Bayard Rustin

American Activist for Gay Liberation & Civil Rights

March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987

Essay Courtesy of Alex Weck

Martin Luther King Jr. Almost everyone has heard of this man, known for his place in the civil rights movements. One of the most important events when it comes to Martin Luther King Jr. was the march on Washington. However, most do not know that man behind King, the man who gave King his ideas, the man who organized the entire march.

Bayard Rustin was an openly gay man born in 1912 and raised by his grandparents who he thought were his parents, later discovering that his biological mother was actually the woman who he believed was his sister. Rustin’s father however was a west Indian immigrant. Rustin attended two historically black colleges (Wilberforce University in Ohio and Cheney University of Pennsylvania) afterwards moving to New York where he got involved with a communist league. He later resigned from this league due to the type of activism they were beginning to perform.

Rustin began to combine many things to create his own personal philosophical stance. Pacifism of the Quaker religion, the non-violence taught by Gandhi, as well as the socialism which was taught by A. Phillip Randolph who was an African American labor leader. He worked with Randolph during World War II to fight against racial discrimination in drafting and was punished multiple times for his beliefs. Also during this time he would spend two years in prison after refusing to register for draft and right after being released, protested against segregation on public transit and once again being arrested. Rustin would once again be imprisoned for 60 days under moral arrest for being an openly gay man .

After this, Rustin became heavily involved with Martin Luther King Jr. Rustin taught King about Gandhi's teachings, about being non-violent. Pushing towards having non-violent protests and helping King with the boycott of segregated buses in Alabama. Most famously however, Rustin is the one who put together the infamous march on Washington. The march where Martin Luther King Jr. would give his “I have a dream” speech which is widely known today. This speech, these protests, and the fight against segregation may have not happened without Rustin, and never in school was I taught about this openly gay man who had such a hand in such a famous event. Rustin had not only been fighting for LGBT rights but also Black rights and the rights of those who are colored .

Works Cited

Olito, Frank. “20 LGBTQ Figures You Should Know.” Insider, Insider, 1 June 2020, www.insider.com/lgbtq-figures-you-should-know-2020-5 .

“Bayard Rustin.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 6 July 2020, www.biography.com/activist/bayard-rustin .

“Bayard Rustin, the Gay Civil Rights Leader Who Organized the March on Washington.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 19 Sept. 2013, www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/who-designed-the-march-on-washington/ .