Kameny funds the first television ad for gay rights.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Helps found the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington, the next generation of gay and lesbian activism” date=”1971″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Helps found the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington, the next generation of gay and lesbian activism.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Demonstrates at the American Psychiatric Association for the right to be heard on its designation of homosexuality as a mental illness” date=”1971″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Demonstrates at the American Psychiatric Association, demanding the right to be heard about its designation of homosexuality as a mental illness.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Serves on a panel on homosexuality with John Fryer and Barbara Gittings at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting, which was a defining event in the APA eliminating homosexuality as a mental illness” date=”1972″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Co-founds the Task Force, which morphed into the National LGBTQ Task Force” date=”1973″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ecdfc5″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Cofounds the Task Force, which later becomes the National LGBTQ Task Force.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”First gay member of DC’s Commission on Human Rights” date=”1975″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Becomes the first gay member of the Washington, D.C., Commission on Human Rights.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”As the leader of the challenge to eliminate homosexuality as a bar to federal employment, the Civil Service Commission gives notice to Kameny that the Commission would be eliminating homosexuality as a basis for denying or terminating federal civil employment” date=”July 3, 1975″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Counsels Leonard Matlovich, a Vietnam War decorated soldier in his challenge to the discharge from the military. Matlovich appeared on the cover of Time Magazine with his photo and “I Am a Homosexual”. Time describes the story as The Gay Drive for Acceptance.” date=”1975″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.”
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Attends the first White House meeting of gays and lesbians ” date=”1977″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Attends the first White House meeting of gays and lesbians.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny is featured in the documentary “Gay Pioneers”, which is broadcast on PBS and screened nationwide” date=”2001″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Appears in the documentary “Gay Pioneers,” broadcast on PBS and screened nationwide.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus bestows Kameny with its Achievement Award” date=”2002″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus presents Kameny with its Achievement Award.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny and Barbara Gittings are named the first annual recipients of the American Psychiatric Association’s John Fryer Civil Rights Award” date=”2005″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
The American Psychiatric Association presents Kameny and Barbara Gittings with its first annual John Fryer Award for their pioneering work toward LGBTQ equality.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny and Barbara Gittings are honored at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Annual Reminders held in front of Independence Hall” date=”July 4, 2005″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
The 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Annual Reminders, held in front of Independence Hall, honors Kameny and Barbara Gittings.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny’s 70,000 letters and documents is added to the Library of Congress and picket signs and buttons included in the Smithsonian’s collection” date=”2006″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”LGBT History Month names Kameny an Icon.” date=”2007″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
LGBT History Month names Kameny an Icon.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Receives letter from the federal government apologizing for his discharge” date=”2009″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Receives a letter from the federal government apologizing for his discharge from the Army Map Service.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny’s home listed as a DC historic landmark” date=”2009″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Washington, D.C., lists Kameny’s home as a historic landmark.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”At White House ceremony, President Obama after signing expansion of health care benefits for partners of gay federal employees shakes hands with Kameny” date=”2009″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny invited to the White House ceremony for Obama’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, which eliminated federal military gay and lesbian discrimination” date=”2010″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny’s dies in his sleep on National Coming Out Day” date=”October 11, 2011″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ebddc4″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
At the age of 86, Kameny dies in his sleep on National Coming Out Day.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Interred in DC’s Congressional Cemetery with the headstone inscription “Gay Is Good”” date=”2011″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ custom_card_arrow=”on” card_arrow_size=”20px” card_arrow_color=”#ebddc4″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#ebddc4″ background_enable_color=”on” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Interment takes place in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The inscription on Kameny’s headstone reads, “Gay Is Good.”
[/dmpro_timeline_item][/dmpro_timeline]
Posthumous Honors
Kameny’s Washington, D.C., home appears on the National Register of Historic Places.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Gay Is Good, The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny written by Michael G. Long, Ph.D. is published” date=”2014″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
“Gay Is Good, The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny,” written by Michael G. Long, Ph.D., is published.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny honored at the 50th Anniversary of the Annual Reminders” date=”2015″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
The 50th Anniversary of the Annual Reminders honors Kameny.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny inducted into the U.S. Department of Labor’s Hall of Honor” date=”2015″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
The U.S. Department of Labor inducts Kameny into its Hall of Honor.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”The Deviant’s War, The Homosexual vs. The United States of America, a biography about Frank Kameny written by Eric Cervini, Ph.D. is published” date=”2021″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
“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.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][dmpro_timeline_item admin_label=”Kameny 100, a national tribute on his 100th birthday in Washington, D.C. to the Father of the LGBTQ civil rights movement” date=”2025″ date_text_bgcolor=”#990060″ date_text_margin=”0px||||false|false” date_text_padding=”|10px||11px|false|false” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” date_text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” date_text_text_align=”center” date_text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” border_radii_date_text=”on|17px|17px|17px|17px” box_shadow_style_date_text=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”]
Kameny 100, a national remembrance of the father of the LGBTQ civil rights movement, takes place on his 100th birthday in Washington, D.C.
[/dmpro_timeline_item][/dmpro_timeline]