Breaking Down Barriers: Leonard Matlovich's Impact as the First Openly Gay Service Member

Leonard Phillip Matlovich was a decorated military member who received both the Purple Heart and Bronze Star awards following his activities in the Vietnam war. He is notable for being the first openly gay service member who intentionally revealed his sexual orientation to challenge the military's ban on gays.

In the 1970s, Matlovich became one of the most prominent openly gay figures in the United States.

On the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, his picture was featured on the cover, which turned him into a representation for numerous gay and lesbian servicemembers and the broader LGBTQ+ community. This event marked the first time an openly gay person was featured on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine.

Background

Matlovich was born in Savannah, Georgia, at Hunter Air Force Base, to Vera and Leonard Matlovich, a retired Air Force sergeant. Growing up, he resided on military bases primarily in the Southern United States with his sister. Matlovich and his sister were brought up in the Catholic faith.

During his teenage years, Matlovich lived in Charleston, South Carolina, where he attended Catholic Bishop England High School. Soon after turning 19, he enrolled in the military, and around the same time, the United States escalated its military involvement in Vietnam.

Matlovich offered to serve in Vietnam and completed three tours of duty. Unfortunately, he sustained severe injuries after stepping on a landmine in.

His First Encounter With The Gay Community

While Matlovich was stationed in Florida, close to Fort Walton Beach, he started visiting gay bars in Pensacola. He was 30 years old in 1973 when he had his first sexual encounter with another man. Matlovich revealed his sexual orientation to his friends but kept it hidden from his commanding officer.

Matlovich recognized that the racism he had encountered while growing up was unjust, and he decided to volunteer as an instructor for Air Force Race Relations classes. These classes were established in response to various racial incidents that occurred in the military between the late 1960s and early 1970s. His teaching abilities were so remarkable that the Air Force dispatched him to different parts of the country to train other instructors.

As time passed, Matlovich began to perceive the discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community as being akin to that faced by African Americans. He devoted the rest of his life to fighting for the LGBTQ+ community.

In October 1975, Matlovich was discharged from the military.

Matlovich sued the Air Force for being discharged due to his sexual orientation. In 1980, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Matlovich should be reinstated and promoted when the Air Force failed to provide sufficient reasoning for his discharge. However, the Air Force offered him a financial settlement of $160,000 instead of reinstatement, which Matlovich accepted out of concern for facing another discharge or a negative ruling from the Supreme Court.

Death

In September 1986, Matlovich was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

In 1987, Matlovich revealed on Good Morning America that he had been diagnosed with HIV.

The following June, he and other demonstrators were apprehended in front of the White House while protesting what they regarded as an insufficient response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Matlovich died of HIV/AIDS related complications in Los Angeles on June 22, 1988, when he was almost 45 years old. He is not named on his tombstone, which was intended to honor all gay veterans.

It reads, "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

Because military authorities did not permit such a marker in Arlington Cemetery at that time, Matlovich decided to select a burial site in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.