The U.S. Department of Labor has announced plans to honor pioneering gay rights activist Frank Kameny

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) has announced plans to honor pioneering gay rights activist Frank Kameny, reports The Washington Blade.

Kameny – who died in 2011 aged 86 – will be inducted into the Hall of Honor at the ceremony in Washington D.C on June 23rd.

At the time of his death, The Washington Post wrote: “starting at a time when those openly asserting their homosexuality could place themselves in physical jeopardy, Mr. Kameny worked to increase the acceptance of gay people in mainstream American society and to recognize their rights.”

Kameny was fired from his job as an astronomer at the U.S. Army Map Service in 1958 when it was discovered he was gay. He became the first known gay person to fight his dismissal on grounds of his sexual orientation. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal, leaving in place a ban on federal employment of homosexuals.

In the statement, Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said:

“Frank Kameny was a groundbreaking leader in the LGBT civil rights movement. He fought tirelessly to live out his truth and to end workplace discrimination. At the Department of Labor we work every day to carry on his legacy and ensure that all workers, no matter who they are or who they love, have equal access to opportunity.”

The induction ceremony will take place at the DoL’s Francis Perkins headquarters building in Washington.

Watch Kameny talk to AARP and The Washington Blade about activism and his role in the beginning of the gay rights movement, AFTER THE JUMP…