Mattachine Society leaders (including Dr. Frank Kameny, second from right, and Jack Nichols, center), East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) conference, New York City, September 26, 1965. @nyplpicturecollection. By 1965, Frank Kameny understood that "the entire validity...of everything for which [the homophile movement] stands rests upon" adopting a "position denying that homosexuality is a sickness." On March 4, 1965, Kameny and Jack Nichols convinced the leadership of the D.C. Mattachine Society to make the following declaration: “[D.C. Mattachine] takes the position that in the absence of valid evidence to the contrary, homosexuality is not a sickness, disturbance, or other pathology in any sense, but is merely a preference, orientation, or propensity on par with, and not different in kind from, heterosexuality.” The statement marked the beginning of a new era: without "valid evidence," the gay community refused to accept the prevailing sickness theory. On December 15, 1973, the American Psychological Association voted to remove homosexuality from its list of mental diseases. #lgbthistory #lgbtherstory #gay #bi #trans #lesbian #pride #frankkameny #jacknichols #eastcoasthomophileorganizations #lillvincenz #dickleitsch #mattachinesociety (at New York, New York)