Dr. Franklin E. Kameny Residence

This Colonial Revival house at 5020 Cathedral Avenue NW was Frank Kameny's home, office and archive from 1962 until his death here on 11 October 2011. Kameny, a Harvard-trained astronomer, was fired from the Army Map Service in 1957 for being gay. He sued, and his 1961 Supreme Court petition was the first US civil-rights claim based on sexual orientation. That year he co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington and ran much of its work from this house. The campaigns he ran from here targeted the federal employment ban, security-clearance denials and the psychiatric classification of homosexuality. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's a private residence, so view it from the street only and respect the occupants.