On October 10, 2009, the day before the National Equality March, activists spanning four decades of the fight against the ban on gays in the military gathered in Washingtons Congressional Cemetery to protest Dont Ask, Dont Tell and honor the first servicemember to ever fight the ban, former Air Force TSgt. Leonard Matlovich, winner of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. www.leonardmatlovich.com

In 1975, his unprecedented challenge landed him on the front page of every major newspaper in the nation and on the cover of TIME, the first out gay person ever to appear on the cover of a mainstream magazine. Until his death due to AIDS in 1988, he was a relentless activist for every LGBT civil right and the subject of a made-for-TV movie and countless news media appearances. He is buried in Congressional Cemetery beneath the gravestone he wanted to be a memorial to all gay veterans, and its internationally known epitaph: When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.

PARTICIPANTS

- LT. DAN CHOI www.ltdanchoi.com
- FRANK KAMENY www.kamenypapers.org
- REV. TROY PERRY www.revtroyperry.org
- DAVID MIXNER www.davidmixner.com
- TRACY THORNE-BEGLAND
- RANDY WICKER
- JOSE ZUNIGA
- ALEX NICHOLSON www.servicemembersunited.org
- CAPT. MIKE RANKIN [RET]
- CHIP ARNDT
- DAVID ADDLESTONE
- POTOMAC FEVER, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC, led by Jeff Buhrman. www.gmcw.org
- COLOR GUARD led by gay veterans Jim Darby and Patrick Bova. www.averchicago.org