Documents from 1961 gay rights challenge on display at Library of Congress
Mon. May 9, 2011 11:42 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
frank kameny
photo credit // wikipedia.org
Washington, D.C. -
In 1961, gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to try to get his job as a federal astronomer back. He'd been fired because he was gay.
Kameny's suit was denied, but today the case documents are on display at the Library of Congress as part of an exhibit called "Creating the United States," which tracks the evolution of documents like the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
Kameny's passionate and forthright appeal -- made 50 years ago -- is still impressive today:
"Petitioner asserts, flatly, unequivocally, and absolutely uncompromisingly, that homosexuality, whether by mere inclination or by overt act, is not only not immoral, but that for those choosing voluntarily to engage in homosexual acts, such acts are moral in a real and positive sense, and are good, right, and desirable, socially and personally."
The federal government formally apologized to Kameny in 2009.
This is not the first time something from Kameny's legacy has been on display in a federal museum; the Smithsonian exhibited some of his original gay rights protest signs in 2007.
Kameny went on to co-found the Mattachine Society in Washington, D.C. He was the country's first openly gay candidate for Congress in 1971.
He is now 85-years-old.
Kameny's suit was denied, but today the case documents are on display at the Library of Congress as part of an exhibit called "Creating the United States," which tracks the evolution of documents like the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
Kameny's passionate and forthright appeal -- made 50 years ago -- is still impressive today:
"Petitioner asserts, flatly, unequivocally, and absolutely uncompromisingly, that homosexuality, whether by mere inclination or by overt act, is not only not immoral, but that for those choosing voluntarily to engage in homosexual acts, such acts are moral in a real and positive sense, and are good, right, and desirable, socially and personally."
The federal government formally apologized to Kameny in 2009.
This is not the first time something from Kameny's legacy has been on display in a federal museum; the Smithsonian exhibited some of his original gay rights protest signs in 2007.
Kameny went on to co-found the Mattachine Society in Washington, D.C. He was the country's first openly gay candidate for Congress in 1971.
He is now 85-years-old.