Voting Station

Frank Kameny

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Advocate

The Resume

    (May 21, 1925-October 11, 2011)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Gay rights activist
    Fired from his position as an astronomer with the US Army Map Service because of his homosexuality (1957)
    Unsuccessfully argued for reinstatement before the Supreme Court (1961)
    Co-founder of the Washington, DC, chapter of the Mattachine Society (1961)
    Organized July Fourth 'Annual Reminder' protests outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia (1965-69)
    Founding member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (1973)

Why he might be annoying:

    After his firing by the government, he rarely held a regular job and depended on friends and family for support.
    Most profiles of him described his voice as resembling a foghorn.
    He ran unsuccessfully for the District of Columbia's delegate to Congress (1971).
    He was mistakenly reported as dead (and as having AIDS) in 'The Advocate.' (2007)
    Ironically, he died on National Coming Out Day.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He saw combat in Europe during WWII and noted, 'I have resented for 67 years that I had to lie in order to serve in a war effort that I strongly supported.'
    His successes included getting the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders (1973), getting the Civil Service Commission to end the ban on homosexuals in federal jobs (1975) and drafting the bill to repeal Washington, DC, sodomy laws (1993).
    He was the first openly gay member of the District of Columbia's Human Rights Commission (1975).
    After Senator Larry Craig was busted for soliciting sex in a men's room, he wrote, 'I am no admirer of Larry Craig... But fair is fair. He committed no crime in Minneapolis and should not suffer as if he did.'
    The Smithsonian Institute included his picket signs in the 'Treasures of American History' exhibition, the Library of Congress acquired his papers, and his house was designated a D.C. Historic Landmark.
    John Berry, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, formally apologized to him on behalf of the US government for his firing, and presented him with the department's highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Award (2009).
    Yale Law Professor William Eskridge said, 'Frank Kameny was the Rosa Parks and the Martin Luther King and the Thurgood Marshall of the gay rights movement.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 101 Votes: 58.42% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 59 Votes: 79.66% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 116 Votes: 76.72% Annoying