Many people are well aware of Martin Luther King Jr.’s accomplishments in the civil rights movement, but behind the scene was an influential unsung hero in the LGBT community.
Ohio University’s LGBT Center will be showing Brother Outsider for its Queer Hollywood series, highlighting and honoring the efforts of Bayard Rustin in the civil rights movement.
Rustin was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s right-hand men and an openly gay black man who helped to organize events like the March on Washington.
Delfin Bautista, director of the LGBT Center, said the film would shed new perspective on those who made an impact in the civil rights movement.
“(We hope) to enrich the narrative around civil rights and that time in history,” Bautista said. “Folks like Dr. King and Malcolm X have taken the spotlight and with good reason; their contributions and testimonies are remarkable. But there were many other people who were involved in the movement and who were instrumental.”
For Morgan Morgan, an LGBT Center student worker and a senior studying communications, she said she is interested in learning about the life of Rustin throughout the civil rights movement.
“Some people throughout history, and also in everyday life, play the role of the person backstage and no one ever hears about them or knows about them and they don’t get the credit they deserve,” Morgan said.
Using film and community as a tool, Bautista said Rustin’s story is an easy way to lead into hot-button subjects.
“When we talk about race it can become a very heated conversation. When we talk about sexuality it can become very heated, so the two of those together can become even more heated,” Bautista said. “But the documentary is an easy way to ease into that conversation and not overwhelm people.”
Not only does Morgan hope to learn more, but said she wants students to appreciate the work and effort that goes into change within our country.
“Our generation, we want change and we want things to happen and we have all these causes that we want to support, but a lot of people … either don’t have the knowledge or just refuse to learn what kind of work goes into that,” Morgan said. “And I think that this film is probably a really great example of that.”
@reb_barnes
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If You Go:
WHAT: Queer Hollywoood, “Baker Center”
Where: LGBT Center, Baker University Center, Room 354
When: Friday, Jan. 24, 2-4 p.m.
Admission: Free
