Loved ones and activists gathered at the former New York City home of the late out civil rights icon Bayard Rustin on March 17 to honor what would have been his 114th birthday and remind the public of his dedication to non-violence.
The gathering, which is now something of an annual tradition, simultaneously marks the birthday of a major civil rights leader and serves as a demonstration opposing nuclear weapons. This year’s event took place at the Bayard Rustin Residence at Penn South at 340 West 28th Street in Manhattan and featured Walter Naegle, Rustin’s surviving spouse, along with members of the New York Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Chelsea United, New York Peace Action, and former State Senator Tom Duane. Others on hand included Pace University’s Dr. Emily Welty, who was accompanied by social justice students.
Rustin’s name, often associated with the civil rights movement and his dedication to non-violence, has continued to resurface long after his death in 1987. He was the focus of the 2023 biopic “Rustin,” which starred Colman Domingo, and in 2020 he was posthumously pardoned for his 1953 sodomy-related conviction in California, where he was allegedly found having sex with two men inside a car. Former President Barack Obama awarded Rustin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the US.
Early last year, the Trump administration removed part of a web page about Rustin’s historic residence, where Naegle still resides. The page was restored after Gay City News brought it to the federal government’s attention.
In an interview with Gay City News at the time, Naegle said, “Freedom of information is one of the pillars of democracy. Censoring or erasing factual information, whether from history books, websites, or public memorials is antithetical to democracy and thus un-American.”
See some photos from the birthday gathering below:
