Letter from Franklin E. Kameny of the Mattachine Society to President John F. Kennedy
8/28/1962
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Frank Kameny sent this letter to President Kennedy to inform him of the formation of the Mattachine Society of Washington, "devoted to the improvement of the status of our country's 15,000,000 homosexuals." He included the group's constitution and a news release and suggested cooperation with the administration.
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 1961, after that appeal 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.
In this letter to the President, Kameny wrote about prejudice against hiring gay people "in the Federal Civil Service, in the Armed Forces, and in security-sensitive positions in private industry":
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 1961, after that appeal 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.
In this letter to the President, Kameny wrote about prejudice against hiring gay people "in the Federal Civil Service, in the Armed Forces, and in security-sensitive positions in private industry":
We feel that the Federal government's present approach is outmoded [old-fashioned], unrealistic, irrational, and inconsistent with basic American principles. We feel, in addition, that it is inexcusable and unnecessarily wasteful of trained manpower and of the taxpayers' money.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 of the Mattachine Society to President John F. Kennedy; 8/28/1962; 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://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/kameny-kennedy-mattachine, April 29, 2025]Rights: Copyright Not Evaluated Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
