LGBTQ+ Community of Congressional Cemetery

Known as the father of the modern gay rights movement. In 1957 Kameny was fired from his job at the US Army. He became the first known gay person to legally fight his dismissal by US government.

Doyle is believed by historians to have been the greatest love of gay American poet Walt Whitman. Doyle and Whitman met in Washington, D.C. on the horse-drawn streetcar for which Doyle was the conductor. Doyle and Whitman exchanged several letters and postcards. In his notebooks, Whitman referred to Doyle using the code “16.4,” a reference to the numerical order of Doyle’s initials. 

They were partners in life and activism for 46 years. Gittings was known as the mother of the modern gay rights movement for her tireless work that included founding the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first US lesbian rights organization, in 1958, editing its pioneering magazine, The Ladder.

Hering served 20 years in the US Army. He, along with his partner of 43 years, Joel Leenaars, was a member of one of San Francisco’s earliest gay rights groups, the Society for Individual Rights. 

A prominent African American philosopher, he has been hailed by many as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance.” In 1907, he became the first African American Rhodes Scholar. He is also believed to be the first gay Rhodes Scholar.

The first named gay person on the cover of a mainstream magazine, and first living gay subject of a made-for-TV movie. Though his lawsuit failed to end the ban, the court ordered his reinstatement in 1980 after the Air Force refused to explain why he should not be retained.

A Marine Corps veteran who has worked for civil rights and political causes since1972. He is legally blind, thanks to AIDS, fought against the military’s “Don’t Ask,Don’t Tell” policy and works for AIDS awareness.