Rustin true story: Who was Bayard Rustin?

Due to his sexuality – he was openly gay – Rustin was all but erased from the Civil Rights movement, and so the new film tells his story with the aim of finally giving him the credit he deserves.

Read on for more information on the true story behind Rustin.

Rustin true story: Who was Bayard Rustin?

Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 is undoubtedly one of the most famous pieces of oratory in American history – but it might not have been possible if it wasn't for Bayard Rustin.

As is shown in the film, Rustin was one of the chief organisers of the march and played a crucial role in ensuring it went ahead despite opposition from various quarters.

He had a long history in Civil Rights activism: he originally founded the March on Washington Movement with A. Philip Randolph in 1941 before he began advising Martin Luther King in the mid-50s, playing an instrumental role in his adoption of non-violent protest and later setting up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with him.

Rustin left his position at the SCLC after a planned civil rights march during the 1960 Democratic National Convention was called off, partly due to threats made by US Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr (who said he would leak fake rumours of an affair between Rustin and King).

But just a couple of years later the two men were working together on a new project – The March on Washington – after Rustin was recruited by his old ally Randolph.

Although it is now widely recognised as a major moment in history, not everyone involved in the Civil Rights movement was immediately receptive to Rustin's involvement in the march and he was removed from his original post as director.

This was because Roy Wilkins, the executive secretary of the NAACP, had his doubts about Rustin and did not want him to be seen as the figurehead in part because he could be linked back to various scandals – including his previous involvement with communist causes and status as a conscientious objector during the Second World War, but also the fact that he was a gay man at a time where homophobia was still rife.

Rustin eventually became deputy director – with Randolph as director – and had an indispensable role in the protest becoming the success that it did, while he was responsible for reading the official demands of the march.

For a long time, Rustin's role had been overlooked, but in 2013 – 50 years after the march – he was given a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

Speaking in the film's press notes, Walter Neagle – who was Rustin's partner at the time of his death – said: "I think George C Wolfe did a masterful job of capturing the urgency of the moment, the tension in the society at the time of the march, while, at the same time, creating a story of personal struggle, conflict, and, ultimately, redemption."

Of Domingo's performance he added: "Colman Domingo’s portrayal of Bayard encompasses all of his qualities – his militancy, his dignity, eloquence, and humanity. It is really a complete and complex portrayal that, I think, will inspire people to get involved in the struggle for civil and human rights."

Who was Elias Taylor?

Although most of the film is based on the historical record, the storyline concerning Elias Taylor (Johnny Ramey) – a married minister and activist – is fictionalised.

No such person existed, but instead, the character is intended as a composite designed to show the importance of Rustin's sexuality and the obstacles that stood in his way as an openly gay man in the public eye.

Director Wolfe explained the inclusion of this character in the press notes, saying; "Bayard was 'out', but he was 1963 out. He was not 2023 out. How do you articulate where Bayard is in his evolution and where he is not? And so Elias became really fascinating to me.

"He’s Southern, he’s Baptist, he’s married. Bayard is not Southern, he is not Baptist, and he has claimed his homosexuality, and fully embraces it. Not necessarily a modern version of that, but a phenomenal expression of that for the time. And so seeing the contrast between those two men, those two young Black men was interesting.

He added: "I think Elias existed in many respects to clarify so much of what Bayard was and wasn’t. And that was very important to me. And also just to explore, for lack of better words, that all conversations about liberation, all conversations about owning one’s power are one and the same.

"The specifics are very different, but it became a really interesting thing to focus in on how Bayard was sophisticated and how he was still imprisoned by people’s reaction to his homosexuality."

Rustin is now available on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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