11/17/2006
Bayard Rustin High School Proves Rustin's Point
A new high school named for openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin opened in September in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Rustin's work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on behalf of the civil rights movement is well-known, and the fact that he was openly gay was well known too, and used against him. In 1963 in the days preceding the March on Washington, Senator Strom Thurmond produced a photograph of Rustin talking to a bathing MLK Jr. and tried to imply that there was some kind of homosexual relationship between them. Thurmond hoped the allegations would destroy the event, but his bigoted plans were thwarted when King stood up for Rustin.
Rustin also worked for New York State's gay rights bill. A year before his death in 1987, Rustin said: "The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it's the gay community. Because it is the community which is most easily mistreated."
How unhappy would Rustin be that the high school named after him in his home town prepared a bio for him on its website, but makes no mention of the fact of his work for gay rights, or that he was gay at all?
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 3:57 PM EST by Andy in Bayard Rustin, Education, Gay Rights, News | Permalink
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My partner and I were in West Chester recently. It's a quiet but charming town with a nice night life along the main drag, lots of sidewalk dining. We were well-received everywhere, and we make no bones about being a would-be married couple. I'm surprised the school didn't mention his gayness. We're still evolving as a society.
Posted by: Josh Raso | Nov 17, 2006 4:07:42 PM
A**holes! Typical stuff, have to cover up the gay stuff.
Posted by: Jake | Nov 17, 2006 4:09:36 PM
That's just sad... It mentions India & SE Asia?
Maybe we can call it a building block instead of a blockade.
Or maybe we could alert the local media outlets? I'd hate backlash for the fragile, gay students there. I'm sure we all remember how difficult it was without the entire school chanting 'FAG!'
We've been ingored for 2,000 years... I guess it's a slow train coming.
Pace,
Posted by: InfiniteDomain | Nov 17, 2006 4:11:08 PM
This should be grouped with the AP story on Nancy Pelosi's wardrobe choices on the weekly summary. It's two real examples of the subtle ways that discrimination happen daily, and the willingness most people have to deny it. A str8 man would have his family prominently mentioned in any bio. There is no exception to that rule. However, that same str8 man would have no discussion of his sartorial habits, ever (unless it was a dominant part of his reputation.) I don't like to look for discrimination when it's not there, but I get tired of the real double-standard that exists.
Posted by: PSMike | Nov 17, 2006 4:22:53 PM
You can send a letter to the principal of the school by writing to: Dr. Phylis Simmons, 1100 Shiloh Road, West Chester, PA, 19382. Or better yet, let's all call and fill the school hotline up with complaints...the number is 484.266.4300
Posted by: peterparker | Nov 17, 2006 4:30:28 PM
What's their team name? The Down-Lows?
Sad...
Posted by: Becks07 | Nov 17, 2006 6:29:39 PM
Of course, BECK507 is only playing on words. But for those unfamiliar with Rustin, know that he was contemporaneously as out as one could be for the majority of his amazing life.
The predictably evil Thurmond wasn't his greatest betrayer, however. That distinction goes to another Black man, rabid homophobe Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, who coerced King into dismissing Rustin from SCLC by threatening to spread the story that Thurmond simply amplified a few years later. King agreed with A. Phillip Randolph's demand that Rustin organize the 63 march with Randolph the titled, public organizer.
An account of Rustin's life by his partner for his last ten years is at:
http://www.rustin.org/biography.html
Posted by: Leland | Nov 17, 2006 7:07:16 PM
Actually Leland, Rustin left on his own accord, because he didn't want a fight to take the focus away from the march. But, he returned a few days later after everyone realized how much work he was personally doing to put the march on. He was basically the co-ordinator for the march, and while everyone wanted to get in front of the camera, they didn't want to do the grunt work. Actually, some have said that it wasn't homophobia that made several people ask that Rutin be removed, but that it was actually jealousy. Rustin had been featured on several magazine covers, and the others felt that he was getting more attention than anyone else including Dr. King.
You can see him in video of the march rushing back and forth. At one point, Ozzie Davis acknowledges that he is the responsible for everyone being there, and Ozzie asks Bayard Rustin to speak, but he is too busy to stop.
Posted by: Cadence | Nov 17, 2006 7:21:55 PM
Well, really gay marriage is the last hope the institution of marriage has. With 50% of American adults having never been married, and half of the remaining half having failed marriages, what can you say but goodbye? Gay couples will certainly get an alternative, and when we do, straight society will probably follow suit. That will end marriage in a generation. Personally I hate to see it go, I would like to marry my partner. But being in a committed relationship without a contract to be together has a certain reality of its own, maybe stronger.
Posted by: Jim | Nov 17, 2006 9:43:34 PM
Interesting Point, Jim. By giving us "Marriage" instead of "Civil Unions" they may help bolster the idea of Marriage as an Institutional concept. But by denying us the right to marry and calling it a civil union, many str8's will also be partnered in civil unions and forego a "Marriage".... Very interesting twist.
But I must differ with you in regards to partnership with a contract. I want Federal recognition of my union with all the tax benefits that are afforded married couples. It's not about having a contract, it's about equal treatment under the law. I don't need a wedding band on my hand but I do want the government to recognize my husband.
Posted by: mark m | Nov 18, 2006 11:21:38 AM
Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted by: Martin Luther King Jr. | Nov 22, 2006 10:07:34 PM
Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted by: Martin Luther King Jr. | Nov 25, 2006 1:47:33 AM