Frank Kameny: Google Celebrates American Gay Rights Activist Frank Kameny With Doodle
Google Doodle honoured American astronomer, veteran, and gay rights activist Frank Kameny with a special graphic on June 2.
In order to commemorate Pride Month, Google Doodle honoured American astronomer, veteran, and gay rights activist Dr Frank Kameny with a special graphic on June 2. He was one of the most prominent figures of the US LGBTQ rights movement.
To celebrate Frank Kameny, Google Doodle published an animated graphic of the activist, wearing a colourful garland.
Who Was Frank Kameny?
Born in Queens, New York, on May 21, 1925, He enrolled at Queens College to study physics when he was just 15. He served in the United States Army throughout World War II in Europe and later served 20 years on the Selective Service board.
After returning to the US, He obtained a doctorate in astronomy at Harvard University. In 1957, He accepted a job as an astronomer with the Army Map Service, but he was fired soon after due to an order effectively barring members of the LGBTQ community from federal employment.
He in response to his termination sued the federal government. In 1961, he filed the first gay rights appeal to the US Supreme Court.
“Denied but undeterred, He embarked upon a lifelong fight for equal rights. Years before the Stonewall Riots, he organised one of the country’s first gay rights advocacy groups,” the Google Doodle page says.
He had also successfully challenged the American Psychiatric Association’s classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, and in 1975, the Civil Service Commission finally reversed its ban on LGBTQ employees.
They received a formal apology from the US government in 2009. Washington DC named a stretch of 17th Street NW near Dupont Circle “Frank Kameny Way” in his honour in 2010.
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“Thank you, for courageously paving the way for decades of progress,” the Google Doodle page says.
He died in 2011 in Washington DC. He was 86.