Bayard Rustin
The civil rights leader and right-hand man of Martin Luther King Jr. is known for organizing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. As a pivotal leader and advocate of civil rights, gays, lesbians and peace, Rustin suffered segregation, violence, beatings, arrests, threats and disrespect not only because of his fight for the African-American community but for his pride and openness about being a gay African–American. Rustin’s love for philosophy introduced him to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent resistance. His mother was also part of the Quaker Religion that taught pacifism and combined pacifism with Gandhi’s theory and introduced peace to the Civil Rights Movement.
