Frank Kameny
Franklin Edward Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011) was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement.
Frank Kameny | |
|---|---|
Kameny in 2010 | |
| Born | Franklin Edward Kameny May 21, 1925 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | October 11, 2011 (aged 86) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Queens College (BS) Harvard University (MS, PhD) |
| Known for | Gay rights activist Fired for being gay by the U.S. Civil Service Commission Co-founder of the Mattachine Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Thesis | A Photoelectric Study of Some RV Tauri and Yellow Semiregular Variables (1956) |
| Doctoral advisor | Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin |
During the Lavender scare, in 1957, Kameny was dismissed from his position as an astronomer in the U.S. Army's Army Map Service in Washington, D.C., because of his homosexuality, leading him to begin "a Herculean struggle with the American establishment" that would "spearhead a new period of militancy in the homosexual rights movement of the early 1960s".
Kameny formally appealed his firing by the U.S. Civil Service Commission. Although unsuccessful, the proceeding was notable as the first known civil rights claim based on sexual orientation pursued in a U.S. court.