45 years ago today - Sep 8, 1975

LDS Air Force Sgt. Leonard P. Matlovich is featured on the cover of TIME Magazine with the headline, "I Am a Homosexual: The Gay Drive for Acceptance.- The accompanying article makes no mention of Matlovich's Mormonism. Two months later Matlovich is excommunicated. Matlovich served three tours of duty in Vietnam where he received the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and an Air Force Meritorious Service Medal. Sgt Matlovich was discharged from the army for coming out. He sued and settled for $160,000. He became a gay-rights activist and died, from complications due to AIDS, on Jun 22, 1988. The epitaph carved in his tombstone in the District of Columbia-s Congressional Cemetery reads -When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.-

[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]