William B. Kelley
William B. Kelley was a gay activist and lawyer from Chicago, Illinois. Many laud him as an important figure in gaining rights for gay people in the United States, as he was actively involved in gay activism for 50 years. Early life Kelley was born in 1942 and grew up in Dunkin County near Kennett, Missouri. He had known from high school that he was gay, and he spent as much time as he could trying to learn about being gay in his local library. Kelley also said that being from a de facto segregated town and growing up during the McCarthy Era made him interested in civil rights, and that he was a member of the ACLU while he was in high school. Kelley said that he used to write letters to the editor against segregation. He attended the University of Chicago starting in 1959 for undergraduate studies. He said that he wanted to move to this new environment to test if he was really gay, or if it was just due to his high school. He decided he was indeed gay, and would go to the Rare Books Room at the University of Chicago to read "gay books."