Frank Kameny was a key player in the birth of the gay rights movement, especially the Washington, D.C. branch of it. He's 84 years old, and starting in the late 1950s, he put his job and his life on the line for a cause he believed in. Now, he's an honored elder, and much of what he fought for has come to pass.

In this short excerpt from his conversation with host Mike Cuthbert, he describes the Stonewall riots–the incident that ignited a movement–and tells his own story of being fired and shunned in Washington, D.C. years before he was embraced and honored there.

Listen to the complete Frank Kameny interview.