Editing Bayard Rustin (section)

{{Short description|American civil rights activist (1912–1987)}}
{{Use American English|date = October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
 | name             = Bayard Rustin
 | birth_date       = {{Birth date|1912|3|17|mf=y}}
 | birth_place      = [[West Chester, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
 | death_date       = {{death date and age|1987|8|24|1912|3|17}}
 | death_place      = New York City, U.S.
 | partner          = Davis Platt (1940s)<br />[[Walter Naegle]] (1977–1987; Rustin's death)
 | image            = BayardRustinAug1963-LibraryOfCongress crop.jpg
 | image_size       = 
 | caption          = Rustin at a news briefing on the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]] in Washington, D.C., on August 27, 1963
 | other_names      = 
 | movement         = [[Civil Rights Movement]], [[Peace Movement]], [[Socialist Party of America|Socialism]], [[LGBT social movements|Gay&nbsp;Rights Movement]], [[Neoconservatism]]
 | organization     = [[Fellowship of Reconciliation]]<br />[[Congress of Racial Equality]]<br />[[War Resisters League]]<br />[[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]<br />[[Social Democrats, USA]] (National Chairman)<br />[[A. Philip Randolph Institute]] (President)<br />[[Committee on the Present Danger]]<br /> [[Omega Psi Phi]]
 | monuments        = 
 | awards           = [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]
 | footnotes        = 
 | education        = [[Wilberforce University]]<br />[[Cheyney University of Pennsylvania|Cheyney University]]<br />[[City College of New York]]
}}
{{Socialism US|people}}

'''Bayard Rustin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|.|ər|d}} {{respell|BY|ərd}}; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American political activist and prominent leader in social movements for [[civil rights]], [[socialism]], [[nonviolence]], and [[gay rights]]. Rustin was the principal organizer of the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] in 1963.<ref name="nps">{{cite web|title=Bayard Rustin|url=https://www.nps.gov/people/bayard-rustin.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=June 27, 2016}}</ref>

Rustin worked in 1941 with [[A. Philip Randolph]] on the [[March on Washington Movement]] to press for an end to [[racial discrimination]] in the military and defense employment. Rustin later organized [[Freedom Riders|Freedom Rides]], and helped to organize the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] to strengthen [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s leadership; he taught King about non-violence. Rustin worked alongside [[Ella Baker]], a co-director of the [[Crusade for Citizenship]], in 1954; and before the [[Montgomery bus boycott]], he helped organize a group called "In Friendship" to provide material and legal assistance to people threatened with eviction from their tenant farms and homes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/playback.html?base_file=G-0007&duration=03:34:21|title=Documenting the American South: Oral Histories of the American South|website=docsouth.unc.edu|access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref> Rustin became the head of the [[AFL–CIO]]'s [[A. Philip Randolph Institute]], which promoted the integration of formerly all-white unions and promoted the unionization of African Americans. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rustin served on many humanitarian missions, such as aiding refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia. 

Rustin was a [[gay man]] and, due to criticism over his sexuality, usually advised other civil rights leaders from behind the scenes. During the 1980s, he became a public advocate on behalf of gay causes, speaking at events as an activist and supporter of human rights.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/bayard-rustin-march-on-washington-openly-gay-mlk|title=Why MLK's Right-Hand Man Was Nearly Written Out of History|last=Morgan|first=Thad|website=HISTORY|language=en|date=June 1, 2018|access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref>

Later in life, while still devoted to securing workers' rights, Rustin joined other union leaders in aligning with ideological [[neoconservatism]],<ref>Vaïsse, Justin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=z3b7syYOqskC&q=bayard+rustin ''Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement''], Harvard University Press, 2010, pp. 71–75. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913115837/https://books.google.com/books?id=z3b7syYOqskC&q=bayard#v=snippet&q=bayard%20rustin&f=false |date=September 13, 2016 }}</ref><ref>[http://neoconservatism.vaisse.net/doku.php?id=start#tablethe_three_ages_of_neoconservatism "Table: The Three Ages of Neoconservatism"], ''Neoconservatism: Biography of Movement'' by Justin Vaisse, official website. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320161743/http://neoconservatism.vaisse.net/doku.php?id=start#tablethe_three_ages_of_neoconservatism |date=March 20, 2016 }}.</ref> earning posthumous praise from President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref name="AP Reagan Praises">{{Cite news |title=Reagan Praises Deceased Civil Rights Leader |url=https://apnews.com/96a87043e0eba7ae2215632d0e5230a5 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220703052553/https://apnews.com/96a87043e0eba7ae2215632d0e5230a5 |archive-date=2022-07-03 |access-date=2025-05-29 |work=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> On November 20, 2013, President [[Barack Obama]] posthumously awarded Rustin the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].<ref name="metroweekly1">{{cite web|first=Justin |last=Snow |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2013/11/obama-honors-bayard-rustin-and/ |title=Obama honors Bayard Rustin and Sally Ride with Medal of Freedom |date=November 20, 2013 |publisher=metroweekly.com |access-date=November 21, 2013}}</ref>

Rustin was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gop Platform Committee Urged to Give Support to Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/gop-platform-committee-urged-to-give-support-to-israel |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>