Gay rights pioneer Kameny dead at 86

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/living/kameny-obit/

CNN) -- Pioneering gay rights activist Frank Kameny died Tuesday evening at home in Washington, a spokesman said. He was 86.

"He said everyone needs to know they are of value and respected, and by saying, 'Gay is good,' he thought that reflected that feeling. He wanted dignity and self-respect, and that's what he fought for," according to Bob Witeck of the Kameny Papers Project.

Kameny died peacefully of natural causes, according to his sister Edna Kameny Lavey.

He was at a Human Rights Campaign dinner a week ago in a wheelchair, she said.

"Frank Kameny led an extraordinary life marked by heroic activism that set a path for the modern LGBT civil rights movement," Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in a statement. "From his early days fighting institutionalized discrimination in the federal workforce, Dr. Kameny taught us all that 'Gay is Good.'

Thank you Frank, we are forever grateful for your extraordinary work especially in challenging homophobic times.

:cry:

For making life a little bit better for all of us.