Frankkameny 40463

Frank Kameny was an astronomer, Veteran of WWII and GLBT rights activist.  His story has obvious parallels to that of Alan Turing the Genius of Bletchley Park in that both academics were fired in the 50’s after being arrested for homosexuality.  This was common at the time due to fears of their sexuality making them vulnerable to spies in the cold war era.  Frank Kameny and Jack Nichols, fellow co-founder of the Washington, D.C., branch of the Mattachine Society, launched some of the earliest public protests by gays and lesbians with a picket line at the White House on April 17, 1965. In coalition with New York’s Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, the picketing expanded to target the United Nations, the Pentagon, the United States Civil Service Commission, and to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall for what became known as the Annual Reminder for gay rights.

In 1963, Kameny and Mattachine launched a campaign to overturn D.C. sodomy laws; he personally drafted a bill that finally passed in 1993. He also worked to remove the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association‘s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. He described the day – December 15, 1973, when the American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders – as the day “we were cured en masse by the psychiatrists.”

Behind all the historic milestones, there is a common story of the 50’s – of War Heroes unfairly disgraced and dishonoured because of their sexuality.  Of cold war neurosis that turned to attack minority groups and did not acknowledge the rights of others. As many veterans have stated many gay men gave their lives to save others in WWII, they were heroes regardless of their sexuality and their treatment was appalling.  Asteroid Frankkameny is about respecting each human as valued and contributing member of society it is about fighting against injustice that stops great men from contributing to society.  Alan Turing one of the greatest minds committed suicide after being chemically castrated, it took 60yrs for an apology and pardon to come from the British government for “the appalling way he was treated.”

 

This asteroid making a strong connection to personal planets in the charts is asking you to remember this history of great heros who were abused and persecuted sometimes to death because of their sexuality.  Of the loss to mankind that ensued by doing so, of the great potential many of these individuals could not develop because of bias and injustice.