Leonard Matlovich
1943-1988
by Todd Richmond
365Gay.com Features Editor

As the dawn of a new American administration breaks onto the horizon many of us ponder how the GLBT communities will be affected. The past few years have seen great forward strides around the world in the fight for equal rights, not special rights. Many of these successes are because of ordinary men and women who are driven to do extraordinary things. Leonard Matlovich was one of those extraordinary people.

Describing himself as an army brat, Lenny was born, the son of a career Air Force man at a base hospital on July 6, 1943, in Savannah, Georgia. The family followed his father from posting to posting, throughout the U.S.

In 1963, a year after graduating from high school, Lenny enlisted in the Air Force, volunteering for duty in Viet Nam. During his three tours of duty there, Matlovich was awarded "Airman of the Month 1965; Bronze Star, 1965; Purple Heart, 1970, Air Force Commendation Medal, 1974.

From the age of twelve, Matlovich struggled with his homosexual tendencies and as these feelings became stronger, turned to more orthodox forms of religion, hoping that their rigorous restrictions would help him to control his base wants.

In the course of his military duties, after returning from Viet Nam, he conducted racial sensitivity classes for military personnel, as a way of combating tensions within the military. During one of these classes he posed the question ‘Who was the most discriminated against group in America?’ and when the students said "blacks" or "Jews," he wrote the word "homosexuals." This sparked debate on the military’s exclusion of gays and lesbians from serving their country. During these debates, a local gay bar in Pensacola, Florida was mentioned and Lenny decided, one evening, to visit the bar in order to further his research. There, he met a local civil servant and later lost his virginity to him.

More and more, Matlovich recognized the gap that existed between how the military saw the homosexual and his love of country. With his performance record and his all-American upbringing, he felt that he would be the perfect test case to fight the ban on gays in the armed services. Contacting Franklin Kameny, a leading Washington D.C. gay activist for advice, he was warned of the dangers he faced, with respect to his career and his own well-being. Undeterred, he asked Kameny for help in finding a lawyer

and in 1975, while working as a human relations counsellor at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, he sent a letter to, then, Air Force Secretary John McLucas, stating "…my sexual preferences are homosexual as opposed to heterosexual" and asked for a waiver of the military's anti-gay policies because of his continuing abilities to perform his duties. The matter was given to the Office of Special Investigations for review.

Initially, the investigators refused to believe his claims and demanded proof of his homosexuality, believing that Matlovich (now a sergeant) was trying to advance a political position. Refusing to name other military personnel, he did write a letter where he spelt out specific sexual acts in which he had participated.

His co-workers reacted differently. Many African American personnel saw his case as about civil rights, while others voiced their opposition by making threatening telephone calls and shooting into his home. Still others didn’t know what to think about it all. Perhaps a fellow sergeant, who told Lenny, “You can’t have a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and suck cock”, best summed up their confusion.

The investigation concluded that despite his being a highly decorated 12 year veteran of the armed services, Sergeant Leonard Matlovich was deemed unfit for further military service and they recommended him for a general discharge (rather than the honorable discharge that his record should have demanded).

Refusing to accept the findings of the office of Special Investigations, Matlovich challenged Air Force Administration Discharge Board’s ruling and found himself in the eye of the storm and at the forefront of 1970’s gay activism. The media took up the cause and on September 8, 1975, became the first openly gay man to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

In December 1978 the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Sergeant Matlovich’s discharge had been illegal and returned the case to a lower court to decide whether or not he should be reinstated. In 1980, a federal judge ordered the Air Force to reinstate Sergeant Matlovich, with back pay.

Not wanting to set this kind of precedent, the Air Force began negotiating with Lenny and 2 months later announced a settlement had been reached; Matlovich dropped the case, in exchange for a $160,000.00 tax-free payment. News of the deal outraged many gay activists, but Lenny explained that he took the money because he believed it to be less likely to win a government appeal in front of the increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

In July 1987, on the nationally televised program, “Good Morning, America”, Lenny announced that he had been diagnosed with AIDS, saying, "I had a chest cold and I went to the hospital to get medicine. And the doctor said to me, 'Guess what. That's not a chest cold. You have AIDS."'

 He died at the home of a friend in West Hollywood at 9:43 p.m. on June 22, 1988, a few days short of his goal to march in the Gay Freedom Day Parade in Los Angeles. He was buried with full military honours in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

His tombstone carries the inscription, which he wrote himself: "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge for loving one." It has become a gathering place for gay activists and visitors alike from around the world.