Congressman Chamberlin's Response to the Mattachine Society's Letter of Introduction
lgbt rights
Frank Kameny sent out a letter of introduction on behalf of The Mattachine Society to many congressmen, hoping to form some sort of relationship in support of the organization. Unfortunately, in this letter that he received back from Congressman Chamberlain from Michigan, he was met with sincere adversity, just as he had gotten from Congressman Jones of Missouri.
Charles Chamberlin, Congressman from Michigan
The Kameny Papers
August 30th, 1962
Letter to Paul C. Jones
lgbt rights
This document is a letter that was written on behalf of The Mattachine Society of Washington DC as a whole, by Frank Kameny, describing the purpose of the organization and outlining its goals. He is requesting that the government change its policies on their treatment of LGBT people, and asks for Paul Jones (who was the speaker of the House at the time) to meet with them personally to discuss the matter further.
On the bottom of the letter, you can see that Jones sent the letter back with a response saying, "Please do not contaminate my mail with such filthy trash."
Frank Kameny
The Kameny Papers
Kameny's Testimony on the Dowdy Bill
LGBT Rights
This is the first page of the Kameny's testimony in court on the case of the Dowdy Bill, which was designed to outline the Mattachine Society of DC. In this document, Kameny defneds the Mattachine Society and clearly outlines what the organization is, and what it is not.
House of Representatives
The Kameny Papers
August 8th, 1963
Invitation for Kameny to Testify
LGBT rights
This letter was written by James T. Clark, the secretary for the House of Representatives, requesting that Kameny come and testify on the Dowdy Bill, which was proposed in an attempt to outlaw the Mattachine Society of Washington D.C.
James T. Clark
The Kameny Papers
August 5th, 1963
Gay is Good
Political Buttons
This is one of the buttons used to protest for LGBT Rights in DC
Frank Kameny
The Kameny Papers
Equality for Hmosexuals
One of the buttons used to protest for LGBT Rights in DC
Frank Kameny
The Kameny Papers
Picket Instructions
Instructions on how to picket professionally and correctly
This document was created by the Mattachine Society of Washington Dc, and it was a comprehensive guide on how to picket effectively, professionally, and without risk of getting in trouble with the law enforcement
Frank Kameny
The Kameny Papers
1960s
Frank Kameny for Congress
In 1971, Dr. Kameny became the first openly homosexual candidate for the US Congress when he ran in the District of Columbia's first election for a non-voting delegate to Congress.
Frank Kameny
The Kameny Papers
1971