"To the government and lawyers we were criminals. To the religious people we were sinners. To the psychiatrists we were sick," he said. "There was nothing affirmative to offset that in any way whatsoever."

Frank Kameny, 84, recalling the reasons he became one of America's first organizers of gay and lesbian rights. He is being honored during DC's Capital Pride events this week. (Associated Press)

''He's indomitable. There's no one else like him in the movement," said Dudley Clendinen, co-author of a book about the gay rights effort in America. "He doesn't relent. He doesn't really negotiate ... The culture gradually came around to recognize what he early on insisted was fair and true.''

Author Dudley Clendinen describing Washington, DC's own Frank Kameny, co-founder of the area's first gay and lesbian rights organization, The Mattachine Society. (Associated Press)