Dr. Frank Kameny, who was fired as a government astronomer in 1957 for unspecified “immoral conduct,” addressed an audience of about 70 people at the Christian Association on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus.
He spoke about his personal history within the struggle between gay people and the government, calling it “a lengthy exercise.
“My government exists for me,” Kameny told the audience. “It exists for my convenience, not me for its.”
Gays at Penn and Gays at Drexel cosponsored the talk. The proceeds of the event supported Penn’s new Gay Peer Counseling Project.
Kameny described his aggressive style when aiding entities that challenged the government in court.
“I can do things an attorney never could,” said Kameny, who was not an accredited lawyer. “I can attack my opposing attorney by name in a news release. I can publish the names of the Pentagon board and their telephone numbers and sic the press on them.”
Through his work, Kameny said, the Civil Service Commission policy was modified in July 1975 so that the “government must demonstrate a nexus between the conduct alleged and a valid employment criteria” to fire a gay employee.
Kameny said he told government officials that not allowing gay people to receive security clearances for government-contracted projects because of the “possibility of blackmail” could not apply to people who were openly gay. He further noted that there was a case in Los Angeles, in which heterosexual security clearance holders testified they “heterosexually violated the California sodomy statutes.”
Kameny concluded by reminding the crowd that changing government policy had to be more aggressive than just persuading government officials what “nice people” gays are.
Arrest rumors found groundless
Adapted from reporting by PGN staff
Rumors that spread throughout February 1976 — indicating male prostitutes were being picked up by police and promised immunity from prosecution in exchange for information about their male customers — were not proven true.
People said the areas around Broad Street, Spruce Street and Penn Center were being targeted.
PGN questioned police officials in Center City precincts, representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and several male prostitutes in those areas. All sources denied any knowledge of the situation.
A spokesman for the Ninth police precinct told PGN: “There wouldn’t be any particular advantage in that kind of procedure. The best we could expect in that situation would be a conviction on a misdemeanor unless, of course, we were trying to locate a specific person.”
The spokesman acknowledged the December 1975 murder of newspaper heir John S. Knight III. During the investigation, the spokesman said, “there was a good deal of interrogation of hustlers, but the object was to get leads on his possible murderers.”
— compiled by Paige Cooperstein