
CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Longtime gay activist, astronomer, and World War II veteran Frank Kameny passed away Tuesday, the Washington Blade reports. He was 86.
Kameny was an early pioneer in taking the federal government to task for firing gays and lesbians. In 1961, Kameny filed a lawsuit challenging his dismissal. He led a demonstration against the military in 1965, 12 years after he was discharged from the Army Map Service. He and the city's local Mattachine Society chapter later took Washington, D.C., by storm in protest of the treatment of gay federal employees. After years of protest, the Civil Service Commission (now the Office of Personnel Management) announced it would end its ban on openly gay employees in 1973. He was also instrumental in pushing the American Psychiatric Association to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness.
In 2009, Kameny received a formal apology from OPM for being fired because of his sexual orientation. He was also honored by the Obama administration when the president signed a policy to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
What does WorldPride's travel warning mean for transgender & nonbinary people?
April 18 2025 10:14 AM
Wilton Women’s Week 2025 ushers in a new era of LGBTQ+ empowerment in South Florida
April 18 2025 9:49 AM
Activists stack coffins in front of State Department to protest PEPFAR cuts (in photos)
April 17 2025 3:22 PM
JD Vance wants the UK to repeal its LGBTQ+ hate speech laws to secure a trade deal
April 17 2025 12:37 PM
Chicago Teachers Union ratifies groundbreaking contract cementing LGBTQ+ protections
April 17 2025 7:00 AM
Mahmoud v. Taylor: Everything to know about the Supreme Court case to ban LGBTQ+ books
April 17 2025 6:30 AM
Top 15 safest U.S. cities for LGBTQ+ travel
April 17 2025 6:02 AM