Frank Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011), c. 1955.Under President Dwight Eisenhower’s Executiv
Frank Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011), c. 1955.Under President Dwight Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10450, issued in April 1953, the U.S. government’s policy officially stated that individuals disqualified themselves from federal employment by undertaking “any behavior which suggests the individual is not reliable or trustworthy,” including “sexual perversion” (i.e., homosexuality). It was, as Michael Long explained, “the first time that the federal government officially sanctioned the identification of homosexuality as a behavior threatening to national security,” and “federal agency heads increased efforts to purge their agencies of homosexuals.”Among the thousands of LGBTQs who lost their federal jobs was Frank Kameny, a World War II veteran and Harvard-trained astronomer who worked for the U.S. Army Map Service. “When I was on assignment in Hawaii in…December of 1957,” Kameny later told Eric Marcus (@makinggayhistorypodcast), “I got a call from my supervisor in Washington, D.C., to come back at once. [I was told], ‘We have information that leads us to believe that you are a homosexual.’ I said, ‘What’s the information?’ They answered, ‘We can’t tell you.’ I said, ‘Well, then, I can’t give you an answer. You don’t deserve an answer.’”On December 20, 1957, fifty-nine years ago today, the U.S. government dismissed Frank Kameny, citing his homosexuality as cause.Kameny “decided that my dismissal amounted to a declaration of war against me by my government. First, I don’t grant my government the right to declare war on me. And second, I tend not to lose my wars.” After appealing his case to the Supreme Court (where he was ignored), Kameny dedicated his life to fighting any institution that would deny homosexuals equal treatment under the law. To that end, among many other things, Kameny formed the Mattachine Society-Washington, which was responsible for virtually all of the early gay rights demonstrations. Kameny also helped lead the successful fight against the APA’s classification of homosexuality as a mental illness.In 2009, Kameny received an apology from the federal government for his dismissal. “Apology accepted,” he responded. -- source link