New historical marker unveiled honoring Winchester native John Fryer

A ‘quiet, unassuming Kentuckian, who, though masked, helped to unmask a lie.’

It start­ed with a dis­cov­ery. A Winchester native who helped make ground-shift­ing changes in America for the civ­il rights of gay peo­ple in the 1970s, a man who was cel­e­brat­ed in his adopt­ed city of Philadelphia, had nev­er been rec­og­nized for his achieve­ments in the place of his birth and ear­ly life.

It con­clud­ed on Sunday, June 29, with the ded­i­ca­tion of a new his­tor­i­cal mark­er on Lexington Avenue, final­ly bestow­ing upon Dr. John Fryer (1934−2003) the recog­ni­tion long over­due from his hometown.

About two dozen locals gath­ered at 1 PM at the mark­er, locat­ed at the inter­sec­tion of Bön Haven Avenue, the birth­place and child­hood home of Dr. Fryer, to attend the unveil­ing of the sign. 

According to our search at https://history.ky.gov/markers/, the new sign rep­re­sents the 32^nd Kentucky his­tor­i­cal mark­er to be placed in Clark County. It is only the fifth in the state in the cat­e­go­ry of “LGBTQ History,” and the first out­side of Kentucky’s two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington. 

Harry Enoch and Brett Cheuvront, who made the dis­cov­ery in 2023 and ini­ti­at­ed a let­ter-writ­ing cam­paign that led to the approval of the mark­er, were in atten­dance. Harry served as mas­ter of cer­e­monies, and Brett was giv­en the hon­or of unveil­ing the sign.

Speaking on behalf of the Kentucky Historical Society, Dr. Charles Welsko talked about the process of get­ting the new mark­er installed. He thanked the locals who led the effort and the dozens of let­ters in sup­port of the mon­u­ment that com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers sent in. He also thanked the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, par­tic­u­lar­ly staff at the District 7 office that serves Clark County, for work­ing with orga­niz­ers to ensure the mark­er was ready for Sunday’s unveil­ing. And he rec­og­nized HCA Pharmacy for allow­ing the mark­er to be placed on their property. 

Next up was Dr. Jonathan Coleman, rep­re­sent­ing the Faulkner Morgan Archive, a Lexington non­prof­it devot­ed to pre­serv­ing and pro­mot­ing Kentucky’s LGBTQ his­to­ry. Dr. Coleman gave a stir­ring speech focused on the sub­ject of the his­tor­i­cal mark­er, Dr. John Fryer.

“Today, we gath­er to hon­or Winchester’s native son, Doctor John Fryer. The qui­et, unas­sum­ing Kentuckian, who, though masked, helped to unmask a lie. We’re here to both cel­e­brate and remem­ber John as a truth teller and a trail­blaz­er who changed the course of his­to­ry, not by shout­ing, not by grand­stand­ing, but by being hon­est at the right moment in a trem­bling, dis­guised voice: ‘I am a homo­sex­u­al. I am a psychiatrist.’

“These eight words spo­ken in 1972 before the American Psychiatric Association shat­tered a silence that had endured for too long. 

“At that time, the med­ical pro­fes­sion still labeled homo­sex­u­al­i­ty as a men­tal ill­ness. Gay, les­bian, trans, bisex­u­al peo­ple were not treat­ed just as out­casts and crim­i­nals, but as patients, as prob­lems, as a diag­no­sis to be cured or corrected.”

Dr. Coleman explained that Dr. Fryer had appeared before his peers behind a rub­ber mask and wear­ing an over­sized suit, with even his voice disguised.

“He knew that speak­ing the truth might cost him his career, his safe­ty, his free­dom, and his future. Yet,  he did it any­way. He knew that some­times the truth must come first—even when the world isn’t ready to hear it.”

Thanks in large part to the brave hon­esty of this man, with­in a year of that appear­ance, the APA removed homo­sex­u­al­i­ty from its list of men­tal dis­or­ders, spark­ing a move­ment to nor­mal­ize what had once been con­sid­ered a disease.

“It was a move­ment that said final­ly: being your­self is not an ill­ness, being hon­est is not a dis­or­der. And lov­ing who you love is not a diagnosis.

“I am so proud to say that the man who helped ignite that change was a gay man from Winchester, Kentucky.”

“And today we place this his­toric mark­er not just to remem­ber a man, but to car­ry for­ward that voice. To say that the arc of his­to­ry bends because of moments like this, because some­one stood up or sat down or spoke out when the world need­ed it most. To say that brav­ery may some­times wear a mask. But it always tells the truth. Doctor Fryer’s life and now this mark­er help remind us that truth is not a lux­u­ry; it’s a responsibility.

“And to all who pass by this mark­er in years to come, may you see not just that his­to­ry. But may you see that hope. May you be inspired to speak up for truth and jus­tice, espe­cial­ly when silence is eas­i­er. And to know that even one voice, even a trem­bling voice, can change the world. 

“Thank you, Doctor Fryer. Thank you for being that voice. For your vision. And for your sac­ri­fice. And thank you, Winchester, KY, for rais­ing such a remark­able man.”

Photo gallery

Enjoy these pho­tos from the ded­i­ca­tion event, cour­tesy of Whiskey & Wiles Photography.

For addi­tion­al con­text, check out this 2023 sto­ry writ­ten by Harry Enoch: John E. Fryer, M.D.: Psychiatrist and Dr. H. Anonymous

You can read Dr. Coleman’s full address here.