Meet the Gay Activist Behd Mart Luther Kg Jr.'s Civil Rights Movement

martin luther king gay

Bayard Rt was an adviser to Mart Luther Kg Jr. and the anizer behd the 1963 March on Washgton. And though he was gay, his legacy remas ltle known among many the LGBTQ muny.

Contents:

BAYARD RT: MART LUTHER KG’S VIEWS ON GAY PEOPLE

* martin luther king gay *

His homosexualy st him that visibily and was nsired by some as a hdrance to the movement's succs. The d will air this week an episo of the podst Makg Gay History.

Rt was the target of homophobic attacks, and as he discs the terview, he was siled by other black lears at key moments durg a movement he helped steer. Kg about my beg gay and particularly bee I would not ny , that he set up a mtee to explore whether would be dangero for me to ntue workg wh him, " Rt says to the Bla the terview.

He nced, but as Eric Marc, the host of Makg Gay History, tells NPR's Michel Mart, Rt kept workg for the e.

THE THREE GAY BLACK MEN WHO INFLUENCED MART LUTHER KG, JR.

Bayard Rt was an dispensable force behd the Civil Rights Movement and openly gay. * martin luther king gay *

Those rerdgs have helped foster a better unrstandg of the gay in — one that Marc nces was absent om his civil rights tn.

"I feel like I was robbed of my history as a gay person, " Marc says. " Marc fds spirg that Rt was open about his sexualy at a time when beg gay was still nsired dangero. His arrt rerd clud prottg and charg related to his homosexualy.

