Leonard P. Matlovich, a former Air Force technical sergeant who became a rallying point for the national homosexual rights movement when he was expelled from the service after publicly declaring his homosexuality, died of complications from AIDS Wednesday at the home of a friend in West Hollywood. He was 44 years old.

Mr. Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who served 12 years in the Air Force, was a human relations counselor at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va., in March 1975, when he challenged Air Force regulations barring homosexuals from service by notifying his superior officer that he was a homosexual.

Six months later a three-member panel of Air force officers concluded that the sergeant was unfit for military service despite his exemplary record. The panel recommended a general discharge but the base commander ordered that he be given an honorable discharge. A general discharge does not mean forfeiture of military benefits but is one step less than an honorable discharge. Bronze Star and Purple Heart

Mr. Matlovich, who had been awarded the Bronze Star for bravery, the Purple Heart for injuries from a land mine in Da Nang, and an Air Force commendation, challenged the ruling and began a five-year fight to be reinstated. In November 1980, however, he agreed to drop his efforts in return for a a $160,000 out-of-court settlement from the Air Force. The settlement vacated a Federal court ruling two months earlier ordering that he be reinstated with back pay.