A photo of an anonymous headstone at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., went viral in Reddit’s r/pics forum this month, getting more than 89,000 upvotes.
The inscription on the headstone reads “A Gay Vietnam Veteran: When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”
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As the Reddit user who uploaded the pic noted, the grave is that of Leonard Matlovich, an Air Force technical sergeant who challenged the U.S. military’s ban on gay service members before his 1988 death from AIDS complications.
Related: 12 American LGBT war heroes
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As the Los Angeles Times reported after his death, Matlovich was a technical sergeant who volunteered for three tours of duty in Vietnam and earned the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart during his service. And he came up with the idea for his headstone after being diagnosed with AIDS nearly two years before his death.
Jeff Dupre, a longtime friend, told NPR’s StoryCorps in 2015 that he met Matlovich at a Thanksgiving dinner. But Matlovich had a lot on his mind that day, as Dupre recalled. “He said, ‘Well, you know, they’re looking for a candidate to challenge the gays in the military laws. … Someone who has a good record to make it legal to be in the service and be open. I’ve got these awards from the service. I think I can do it.’”
So Matlovich came out in a letter to his commanding officer, not long before a portrait of him graced the cover of a 1975 issue of TIME, under the headline “‘I Am a Homosexual’: The Gay Drive for Acceptance.”
“It was pretty wild,” Dupre said of the cover story. “There it was on the rack. He was glancing up, shiny eyes, curly hair, with the headline: ‘I Am a Homosexual.’ And I just stared at it. I just couldn’t believe it.”
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Matlovich was forcibly discharged from the Air Force after he came out, but he fought for an honorable discharge and won. He also fought to be reinstated, but the Air Force opted to give him a $160,000 settlement instead.
“He … was the epitome of a perfect soldier, one of those people that stuck his neck out, and he was proud to be the person to challenge that law,” Dupre said.
Mario
Sad and touching story.
Here’s great news for Americans who can’t stand Joe Biden!
Latest CIVIQS poll:
“President Joe Biden’s approval rating is down to the lowest of his presidency, at only 31 percent.
Bosch
This relates to the article, how?
Evji108
Fck off Mario I voted for Biden because he wasn’t Dump and he is still 1000 x better than the Orange Douche
Matt
The CIVIQS isn’t included in the Five Thirty-Eight polling average — and they “don’t disregard any legitimately conducted scientific polls.” They have Biden’s approval at a little more than 39%. It isn’t great, but it’s nowhere near 31%.
jcool
so here’s great news for queerty readers who can’t stand mario!
he clearly makes up statistics to try to make himself look smarter.
sad
Kevan1
Any reason for a shallow Trump supporter just shout out about the loser. Just goes to show you how pathetic some in our go family can be.
miller2900
….and how many people from “CIVIQS” actually are “surveyed/polled” out of the total United States population? These Polls that the media loves to quote have always been nothing more than a joke to me because in my opinion they don’t actually reflect the cross section of Americans from coast to coast. The same goes for all of the polling that is done. An example of polling that the media was spewing recently had only 1500 people polled…. yet tried to portray the results as if our entire country thought that way. Same goes for the television commercials spewing misinformation. Another example is the TV commercial that currently gets played numerous times a day asking viewers to tell congress to stop trying to stunt jobs created by the “Technical Industry”. When you read the small print at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see that it’s the “Edge” organization (not the full exact name). When you research the Edge organization you find it that its nothing more than Facebook trying to further spread its monopoly! Have to pay attention readers… so you know exactly who/what is trying to reach in your pockets. That includes anything posted here because it appears that misinformation shows up even here.
ZzBomb
Mario, you have no respect for the fallen.
Jami Stardust
I never saw this. So I;m one person who normally does this poll. I need to check my spam file. So one more would have approvded of ,
Mario
James Stardust:
CIVIQS is a left-wing opinion polling and data analytics company founded by leftist Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas in March 2018.
See this is a left-wing NOT a right-wing polling company. Too bad for you.
By the way, Jamie Stardust, if that’s your picture up there, you truly are hideous. Perhaps you shouldn’t go outside during daylight hours.
DarkZephyr
@Mario, are you really THAT disgusting and low? Wow, I never expected you to be THIS evil.
@Jami, you are a beautiful human being. Ignore the hate troll.
Bosch
Wow Mario. Crying like a little bitch because of “ad hominem attacks” and then you pull shit like this with Jami, who did absolutely nothing to offend you?
And on top of that, you’re disrespecting the dead by being a bitch under this article. But no surprise, because you are trash. Unhappy, lonely trash, too, because happy, loved people don’t waste their time doing what you’re doing.
Thanks for reminding us that there is a positive correlation between republicans and psychopathy.
Mario
DarkZephyr & Bosch:
Spare me the crocodile tears.
