Bayard Rustin
By Dennis Richmond Jr.
As we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, it’s important to remember not only the widely known activists but also the unsung heroes who quietly, yet profoundly, contributed to the progress of the LGBTQ+ community. These individuals may not be household names, but their courage and dedication paved the way for the freedoms enjoyed today.
One such figure is Bayard Rustin, a key architect of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin, a gay Black man, was a trailblazer in the civil rights movement and a close advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His open homosexuality often made him a target, leading some within the movement to sideline him. Despite the prejudice he faced, Rustin remained steadfast in his activism, advocating for both racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights. His legacy reminds us that the struggle for equality often crosses multiple lines of identity.
Sylvia Rivera, a Latina trans woman, is another figure who helped define the modern LGBTQ+ movement.
A fierce advocate for trans and homeless folx, Rivera co-founded the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance after the Stonewall riots. Alongside Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), providing housing and support for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
While Rivera’s radical activism was often met with resistance from within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly from those who sought a more mainstream approach, her work ensured that the voices of the most marginalized were not forgotten.
Another unsung hero is Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German physician who founded one of the world’s first organizations for LGBTQ+ rights, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, in 1897. Hirschfeld was a pioneer in sexology and worked tirelessly to decriminalize homosexuality in Germany. His institute was destroyed by the Nazis in 1933, and much of his groundbreaking research was lost, but Hirschfeld’s contributions to LGBTQ+ visibility and rights continue to resonate.
These heroes, and countless others like them, remind us that the fight for LGBTQ+ equality has been shaped by a diversity of voices, many of whom faced discrimination not only from society at large but sometimes within their own movements. This month, let us honor those who stood at the intersections of multiple struggles, often without recognition, yet whose work has left a lasting impact on the path to justice.
Dennis Richmond, Jr., an educator, historian, and writer, illuminates the experiences of Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ communities in Yonkers and NYC through his journalism. Stay connected with him by following @NewYorkStakz on social media.
