8 LGBT Service Members Who Shaped American History

From: Gay Pop Buzz

• lgbt_history
• "'I AM A HOMOSEXUAL': The Gay Drive for Acceptance," 
• Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, Time, September 8, 1975. 
• "Since homosexuals began to organize for political action six years ago,
•  they have achieved a substantial number of victories," 
• Time magazine explained to its readers in "Gays on the March," 
• published on September 8, 1975, forty-one years ago today. 
• Such victories, according to Time, included twelve states having
• decriminalized sodomy, the APA's decision to remove homosexuality
•  from its list of mental disorders, and an increased willingness by 
• employers--including the federal government--to hire gays and lesbians.
•  At the center of the gay liberation's public battles in 1975 was 
• Leonard Matlovich, the first open homosexual to declare himself 
• as such on the cover of a major American newsmagazine. Matlovich,
•  who came out at age thirty, and, at thirty-two, guided by 
• Frank Kameny and David Addlestone, mounted a challenge to the U.S. military's ban
•  on homosexual service, had "become one of the best-known gays in the country....
• Addressing a Gay Pride Week rally in New York in June, he broke down and cried.
•  Says he: 'I found myself, little nobody me, standing up in front of tens of thousands 
• of gay people. And just two years ago I thought I was the only gay in the world. 
• It was a mixture of joy and sadness. It was just great pride to be an American, 
• to know I'm oppressed but able to stand up there and say so." 
• Leonard Matlovich died of AIDS-related illness on June 22, 1988; he was forty-four.
•  #lgbthistory #lgbtherstory #lgbttheirstory#lgbtpride 
• #QueerHistoryMatters#HavePrideInHistory #LeonardMatlovich

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Sgt. Leonard Matlovich

A Vietnam Veteran, Sgt. Leonard Matlovich was the first gay man to ever disclose his sexual orientation while serving in the United States Air Force.

His picture, along with the massive headline: “I Am a Homosexual,” covered the September 8, 1975 edition of Time.

And you know what else? Matlovich was the recipient of The Purple Heart and the Bronze Star; two of our nation’s highest medals of honor.

You can see his grave site and the words inscribed to his tomb below.