Dr. Frank Kameny left a lasting impression on the struggle for gay rights from the 1950s through the 1970s. Now, his home has been declared the first LGBT landmark in DC.
Dr. Kameny became a figure for gay rights when he was fired by Army Map Services in the 1950s for being gay. He cofounded the Mattachine Society of Washington in 1961 and later founded the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance. Throughout his lifetime as an activist he fought to overturn several sodomy laws and helped to eliminate homosexuality as a mental illness from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Kameny was also the first openly gay man to run for Congress in 1971.
Kameny's home is one of very few landmarks commemorating the LGBT movement in the country. Such events that occurred at this house were meetings to plan conferences and picket lines at government offices. It is also believed that the slogan “Gay is Good” was created here.
It is rumored that Kameny’s home will be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for listing later this year. If selected, this would only be the second LGBT landmark in the country.
You can visit the landmark at 5020 Cathedral Ave. NW.
-Roxanne Martin
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