In southeast Washington D.C. is a more-than two-century-old cemetery where members of Congress who died while in office are buried. It's also home to a little-known final resting place for some trailblazing LGBTQ+ icons.
A group of about 20 visitors are quietly led down the oblong-shaped stone markers and squat sandstone blocks of Congressional Cemetery by docent Jeff Rollins, who volunteers for the non profit organization that helps manage the 35-acre cemetery
The tour, during pride month, comes as the Trump administration has issued a series of executive orders targeting the community, particularly those who identify as transgender and non-binary, as well as those serving in the military.
"We're seeing some of the similar language and attacks that were used on the LGBT community back then that we haven't seen in a while," says Rollins, who has led this tour for eight years. "So in telling their stories, it resonates more deeply and seems more real versus just a historical footnote."
As the group moves through the cemetery, Rollins notes the graves of Barbara Gittings, the mother of the modern gay rights movement; the founding father of the Harlem Renaissance Alain Locke; Ken Dresser, who designed Disney theme park parades and shows; and the grave of the man who created a stir when he became the first military member to come out publicly, Leonard Matlovich.
The granite grave is marked with American and pride flags; the headstone is piled high with stones and features pink triangles. The stone reads, 'A Gay Vietnam Veteran.' Below that: "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."
Matlovich served in the Air Force and did three tours in Vietnam. He was awarded a bronze medal, received a Purple Heart, and was lauded for exemplary service.
Then, in 1975, he told his commanding officer he was gay. Shortly after, the Air Force honorably discharged him.
It was also around this time gay rights advocate Frank Kameny (who also has a memorial marker nearby, though he is not buried at Congressional) was looking for "perfect soldier" to test the military's ban on gay servicemen. Kameny found that in Matlovich.
On Sept. 8, 1975, Matlovich appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I am a Homosexual."
It set off a legal battle that did end, albeit decades later, with the military changing its policy when President Bill Clinton signed the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law. In 2010, Congress repealed it, allowing gay military members to serve openly without fear of retribution.
After appearing on the cover, Matlovich became a gay rights advocate. He died in 1988 and chose Congressional Cemetery as his final resting place due to the proximity to his home and as a symbolic alternative to Arlington National Cemetery.
Matlovich selected a spot near J. Edgar Hoover — also buried at Congressional — as a "middle finger" to the FBI director. And, in the five decades since, dozens of individuals have chosen to be buried near Matlovich.
"I don't think he imagined or would dream that it grew into what it did in Congressional Cemetery," says Michael Bedwell, a good friend of Matlovich and long-time advocate. "It would bring him to tears. I guarantee you that."
Many of the gravestones throughout the cemetery are dotted with symbols of LGBTQ+ pride, from rainbow flags to upside-down pink triangles, which Nazis forced gay men to wear during the Holocaust, but the community has since reclaimed as a symbol of self-identity.
Congressional Cemetery's executive director, A.J. Orlikoff, says the cemetery is a history lesson.
"You can quite literally chart the evolution of what being gay meant in America through the gravestones that are here," he says.
But, for some, walking among the stones is more than just a stroll through the past. It's a window into today.
"I thought this would be a good way to remind ourselves of what people in the community have gone through in the past," says tour goer Shreyans Goenka. "What they've sacrificed to me to go on this journey."
D.C. residents Allison and Caleb Hoke are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. They've come on this tour to celebrate their love and gain some perspective.
"I think that's kind of what's really striking me is just how much we have changed and grown as a community in such a short amount of time and how much we have continued to fight," Allison, who identifies as queer and non-binary, said. "And how it's still happening."
Bedwell says if Matlovich were alive today, he would still be at the forefront of gay rights advocacy and would be making clear where he stands on the recent executive orders.
"Leonard would be enraged. He would be picketing in front of the White House. He would be picketing the Pentagon," Bedwell says. "If Leonard were still alive and healthy, he would be fighting just as hard ... probably even harder."
Allison Hoke keeps reflecting on the choice Matlovich and others made to be buried here, in the nation's capital, among their community, and with pride.
"It's a way to kind of reach across time. To people in the future and say like there are people here who existed they were like you," they said. "I just feel like that's really beautiful."
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