Frank Kameny (second from left), with Gabe Klein, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) in 2010.

It’s sadly symbolic — pioneering D.C. gay rights advocate Frank Kameny died yesterday afternoon, the very day that officials in the city and around the country celebrated National Coming Out Day. The Washington Blade reports that Kameny was found in his bed unconscious and unresponsive around 5 p.m. He was 86.

Kameny was one of the pioneers of the gay rights movement, suing the U.S. government for being fired due to his sexual orientation. Kameny argued his case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1961, and, despite losing, went on to found the Mattachine Society of Washington, a gay rights organization that was set to celebrate its 50th anniversary tomorrow. While an advocate, Kameny created a number of emblematic slogans for the movement, including “Gay is Good.”

In 1971, Kameny ran for the non-voting D.C. delegate seat in the U.S. Congress, the first openly gay candidate to run for a seat in the country’s legislature. He then founded the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, an organization which continues lobbying for gay rights in the District today and was instrumental in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage.

“Frank was a force of nature. He was a man of high intelligence, endless nerve, and a steel spine,” said Rick Rosendall, GLAA’s Vice President for Political Affairs, in a post last night. “His entire strategy was based on seizing the moral and intellectual high ground, specifically invoking America’s founding principles and demanding for gay people the birthright of any other American citizen. He did this at a time when he had no backup, no army of activists and fundraisers behind him. He took on the U.S. Civil Service Commission and the Department of Defense by himself, on his own wits and native courage.”

In 2006, the Library of Congress archived 70,000 of Kameny’s papers, including his petition to the Supreme Court. In 2009, his home and office on Cathedral Avenue NW was granted historic landmark status by the District, the first such designation for a LGBT landmark in the city. The following year, a two-block stretch of 17th Street NW was formally designated Frank Kameny Way.

Kameny’s death also comes only weeks after the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was discontinued in the U.S. military; he served in the U.S. Army in World War II.

More: Post, Blade, MetroWeekly, GLAA.