Special Feature: A Gay Navy Vet Reflects on the End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", pg. 9
CHALLENGE The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County – Serving New Jersey’s GLBTI Communities Since 1972
Volume 37, Issue 9, November 2011
Franklin Kameny, an Inspiring Leader by Mickey Suiter Franklin Kameny, a legendary hero of the gay rights movement, passed away on October 11, National Coming Out Day, at the age of 86. Frank was a Harvard-educated World War II veteran who was fired from his job with the federal government in 1957 for being gay. This was not an unusual occurrence at the time. Gays had been a major target of the right-wing witch-hunts of the late 1940s and 1950s. What was unusual was that he fought back, taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court. They denied his petition but he had only begun to fight. Frank spent the rest of his life advocating for the rights of the LGBT community. He co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington in 1961 and fought not only for equal rights in employment but to overturn the sodomy laws of the District of Columbia. In 1965, four years before Stonewall, they picketed the White House. Frank, along with other early activists like Barbara Gittings, also picketed the Pentagon, Independence Hall and the United Nations.
Coming out today still isn’t easy for some, and fighting for one’s rights takes a lot of courage and confidence. How much harder it must have been over fifty years ago. Frank explained how he did it in his book, Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America: "If society and I differ on something, I'm willing to give the matter a second look. If we still differ, then I am right and society is wrong; and society can go its way so long as it does not get in my way. But if it does, there's going to be a fight. And I'm not going to be the one who backs down. That has been an underlying premise of the conduct of my life." Frank’s passing made the national news, as well it should have. I was pleased to see that, but it reminded me that it was probably the first time the mainstream media had ever mentioned him. For fifty years he was one of the outstanding leaders in our community and most people, straight and gay, had never heard of him.
From top: 1965 White House protest In 1968, Frank coined the slogan, “Gay (Kameny second protester from left); is Good” and worked to remove the campaign flyer from his 1971 congressional classification of homosexuality as a run; Kameny in World War II Frank Kameny was a man of strength,
mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a fight he won in 1973. He was the first openly gay person to run for Congress in 1971 and later served on The District of Columbia’s Human Rights Commission. He was with other community leaders at the first meeting to discuss gay issues at the White House in 1977. I first met Frank at an LGBT conference at Rutgers in the mid-70s. I was in awe of him and was impressed by his knowledge of government and national issues. I was also amazed that he sat and talked so long with a young activist like me, not only answering all of my questions in great detail but asking me about New Jersey government and community issues. He later came to speak at GAAMC and was a recipient of our Community Service Award in the early 1980s.
courage and conviction. He was one of the greats of our movement, and we will miss him.
Inside Challenge Challenge Information.... ................................ page 2 GAAMC Events.............................................. page 2 The Bulletin Board......................................... page 3 This Month's Contributors................................ page 3 Getting Personal............................................ page 3 Gleanings: Queer news from around the world .... page 4 Dancing to Architecture music reviews............... page 5 Calendar ..................................................... page 6 A Navy Vet's Post-"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Perspective ...page 9 10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked, part 5................. page 11 Poetry: Petar/Uncle Charlie's Host.................. page 11 GAAMC Information...................................... page 12