WHAT IS MART LUTHER KG JR.'S LEGACY TO THE LGBTQ COMMUNY?"INJTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JTICE EVERYWHERE."{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY DAN AVERYJANUARY 15, 2018/8:00 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:3533PX;WIDTH:5300PX;}CORBIS DOC/GETTY IMAG PLBY DAN AVERYJANUARY 15, 2018 / 8:00 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"WHAT IS MART LUTHER KG JR.'S LEGACY TO THE LGBTQ COMMUNY?","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2018-01-15T13:00:41.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2018-01-15T13:00:41.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WH RACIAL JTICE AND LGBTQ DISCRIMATN MAKG HEADL DAILY, MART LUTHER KG JR. DAY HAS TAKEN ON CREASED SIGNIFINCE RECENT YEARS. BUT WHAT ARE THE LKS BETWEEN THE TWO MUNI? WHAT LSONS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT N LGBTQ PEOPLE SHARE WH THE WORLD?{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BELOW, WE EXAME DR. KG'S LEGACY AND S IMPACT ON THE LGBTQ MUNY.PHOTO12/UNIVERSAL IMAG GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGDEMONSTRATN WASHGTON, WHICH GATHERED 200,000 BLACKS AND WH, AND DURG WHICH PRINT KENNEDY ANNOUNCED A PROGRAM FAVOUR OF, CIVIL RIGHTS, AUGT 1963, UNED STAT, NATNAL ARCHIV. WASHGTON, . (PHOTO BY: PHOTO12/UNIVERSAL IMAG GROUP VIA GETTY IMAG){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE 1963 MARCH ON WASHGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM POED THE RADIL IA THAT ALL AMERINS SHOULD BE JUDGED ON THEIR ACTNS, NOT ON IMMUTABLE FACTORS LIKE RACE. THE LGBTQ MUNY HAS EXPAND THAT BELIEF TO CLU SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY.PATRICK A. BURNS/NEW YORK TIM CO./GETTY IMAG2ND FEBARY 1964: AMERIN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST BAYARD RT (1912 - 1987), SPOKMAN FOR THE CYWI COMMTEE FOR INTEGRATN, AT THE ANIZATN'S HEADQUARTERS AT SILM PRBYTERIAN CHURCH, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CY. (PHOTO BY PATRICK A. BURNS/NEW YORK TIM CO./GETTY IMAG){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BAYARD {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE ARCHECT OF THE MARCH ON WASHGTON, RT ALSO PNEERED THE EARLIT FREEDOM RIS; HE REFED TO GIVE UP HIS SEAT ON A SEGREGATED B MORE THAN A BEFORE ROSA PARKS. BUT AS A GAY MAN, RT, AN EARLY SUPPORTER OF KG, WAS OFTEN SILED BY THE VERY MOVEMENT HE HELPED FOUND: AFTER A 1953 ARRT FOR SOLICATN, HE WROTE "SEX MT BE SUBLIMATED IF I AM TO LIVE THIS WORLD LONGER." IN AN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE MARCH ON WASHGTON, SEN. STROM THURMOND READ RT'S ARRT REPORT TO THE NGRSNAL RERD {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN HIS LATER YEARS, RT DIRECTED HIS ENERGY TO THE NASCENT GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT, CLARG, "THE NEW N*GGERS ARE GAYS." A YEAR BEFORE HE DIED, HE CLARED "WE NNOT FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF GAYS UNLS WE ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR A NEW MOOD THE UNED STAT. UNLS WE ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR A RADILIZATN OF THIS SOCIETY."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN 2013 PRINT OBAMA AWARD BAYARD RT A POSTHUMO MEDAL OF FREEDOM. LOGO HONORED HIS LEGACY 2015 BY ANNOUNCG THE BAYARD RT TRAILBLAZER AWARD, HONORG UNSUNG HERO OF LGBTQ EQUALY.WILLIAM LOVELACE/EXPRS/GETTYMARCH 1965: AMERIN CIVIL RIGHTS LEAR MART LUTHER KG (1929 - 1968) (CENTRE) WH HIS WIFE CORETTA STT KG AND LLEAGU DURG A CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH OM SELMA, ALABAMA, TO THE STATE PAL MONTGOMERY. (PHOTO BY WILLIAM LOVELACE/EXPRS/GETTY IMAG){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}CORETTA STT {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WHILE MLK WAS ASSASSATED BEFORE STONEWALL, HIS WIDOW, CORETTA STT KG, WAS A STNCH ALLY TO THE LGBTQ MUNY—AND BELIEVED HER HBAND WOULD HAVE BEEN, TOO. BEFORE HER ATH, MRS. KG SPOKE ELOQUENTLY ABOUT THE NNECTN BETWEEN RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA, ANTI-SEMISM, AND OTHER FORMS OF HATE, SISTG THEY ALL "SEEK TO HUMANIZE A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE, TO NY THEIR HUMANY, THEIR DIGNY AND PERSONHOOD.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SPEAKG OF HER HBAND'S LEGACY, MRS. KG SAID, "I STILL HEAR PEOPLE SAY THAT I SHOULD NOT BE TALKG ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF LBIAN AND GAY PEOPLE AND I SHOULD STICK TO THE ISSUE OF RACIAL JTICE. BUT I HASTEN TO REMD THEM THAT MART LUTHER KG JR. SAID, 'INJTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JTICE EVERYWHERE.'" BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGTHE SUPREME COURT LED UNANIMOLY THAT A VIRGIA LAW BANNG MARRIAGE BETWEEN AIN AMERINS AND CSIANS WAS UNNSTUTNAL, TH NULLIFYG SIAR STATU 15 OTHER STAT. THE CISN ME A SE VOLVG RICHARD PERRY LOVG, A WHE NSTCTN WORKER AND HIS AIN AMERIN WIFE, MILDRED. THE UPLE MARRIED THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 1958 AND WERE ARRTED UPON THEIR RETURN TO THEIR NATIVE CAROLE COUNTY, VIRGIA. THEY WERE GIVEN ONE YEAR SPEND SENTENC ON NDN THAT THEY STAY OUT OF THE STATE FOR 25 YEARS. THE LOVGS CID 1963 TO RETURN HOME AND FIGHT BANISHMENT, WH THE HELP OF THE AMERIN CIVIL LIBERTI {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}LOVG V. {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN 1967, LONG BEFORE THE LGBTQ MUNY FOUGHT FOR MARRIAGE EQUALY, WAS RICHARD AND MILDRED LOVG WHO RAN AFOUL OF VIRGIA'S ANTI-MISCEGENATN LAWS. THEIR SE WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPREME COURT, WHERE CHIEF JTICE EARL WARREN CLARED THAT MARRIAGE WAS A BASIC CIVIL RIGHT "FUNDAMENTAL TO OUR VERY EXISTENCE AND SURVIVAL."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"TO NY THIS FUNDAMENTAL EEDOM ON SO UNSUPPORTABLE A BASIS AS THE RACIAL CLASSIFITNS EMBODIED THE STATUT, CLASSIFITNS SO DIRECTLY SUBVERSIVE OF THE PRCIPLE OF EQUALY AT THE HEART OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT, IS SURELY TO PRIVE ALL THE STATE'S CIZENS OF LIBERTY WHOUT DUE PROCS OF LAW."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}YEARS LATER, MILDRED LOVG SPOKE SUPPORT OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: "GOVERNMENT HAS NO BS IMPOSG SOME PEOPLE’S RELIG BELIEFS OVER OTHERS. ESPECIALLY IF NI PEOPLE’S CIVIL RIGHTS," SHE CLARED. "I AM PROUD THAT RICHARD’S AND MY NAME IS ON A URT SE THAT N HELP RERCE THE LOVE, THE MMENT, THE FAIRNS AND THE FAY THAT SO MANY PEOPLE, BLACK OR WHE, YOUNG OR OLD, GAY OR STRAIGHT, SEEK LIFE. I SUPPORT THE EEDOM TO MARRY FOR ALL. THAT’S WHAT LOVG, AND LOVG, ARE ALL ABOUT."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THROUGHOUT THE LEGAL STGGLE FOR FERAL MARRIAGE EQUALY, LOVG V. VIRGIA WAS CED AS A PRECENT.BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGSEGREGATED DRKG FOUNTA E THE AMERIN SOUTH. UNDATED PHOTOGRAPH. SIGN READS "FOR LORED ONLY."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SEPARATE BUT (NOT) {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN THE 1960S WAS SEPARATE WATER FOUNTAS. TODAY 'S BAKERI AND SCHOOL BATHROOMS. THE AIN-AMERIN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT CREATED A CULTURAL UNRSTANDG THAT WE AS AMERINS NNOT PICK AND CHOOSE THE PEOPLE WE AL WH THE PUBLIC SPHERE. AND WHILE SOME RNERS STILL BRISTLE AT THAT NCEPT, THE MAJORY OF AMERINS AGREE THAT RELIG BELIEFS DON'T TMP CIVIL LIBERTI.ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGUS PRINT BARACK OBAMA S DURG THE GURAL SSN OF THE COP 21 UNED NATNS NFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE, ON NOVEMBER 30, 2015 AT LE BOURGET, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE FRENCH PAL PARIS. MORE THAN 150 WORLD LEARS ARE MEETG UNR HEIGHTENED SECURY, FOR THE 21ST SSN OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTI TO THE UNED NATNS FRAMEWORK CONVENTN ON CLIMATE CHANGE (COP21/CMP11), ALSO KNOWN AS "PARIS 2015" OM NOVEMBER 30 TO DECEMBER 11. / AFP / ERIC FEFERBERG (PHOTO CRED SHOULD READ ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAG){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BARACK {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}PRINT OBAMA SPOKE OFTEN ABOUT THE BT HE AND THE ENTIRE NATN OWED TO DR. KG: IN 2015 HE PRAISED MLK, SAYG, "IN A WORLD FULL OF POVERTY, HE LLED FOR EMPATHY; THE FACE OF BTALY, HE PLACED HIS FAH NON-VLENCE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"HIS TEACHGS REMD WE HAVE A DUTY TO FIGHT AGAST POVERTY, EVEN IF WE ARE WEALTHY; TO RE ABOUT THE CHILD THE CREP SCHOOL LONG AFTER OUR OWN CHILDREN HAVE FOUND SUCCS; AND TO SHOW PASSN TOWARD THE IMMIGRANT FAY, KNOWG THAT WE WERE STRANGERS ONCE, TOO."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SUCH TEACHGS NO DOUBT RMED OBAMA'S EVOLUTN ON LGBTQ RIGHTS, OM TENTATIVE SUPPORTER TO STNCH ALLY. IN A 2012 NEWSWEEK VER STORY, ANDREW SULLIVAN EVEN CLARED OBAMA AMERI'S FIRST "GAY PRINT," WRG, "I HAVE ALWAYS SENSED THAT HE TUIVELY UNRSTANDS GAYS AND OUR PREDIMENT—BEE SO MIRRORS HIS OWN."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"HE KNOWS HOW THE LOVE AND SACRIFICE OF MARRIAGE N HEAL, TEGRATE, AND REBUILD A SOUL," SULLIVAN NTUED. "THE POT OF THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AFTER ALL, IS NOT ABOUT HELPG PEOPLE BE GAY. IT IS ABOUT CREATG THE SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO BE THEMSELV."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

