Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights leader, was kept in the shadows by the Civil Rights movement establishment, but organized the March on Washington. Queer history is incomplete without Black history. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Rustin remained politically active. Although he often shared their commitment to human rights, Rustin was a vocal critic of emerging black power politics. His father was a West Indian immigrant named Archie Hopkins and his mother was Nancy Rustin. Rustin was attacked as a “pervert” or “immoral influence” by political opponents from segregationists to Black power militants, and from the 1950s through the 1970s. That’s why we’re chronicling the stories and lives of influential Black queer figures throughout the month of February. Nevertheless, Rustin continued to work in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing the seminal 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with A. Philip Randolph. Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s. As Robyn Spencer wrote in COINTELPRO 2017, state action against radical black activists (and I would suggest any black activist) is nothing new. It cast aspersions on Bayard Rustin’s legacy, and exposed the necessity of recognizing the state’s use of Tipsters, Informers/Informants, and Infiltrators. Rustin’s sexuality, or at least his embarrassingly public criminal charge, was criticized by some fellow pacifists and civil-rights leaders. Below, we take a look at Bayard Rustin, an influential civil rights activist, queer leader, and Quaker. Bayard Rustin spent years in the background of the shadows of the great civil rights leader of the 1960’s, despite being the man who taught, organized and led them.. Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. A Henry Louis Gate, Jr. blog post.