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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
JOINT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF BAYARD
RUSTIN AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
WHEREAS, Bayard Rustin was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 17, 1912.
From his grandparents, Janifer and Julia Rustin, he took his Quaker values, which, in his words,
"were based on the concept of a single human family and the belief that all members of that
family are equal," according to Jervis Anderson in Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen; and
WHEREAS, Rustin began advocating for desegregation when he was a football player in
high school. Lore has it that he staged an impromptu sit-in at a restaurant that would serve his
white teammates but not him. He continued his activism by protesting racial segregation in the
United States Armed Forces throughout college; and
WHEREAS, Rustin was a member of the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation as well as
the Congress on Racial Equity. He spoke and engaged in advocacy throughout the country,
but his actions and his open embrace of his gay identity resulted in him being arrested multiple
times. He even had to resign from the Fellowship of Reconciliation board; and
WHEREAS, in 1956, Rustin met Martin Luther King, Jr. Rustin helped introduce King
to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He worked with King to organize the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference in 1956 and 1957. King and Rustin parted ways in 1960, but their paths
would cross again; and
WHEREAS, Rustin was one of the key organizers of the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom. He started planning it in 1962, with the goal of uniting the large civil rights
organizations of the time. Given his past and the recognition of his homosexuality by other
leaders of the movement, he was forced to serve mostly behind the scenes as deputy director,
but that did not diminish his enthusiasm. Rustin and his team coordinated much of the logistics
for the march, down to the manual used by bus captains to know how they should set up
transportation to and from Washington; and
WHEREAS, the March on Washington was a great success. As many as 300,000 marchers
showed up, and many of the great speeches of the Civil Rights Movement were given on the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Bayard Rustin was in the wings making sure everything went
smoothly, and he read the marchers' demands to the assembled demonstrators; and
WHEREAS, from 1965 to 1979, Rustin served as the head of the A. Philip Randolph
Institute, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations' African
American constituency group. Serving alongside A. Philip Randolph until his passing in 1979,
Rustin worked to racially integrate unions and promote unions among African Americans; and
WHEREAS, Rustin served on several humanitarian missions to Vietnam, Cambodia and
Haiti during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, he became an advocate for people with
HIV/AIDS and he no longer hid his sexual orientation from others. Because same-sex marriage Page 2 - 132LR2477(01)
was not officially recognized at the time, Rustin and Walter Naegle undertook to solidify their
partnership and protect their union legally through adoption: in 1982 Rustin adopted Naegle,
30 years old at the time. Other couples followed suit; and
WHEREAS, in 1986 testimony on behalf of New York State's Gay Rights Bill, Rustin
stated that "gay people are the new barometer for social change." He felt that injustice
everywhere should not be tolerated and must be protested. He died August 24, 1987, as a result
of a perforated appendix; and
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan issued a statement on Rustin's death, praising his
work for civil rights and "for human rights throughout the world." He added that Rustin "was
denounced by former friends, because he never gave up his conviction that minorities in
America could and would succeed based on their individual merit"; and
WHEREAS, on August 8, 2013, Rustin was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom by President Barack Obama, the highest civilian award in the United States. The
citation in the press release stated: "Bayard Rustin was an unyielding activist for civil rights,
dignity, and equality for all. An advisor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he
promoted nonviolent resistance, participated in one of the first Freedom Rides, organized the
1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and fought tirelessly for marginalized
communities at home and abroad. As an openly gay African American, Mr. Rustin stood at
the intersection of several of the fights for equal rights"; and
WHEREAS, at the White House ceremony on November 20, 2013, President Obama
presented Rustin's award to Walter Naegle, his partner of 10 years at the time of Rustin's death;
and
WHEREAS, Rustin's life and legacy live on today on the big screen in the 2023 film
Rustin, which was nominated for many awards, including two Golden Globes and an Oscar.
Actor Colman Domingo played Bayard Rustin, a role which earned him Golden Globe, British
Academy of Film and Television Arts and Academy Award nominations for Best Actor,
making him the first openly gay American actor nominated for an Oscar for playing a gay
character; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Thirty-second Legislature
now assembled in the First Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this
opportunity to recognize the life of Bayard Rustin, his fight against injustice and his extensive
contributions to the civil rights and equal rights movements.