The Dr. Franklin E. Kameny House and its role in gay rights activism

Situated on Cathedral Avenue 5020, Washington D.C, stands a two-story brick Colonial Revival-style structure built in 1955. For nearly 40 years, this house belonged to Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, who was fired from the US Army's Map Service in 1957 because he was gay. After co-founding the Mattachine Society of Washington, Kameny moved into the house in 1962, where he became a key figure in gay activism.

The house served as a meeting place, archives, informal counseling center, and the headquarters of the Mattachine Society. It was a safe haven for visiting gay and lesbian activists. From this location, Kameny developed civil rights strategies and tactics, led a campaign against sodomy laws, helped overturn the American Psychiatric Association's definition of homosexuality as a mental illness, and lobbied against the federal government's refusal to grant security clearances to homosexuals.

Dr. Kameny was the first openly gay candidate to run for Congress. In 2009, the building was designated as a D.C. Historic Landmark because it was the epicenter of the gay rights movement in the nation's capital for 13 years. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2011, an unusual nomination at the time because Kameny was still living in the house when the process began. Kameny died at his home on October 11, 2011, less than a month before the house was officially listed.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons