Comments on: Kameny estate dispute sparks lawsuits

By: Peter Rosenstein

Peter Rosenstein — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:31:57 +0000

I think that everyone would be better off if these issues were solved around a conference table and not in a courtroom. The four men being sued were all there for Frank Kameny in his later years. They worked to get him the credit and honors he deserved and worked to help him pay his bills. They did this as volunteers without compensation.

While I have the greatest respect for Mr. Ackerman as an attorney I think that in the long run this lawsuit may be a disservice to his client who by all accounts is a decent guy but has no real knowledge or interest in the work that Kameny did. He seemed rather to be a personal friend to Kameny which was great. His client seems to have inheritied everything in the estate that wasn’t left to the Library of Congress and I am sure that the four will happily return anything they took that they felt needed safekeeping to him.

As to their asking to be indemnified from further legal action that is something anyone would ask for and it has nothing to do with hiding anything or having done anything wrong. Rather it is simply that we live in a very litigeous society and once you are sued by someone you are always wary of the next lawsuit.

By: Rick Rosendall

Rick Rosendall — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:48:17 +0000

Bruce Majors completely disregards the facts. The defendants in this case, far from imposing our own interests, served Frank Kameny’s stated wishes as specified in his will. Frank attended the ceremony marking the delivery of the first batch of his papers to the Library of Congress in 2006. He was immensely grateful to Charles Francis in particular for his indefatigable efforts to preserve his (Frank’s) legacy, as well as for his personal assistance to Frank; Frank told me so many times. But you don’t have to take my word for it. The evidence that we were serving Frank’s wishes is plain and straightforward, as will become clear as the case proceeds. The glee with which some people hurl baseless accusations is rather amazing; that, too, is an all-too-popular Washington pastime. BTW, check out this blog entry by Michael Petrelis, who found some interesting stuff through Google: http://tinyurl.com/88nfteh

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:21:11 +0000

To Clark:

I wish you sophisticate and listen to Rosendall’s advice. Nobody will be the winner in this kind of lawsuit, execpt the lawyer, who is the one laughs all the way to the bank.

You can do the math, the house you got worth 730K, you minus all kinds of taxes first, then the fees your lawyers charge you, the fees your real estate agents charge you, and the fees your acct charge you. Those are all professionals, they won’t come cheap. Then take a look at the bottomline, You’ll find Rosendall is right about this.

I wish you sit down with those people you sue, i don’t believe there is nothing you cannot solve with them. They are decent people and Dr.K’s long time friends and comrades, they can be your mentors like Dr.K too. You’ll benefit from them.

By: Bruce Majors

Bruce Majors — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:32:48 +0000

People in Washington always think they know best how to manage other people’s property. These four are just doing what they have been cultured to do. Disregarding the fact that the house and its contents do not belong to them, since in their minds they are smarter and serve a higher public good. That’s how we end up with eminent domain taking away people’s homes to build strip malls.

By: brian

brian — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:36:45 +0000

Agreed.

And to another reader’s point, I’m not at all surprised that one of the best journalists in the country would note his newspaper’s relationship with Mr. Clark’s attorney.

It appears Mr. Kameny’s estate is raising very serious questions, to which all of us deserve some answers.

Moreover, IMHO, there are lots of outstanding ‘straight’ attorneys who can and do very, very capably and vigorously represent the interest of LGBT clients. But none, LGBT or straight, are better than Glen Ackerman.

By: Rick Rosendall

Rick Rosendall — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:29:55 +0000

Longtime Reader, please pay attention. Frank’s express wishes, as stated in his will, included that his papers go to the Library of Congress. The lawsuit was completely unnecessary. As for the interment, I myself had brief remarks prepared for the occasion and was very sorry that the event had to be canceled because of Mr. Ackerman’s insistence that the interment not proceed until the dispute he launched was resolved (about which he has been quite disingenuous). I helped choose Frank’s burial plot and grave markers. The facts show that those of us being sued have acted out of the highest respect for Frank. I worked with Frank for more than 30 years. Incidentally, I haven’t heard anyone suggest that Mr. Clark should not get the portion of the estate that Frank left to him. Of course he should, without it being drained away by legal fees. That we who have worked pro bono to help Frank and preserve his legacy are called thieves is more than false. It is obscene.

By: Longtime Reader

Longtime Reader — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:43:13 +0000

It is tragic that these self-appointed activists refuse to respect Frank Kameny’s last wishes. He obviously made a conscious decision in his will to leave everything to his friend and housemate Timothy Clark. Witeck and the others should settle this lawsuit, return the property to the estate, and allow the internment to proceed. For God’s sake, let the deceased rest in peace.

By: jcdchawk

jcdchawk — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:44:49 +0000

This is an insult and injustice to the people who did so much to help Kameny over the past years, often at their own expense, and to Kameny’s memory. There would be no house for Kameny to have left anyone without these people investing their time and money while asking nothing in return. They insured his taxes were paid and helped insure that he had heat and food. There is no doubt in my mind that Kameny would be outraged at how these people are being treated. These individuals were invaluable in protecting Kameny’s historical papers and insuring they went to a national institution as I believe he has wanted for many years. There may be a simple answer as to why the current papers he willed to the Library of Congress have not yet been sent. Five months is not a lot of time as you don’t just dump items on the Library of Congress without doing a proper inventory and properly prepare the items.

It is not surprising that the people who helped get Kameny’s earlier papers into the Library of Congress would want to insure these papers were protected. The GLBT community has lost a lot historical papers and other items because they have been destroyed by family or friends who were embarrassed by the items, did not understand, or did not recognize their historical value.

Since the will left all the papers to the Library of Congress I am not clear on what Ackerman means when he says all the papers belong to Clark. At best Clark would be a temporarily custodian with an obligation to give them to the Library Of Congress once they are properly inventories and prepared.

If I were to question anyone’s motive it would not be these four individuals. I notice the article does not explain if Clark sought out this attorney or if the attorney sought him out and if so why. What was the attorney’s involvement when Kameny was alive and could have used his assistance.

This suit just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished. I wish Clark all the best as that was Kameny’s desire and hope the attorney withdraws the suits and sits down with Clark and these individuals if he feels there are questions needing answers.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 00:54:35 +0000

I don’t know what on Dr. K’s mind when he signed his will. He should turn his property into a gay history museum or fundation somthing like that, while keeping his house and enjoying tax benefits.

Now Mr. C’s puts the house in the market, the heft of it’s value will go to pay tax, accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, etc., while Mr.c can get some cash out of it.

If Mr.C really cares about Dr. K like he said in the Blade interviews, he has moral obligation to pull the house off the the market and co-op with gay community to preserve Dr.K’s legacy, BTW, it’s a decent job for Mr.C as the curator.

Dr. K belongs to gay community and history. Mr. C’s handling is selfish, not in the best interest of gay community.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:11:27 +0000

Sad!