National Treasure: How Frank Kameny Became the Father of the Gay Rights Movement

Frank Kameny was a pioneer in the modern gay rights movement and dedicated his life to fighting for LGBTQ+ equality. From his early career as an astronomer with the U.S. government to his later years as a vocal activist, Kameny's courage and determination paved the way for future generations.
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A Harvard-trained astronomer, Frank Kameny was fired from his federal position in 1957 because he was gay. Rather than retreat, he launched an unrelenting fight against the discrimination facing LGBTQ+ individuals.

In 1961, Kameny became the first person to petition the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds of anti-gay discrimination. Although the Court declined to hear his case, his legal challenge was a landmark moment. He co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., one of the first LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and organized some of the earliest public protests for gay rights, including pickets in front of the White House and the Pentagon in the 1960s—at a time when such visibility was rare and dangerous.

Kameny also challenged the American Psychiatric Association’s classification of homosexuality as a mental illness, helping to bring about its removal from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1973. His unapologetic slogan, “Gay is Good,” coined in 1968, echoed the civil rights movement and became a rallying cry for LGBTQ+ equality.

His activism helped influence the eventual reversal of discriminatory federal employment policies, and he was officially honored by the U.S. government decades later. Kameny's contributions, both legal and cultural, positioned him as a crucial early architect of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

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Two of Kameny’s notebooks – which flagged gay-friendly establishments that had been raided by police or were under surveillance – are in the Archives Center of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History: https://americanhistory.si.edu/ja/col...

Read more about Kameny's notebooks and his life as an activist in Washington, DC here:
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Want to learn more about Frank Kameny and his legacy? Read more here:
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On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall uprising materialized as a response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York – but the most radical thing about it came later. Learn more here:
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Executive Producers: Nicki Marko & Brian Wolly
Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens
Producer & Editor: Sierra Theobald
Motion Designer: Ricardo Jaimes
Narrators: Adam Benavides and Dusty Porter

Correction:

00:42 Frank Kameny got a B.S. from Queens College and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.