Guest CharliePS Posted October 12, 2011 Posted October 12, 2011 Frank Kameny died in Washington, DC, yesterday. He was one of the founding fathers of the gay rights movement in this country. Back in February, kjun12 alerted us to an article about him on a gay news website, but the article is no longer available because the site has gone out of business. The article explained that Frank was living in near poverty and dependent on a local charitable organization for spending money. I sent a donation, and I know others who read the thread did as well. I met Frank when both of us were young enough to be political activists; he stayed one to the end of a long and productive life. He lost his government job in 1957 because he was gay, and for the rest of his life he vigorously challenged legally sanctioned anti-gay bigotry, at great personal cost. Probably his greatest single victory was getting the American Psychological Association to remove refences to homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973. I'm glad he lived long enough to see the end of DADT, and the inexorable crumbling of DOMA. Quote
Guest Allessio77 Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 We owe so much to the pioneers Quote
caeron Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I sent a donation at the time, and am glad I did. He was a hero. Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted October 13, 2011 Members Posted October 13, 2011 Rachel paid a nice tribute to him last night, including part of an interview he once did in the past. Quote
