Reenactment of the 1965 Gay Rights Picket at the White House

Join RHP to reenact the historic 1965 White House picket on its 61st anniversary.

WHAT: Historical reenactment of the first picket for gay rights at the White House.

WHEN: April 17, 2026, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST.

WHERE: The White House Sidewalk; Lafayette Square; 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC

We will be doing a reenactment of the picketing of the White House this year on April 17th.

We will be gathering there around 4pm where we will each pick up a sign before walking to our position.Please bring you a comfortable pair of shoes to walk in, and wear clothes that you feel comfortable walking in.

We will be meeting at 4pm in front of the White House, facing the green space before we walk as a group down to the protesting area by 4:20pm. We will be walking around until 5:00pm.

History of the Picket

On April 17, 1965, the Mattachine Society of Washington held the nation’s first picket for gay rights. The picket took place on the White House Sidewalk, Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, on April 17, 1965. For exactly one hour, from 4:20 pm to 5:20 pm, members of the Mattachine Society of Washington walked in a circle, non-stop, in silence, carrying posters of their demands. The White House picket is the origin story for public demonstrations for gay rights in the U.S., and the origin story for Pride Marches and the annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations which occur across the globe.

Frank Kameny, Ph.D., was fired by the U.S. Army Map Service in 1957 for being gay, kicking off his life-long battle for LGBTQ rights. He founded the Washington chapter of the Mattachine Society, an early national gay rights organization. Lilli Vincenz, Ph.D., was the first lesbian to join the Mattachine Society of Washington, shortly after she was expelled from the U.S. Army for being gay. The Mattachine Society’s efforts in the early 1960s led to the 1965 White House picket and countless other pickets and media outreach during the late 1960s.

Led by Dr. Kameny and Dr. Vincenz, picketers demanded action on the Mattachine Society’s four major issues: the exclusion of homosexuals from Federal employment; the punitive policies of the U.S. Military; blanket denial of security clearances to gay people; and, government refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.

“We ask, Mr. President, for what all American citizens – singly and collectively – have the right to ask,” Kameny wrote in a letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson, outlining their demands, “That our problems be given fair, unbiased consideration… consideration in which we, ourselves, are allowed to participate actively and are invited to do so.”

The Rainbow History Project will reenact the historic 1965 White House picket on its 61st anniversary. The reenactment will educate community members and the media on the demands of gay and lesbian activists from the early gay rights movement. RHP’s volunteers will carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.

Frank Kameny and Lilli Vincenz participated in the Rainbow History Project’s 2008 picket reenactment. Although Dr. Kameny died in 2011, and Dr. Vincenz in 2023, RHP and its all volunteer corps will picket in their honor and demonstrate there is a new generation of young activists ready to take up their signs and their fight for equal rights for all LGBTQ people.

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