Letter from Franklin E. Kameny to President John F. Kennedy
5/15/1961
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Frank Kameny, of the Mattachine Society of Washington, sent this letter to President Kennedy regarding civil rights for "homosexuals," particularly with employment in the Federal government.
In 1957, Kameny had been fired from his job in the Army Map Service as an astronomer because of his sexual orientation. He had been arrested in California a year earlier for consensual contact with another man. This happened during a time known as the Lavender Scare. Beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through the 1960s, thousands of gay employees were fired or forced to resign from the Federal workforce because of their sexuality. This wave of repression was also bound up with anti-Communism and fueled by the power of congressional investigation.
Kameny sought to have the termination of his employment overturned by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. That court did not rule in his favor. Ulitmately, Kameny appealed his firing all the way to the Supreme Court.
In this letter, Kameny appealed to the President and asked for a personal reply. He also enclosed the brief from his Supreme Court case. Kameny wrote:
Kameny became the first openly gay person to testify before Congress in 1963. He did so in defense of Mattachine after Congressman John Dowdy of Texas introduced a bill, H.R. 5990, to try to revoke the organization's permit to operate by amending the existing D.C. Charitable Solicitations Act. Dowdy’s bill stipulated that before granting a fundraising license, the D.C. Board of Commissioners had to certify that the grantee would "benefit or assist in promoting the health, welfare, and the morals of the District of Columbia."
Kameny went on to become a chief organizer of the first gay rights demonstrations in the nation’s capital. In 1965, he led protests at the White House, the Pentagon, and the Civil Service Commission. To remind the country that gay Americans lacked basic civil rights, Kameny and Mattachine joined with other gay rights organizations for "annual reminder" protests at Independence Hall in Philadelphia each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. Kameny later ran to become D.C.’s delegate to Congress. He lost the election, but his attempt marked the first time an openly gay candidate had run for Congress.
In 1975, the Civil Service Commission announced new rules stipulating that gay people could no longer be barred or fired from Federal employment because of their sexuality.
This document uses the terms "homosexual" to refer to gay people and "Negro" to refer to Black people – these were commonly accepted in that era, but are outdated and inappropriate today.
In 1957, Kameny had been fired from his job in the Army Map Service as an astronomer because of his sexual orientation. He had been arrested in California a year earlier for consensual contact with another man. This happened during a time known as the Lavender Scare. Beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through the 1960s, thousands of gay employees were fired or forced to resign from the Federal workforce because of their sexuality. This wave of repression was also bound up with anti-Communism and fueled by the power of congressional investigation.
Kameny sought to have the termination of his employment overturned by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. That court did not rule in his favor. Ulitmately, Kameny appealed his firing all the way to the Supreme Court.
In this letter, Kameny appealed to the President and asked for a personal reply. He also enclosed the brief from his Supreme Court case. Kameny wrote:
...the Federal government is the prime offender in depriving the homosexual of his civil and other liberties, and in actively discriminating against him.In 1961, after his appeal to the Supreme Court failed, Kameny co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. The group battled anti-gay discrimination in general and the Federal government's exclusionary policies in particular. It was the first gay rights organization in the nation’s capital.
...You have said 'Ask not what can your country do for you, but what can you do for your country.' I know what I can best do for my country, but my country's government, for no sane reason, will not let me do it.
...Let us, as we advance into the Space Age, discard the policies and the attitudes...of the Stone Age.
Kameny became the first openly gay person to testify before Congress in 1963. He did so in defense of Mattachine after Congressman John Dowdy of Texas introduced a bill, H.R. 5990, to try to revoke the organization's permit to operate by amending the existing D.C. Charitable Solicitations Act. Dowdy’s bill stipulated that before granting a fundraising license, the D.C. Board of Commissioners had to certify that the grantee would "benefit or assist in promoting the health, welfare, and the morals of the District of Columbia."
Kameny went on to become a chief organizer of the first gay rights demonstrations in the nation’s capital. In 1965, he led protests at the White House, the Pentagon, and the Civil Service Commission. To remind the country that gay Americans lacked basic civil rights, Kameny and Mattachine joined with other gay rights organizations for "annual reminder" protests at Independence Hall in Philadelphia each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. Kameny later ran to become D.C.’s delegate to Congress. He lost the election, but his attempt marked the first time an openly gay candidate had run for Congress.
In 1975, the Civil Service Commission announced new rules stipulating that gay people could no longer be barred or fired from Federal employment because of their sexuality.
This document uses the terms "homosexual" to refer to gay people and "Negro" to refer to Black people – these were commonly accepted in that era, but are outdated and inappropriate today.
This primary source comes from the Collection JFK-6.2: Papers of John F. Kennedy: Presidential Papers: White House Central Name File.
National Archives Identifier: 7634225
Full Citation: Letter from Franklin E. Kameny to President John F. Kennedy; 5/15/1961; Kameny, Franklin E.; Name File, 1/20/1961 - 11/22/1963; Collection JFK-6.2: Papers of John F. Kennedy: Presidential Papers: White House Central Name File; John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/kameny-kennedy, September 23, 2023]Activities that use this document
- "We Are Badly in Need of a Breath of Fresh Air": A Letter to President Kennedy About LGBTQ+ Rights
Created by the National Archives Education Team - The Long Struggle for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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