Part 4: Our Hall of Fame

When Frank Kameny was dismissed from the Army Map Service in 1957 because he was gay, it started a long argument.

In 1961 a lawsuit that Kameny filed arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court, decades before it even declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas. It was also the year he cofounded the Mattachine Society of Washington, which lobbied aggressively for gay rights. Kameny picketed the White House in 1965, the first time a demonstration was ever held there by LGBT rights supporters. And in 1969 he testified before the Department of Defense, delivering a speech titled "We Throw Down the Gauntlet" that propelled his charge against "the de facto denial of security clearances to homosexuals as a class or group."

The next year, 1970, when Kameny was still speaking out, it was clear he would never stop. People praised Kameny when in 1973 the American Psychological Association stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder, which had been used as an excuse by the military to deny gays and lesbians the right to serve. It seemed people might start agreeing with Kameny, that "Gay Is Good."

But it wasn't until 2009 when the Civil Service that had once kicked him out finally issued a formal apology. When President Obama signed a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 2010, Kameny was among the honored guests. So many contributed to that moment, but Kameny set it in motion.

Kameny died just weeks after the repeal went into effect and gays and lesbians began serving openly in the military.

"Never forget that we are American citizens, with all that is implied by those two words, as well as homosexuals, whatever you may think is implied by that word," he said during that 1969 hearing. "We stand our ground. We throw down the gauntlet."
—Lucas Grindley