You two said the nastiest things about Clarence and Ginny Thomas’ appearances in previous articles, and now you are going to be the morality police?
You have both proven to be left-wing hypocrites: Condemning others for that which you do routinely.
STFU!
Mario
Jami Stardust:
I went too far. I’m sorry for verbally attacking your physical appearance. That was unkind and inexcusable.
boblrice
@mario, you clearly have violated the posting regulations. Obviously Queerty isn’t paying attention, because you should be banned. Your apology means literally nothing. You did it and that’s enough to show how unbelievably awful you are.
Bosch
@mario
Thanks for showing us your true face. You’re a little narcissist crybaby with no empathy, and that is exactly why you’re a republican.
Please find the nasty things I said about Clarence or Ginny’s appearance. I’ll wait here.
Bosch
Come on hurry up mario! Prove I’m a hypocrite by finding a post where I attack Ginny or Thomas’ appearance! The suspense is killing me!
nm4047
@Mario. Ironic that a hate troll makes any comment of a persons image when they don’t have the courage to put an image against their own ‘profile’. Or maybe the problem is it’s difficult to put 1 image again a multitude of accounts.
Bosch
Btw, Marcy. The problem isn’t that you made fun of someone’s appearance. The problem is that you attacked someone unprovoked.
People make fun of Ginny and Clarence, because Ginny and Clarence have done horribly offensive things to your country. They are the villains of the story.
You insulted Jami just because she suggested she’d have answered your little poll differently. You are the villain of the story.
Do you see the difference? So yes, we do get to be the “morality police”.
So what’s your response? A poll? Hunter biden’s laptop? A tearful accusation of hypocrisy? Go hang out on 4chan, you’ll find like-minded people there.
Chrisk
I know of a couple Homocons like “Mario”. They both have no real friends and are total narcissist’s. They only identify with other Trumpanzies but of course deep down they know they’re not wanted there either. At least it gives you an idea of what they’re all like at a personal level.
It amazes me that this shithead with the dozens of different names has been coming here for many years playing the same game. I honestly think Queerty approves since the negatively drives up views like a train wreck.
dario717
May he rest in peace! Damn this country for mistreating him while he was alive!
nm4047
I’m not quite sure your country has a great track record of the treatment alive or dead.
monty clift
Another US gay veteran whose name is sadly forgotten is Allen Schindler. He served four years in the Navy and was a proud gay sailor. Unfortunately, his time in the Navy was bittersweet. He was waiting for a discharge to come through when he was sadistically beaten and stomped to death by two of his shipmates for being gay. His murder brought about important changes surrounding gays in the military.
Rest in peace, Allen and Leonard, and all LGBT service members who made a difference.
Cato
Also Barry Winchell, a soldier who fell in love with a trans woman. He was beaten to death in his sleep with a baseball bat by another soldier who thought he was gay.
andy_d
There is also Vernon”Copy” Berg whose case was combined with Len’s (Leonard was a friend who is dearly missed, btw). Copy’s father, a Navy Chaplain, was punished by the Navy effectively ending his career because he supported his son. The book “Get Off My Ship” is Copy’s story.
Raybee
Barry Winchell’s tragic story is told in the 2003 movie “Soldier’s Girl.” A really good movie if you haven’t seen it. Lee Pace is fantastic in it.
Kangol2
Thanks for the names of all of these LGBTQ military veterans and their stories. Saying their names and recounting their stories, even briefly, helps ensure they are not forgotten.
monty clift
@Cato, Barry’s murder was sickening and deeply disturbing eerily similar to Allen Schindler’s death. Both murderers are free now. It’s disgusting Barry never got true justice and Allen only got half justice. The one who instigated the attack on Barry was hiding his own sexuality.
bakeembakeem
A heartfelt story indeed, such amazing bravery in a very complicated era of time
Major
I was a gay teenage when that issue of Time hit the newsstands and it gave me one of the few positive portrayals in the media to look up to.
DeaconMac
Leonard Matlovich was a good friend. Back in the 1970s, he and I used to have long, friendly political chats. I was a liberal Democrat, he was a moderate Republican, I had been an anti-war resister, he was a true Vietnam-era hero, but we had a wonderful time wrestling with our disagreements. I miss him. I was there when the horse-drawn caisson took him to his final rest and, someday, my husband and I plan tol be laid to rest nearby in the LGBTQ section of Congressional Cemetery. (There is also a memorial to Frank Kameny and another to Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin nearby; if you don’t know who those heroes are, look ’em up.)
Doug
I remember him also, it doesn’t seem that long ago. He used to work in a small restaurant in the Russian River and was always very friendly to me whenever I visited.
monty clift
I’ll be sure to look those heroes up. thanks.