Mlk gay

Home / gay topics / Mlk gay

Edgar Hoover had (misrepresented) a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. in the bathtub and Bayard sitting on the toilet fully clothed," Wolfe says. "I really appreciate the character, because it affords you the chance to see how liberated and free Bayard was, versus the typical dynamic that would have existed in 1963 of a young, promising Black leader who was in the closet.”

Who were the women behind the March on Washington?

The film shines a light on female civil rights leaders such as Ella Baker (Audra McDonald) and Dr.

Anna Hedgeman (CCH Pounder), who questions why more women aren't allowed to speak at the march.

“A number of women were disillusioned, because the only people who were allowed to speak were the heads of organizations,” Wolfe says. In 1963, he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina brought nationwide media attention to Bayard after claiming that the march was being organized by “Communist, draft-dodger and homosexual.”

But it would seem that the impact of what was once the movement’s Achilles’ heel had lost its effectiveness.

“It was more casual. You met Martin Luther King or at least spoke with him. Although their views still clashed from time to time.

While planning the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968, Rustin questioned the effectiveness of the demonstration.

QUINTON E. BAKER:
Right, he had a crucial role, but it was behind the scenes in the process, so that was all that I can say about that.

("He's not my type," Rustin jokes early in the film.)

"J.

CHRIS McGINNIS:
Did you see [Quinton sighs] did you know this from the actions, or did you see his thought process or his reaction to certain issues or gay people or—
QUINTON E. BAKER:
No, I really didn't see that, I mean, I don't think that it was—
CHRIS McGINNIS:
You just knew that he was a little uncomfortable.

QUINTON E. BAKER:
You know, because those kind of issues were—I mean, because to some degree it was like the relationship between me and John, where in the relationship was there—the focus was on the movement, and whenever we interacted with people if they were not gay, it was mostly about the movement, so what people's personal reactions or responses were, I have no clue.

So the exposing of it and the timing of it is completely accurate."

Were Rustin's love interests Tom and Elias real people?

Along with his tireless efforts as a community organizer, the movie explores Rustin's romantic relationships with fellow activist Tom Kahn (Gus Halper) and Elias Taylor (Johnny Ramey), a married pastor.

Although Kahn was real, "Elias is a creation," Wolfe says.

I mean, much of what I knew about that had to do with the fact that John worked with Bayard—John Dunne—worked with Bayard Rustin for a summer. No, I think that the sense that I got was that Doctor King was not very comfortable with the gay people in the movement, and I know he wasn't very comfortable with Bayard Rustin, and so that is to some degree Bayard—that's why Bayard had such a back seat.

mlk gay

According to Michael G. Long, in his book Martin Luther King Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement, “Kameny opposed moderation in the homophile movement, insisting that gays should protest for freedom, that they should protest now, and that direct action campaigns – along with other confrontational tactics aimed at policy makers – could be successful in advancing gay rights sooner rather than later.

In March, 1998, she said, “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice….But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’”

She continued, “I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people,” she said.

The great American human rights icon may never have mentioned gay rights, but his words and actions, his life and his death, provided the experience, and the electricity, to drive forward the fight for LGBT rights, at the same time we continue the battle for all human rights.

As we honor Dr.

King this month at the holiday dedicated to his memory, we can take inspiration in that fight from these words of Dr. King, inscribed on his Memorial in Washington, D. C.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

AP writer Brett Zongker, in his August 21, 2013 AP story “Civil rights includes gays 50 years after march,” contributed to this article.

The Gayly – January 14, 2014 @ 11:05am

'Rustin' fact check: Did J.

Edgar Hoover spread rumors about him and Martin Luther King?

Spoiler alert! What did his life, and his death, mean for the struggle of gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people for their equality?

The big civil rights effort of the 1950’s and 60’s was to overcome the legacy of slavery and a bitter civil war in our country, and bring true equality to blacks and other minorities.

He became the chief organizer of the 1963 march.

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

Late in the evening of April 4, 1968, the nation and the world was stunned by the news that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis.