Pink Triangle Grave of a Gay Vet

Washington, DC

Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich was an Air Force Vietnam War veteran, and he was gay. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine in September 1975 with the headline "I Am a Homosexual." The Air Force discharged Matlovich, but he sued for reinstatement and was eventually offered financial compensation. He then gave speeches and engaged in fundraising and activist efforts for LGBTQIA causes.

Matlovich died in 1988 of HIV/AIDS, and chose Congressional Cemetery as his final resting place. He omitted his name from his tombstone; it is instead decorated with pink triangles. The tombstone also includes the epitaph, "When I was in the military / they gave me a medal for killing two men / and a discharge for loving one."

In the decades since Matlovich's burial many LGBTQIA couples and activists have been buried in plots near Matlovich. As such, the area in the cemetery has been nicknamed "Gay Corner."

[Grave report by Kurt Deion]