This 1987 say by Bayard Rt reveals a personal acunt of MLK's feelgs toward gay people. * martin luther king gay *

" To Rt, assertg his inty as an Ain-Amerin went hand--hand wh intifyg as a gay man. "It occurred to me shortly after that that was an absolute necsy for me to clare homosexualy, bee if I didn't I was a part of the prejudice, " he said. He was Bayard Rt, a man whose life was shaped by the very prejudic the movement fought agast, not only bee of his race, but also bee he was gay.

“The qutn is never gog to be homosexualy, ’s gog to be promiscuy, and I n’t fend that.

MEET THE GAY ACTIVIST BEHD MART LUTHER KG JR.'S CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carola brought natnwi media attentn to Bayard after claimg that the march was beg anized by “Communist, draft-dodger and homosexual. However, wh learship wh the movement opposed to his volvement, Rt whdrew his would ntue his role activism, speakg at events for gay rights the 1980s. It was also durg this time, the last years of his life, that Rt gave an terview wh the Washgton Bla, rellg the dualy of beg both black and gay the Civil Rights Movement and how that shaped his refal to hi his sexual moment particular helped motivate his cisn to be open about his sexualy.

', " Rt said the terview, which was released  early 2019 via the podst Makg Gay History.

"It occurred to me shortly after that that was an absolute necsy for me to clare homosexualy, bee if I didn't I was a part of the prejudice, " he ntued. Durg his lifetime, Mart Luther Kg Jr was not a vol advote for gay rights (he was assassated a year before Stonewall, 1968), nor did he speak out agast them. Do they dite that Dr Kg saw homosexualy as somethg that uld, this boy’s se at the very least, be fixed?

MART LUTHER KG JR.’S VIEW ON GAY MARRIAGE 

The opns of those who knew and loved him, however, suggt he was no homophobe. He was also a gay man. In 1987, almost 20 years after Dr Kg’s assassatn, Rt approached the subject of his attus towards gay people an say.

“It is difficult for me to know what Dr Kg felt about gayns except to say that I’m sure he would have been sympathetic and would not have had the prejudicial view, ” he wrote. Rt said this his own gayns “was not problem for Dr Kg but a problem for the movement”, explag that eventually some of the reverend’s ner circle eventually “me to the cisn that my sex life was a burn” and “advised him that he should ask me to leave”.

Coretta Stt Kg was a tirels gay rights mpaigner. In 1998, addrsg a Lamda Legal anniversary luncheon, Mrs Kg said: “I still hear people say that I should not be talkg about the rights of lbian and gay people, and I should stick to the issue of racial jtice. ’ I appeal to everyone who believ Mart Luther Kg Jr’s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lbian and gay people.

THIS IS HOW MART LUTHER KG JR FELT ABOUT GAY PEOPLE, ACRDG TO INIC CIVIL RIGHTS MPAIGNER BAYARD RT

Mrs Kg was a tirels LGBTQ+ rights mpaigner, g out support of the groundbreakg Gay and Civil Rights Act that would have banned anti-gay discrimatn many public arenas 1983.

Until her ath 2016 she ntued to fight for LGBTQ+ equaly: llg on then-print Bill Clton to stop the gay ary ban 1993 and nmng Gee W Bh 2004 for his anti-marriage equaly stance.

" The most salac claims about Dr Kg's sex life are ntaed a nse llectn of mours the fal two source, US GovImage ptn, Dr Kg's alleged sexual misnduct is tacked on to the end of the fileAt a Febary 1968 workshop to tra misters urban learship, is alleged: "One Negro mister attendance later exprsed his disgt wh the behd-the scene drkg, fornitn, and homosexualy that went on at the nference. Kg felt about gayns except to say that I'm sure he would have been sympathetic and would not have had the prejudicial view.

*EN.BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* MARTIN LUTHER KING GAY

The Three Gay Black Men Who Influenced Mart Luther Kg, Jr. • Instct Magaze .

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