The Loss of a Civil Rights Leader

The gay community lost a hero and leader yesterday with the passing of Dr. Frank Kameny. It was fitting that he passed away on National Coming Out Day.

Kameny was the first person to challenge his firing from the Federal government because he was gay in the courts. He was an astronomer with the Department of the Army and was fired in 1957 for being gay. He could have just quietly walked away and found something else to do but he stood and fought, all the way to the Supreme Court. Even though he lost his case, he persevered to fight for what he believed in, equal rights for the gay community.

In 1961, he was one of the founders of the DC chapter of the Mattachine Society, a forerunner to the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

I was honored to be part of the program at my agency in 2009 when the Federal government issued Dr. Kameny an official apology for it’s actions against him in 1957. It was a great day and he shared numerous stories with the audience, many of whom were not yet born when he started his long journey to equality for gays.

May he rest in peace.