What is your opinion on Bayard Rustin, how influential was he to the Civil Right

Question: What is your opinion on Bayard Rustin, how influential was he to the Civil Rights movement / Gay Liberation!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I think Bayard Rustin was highly influential to the formation of Dr!. King's nonviolent beliefs!. Bayard Rustin went to India and learned about Gandhi's methods!. Then, he shared them with Dr!. King!. It is possible that nonviolence may have not occurred to Dr!. King without Rustin's influence!.

I know that Rustin was gay but I don't know of his part to the Gay Liberation movement!.

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I never heard of him till you asked and here is a sort of excplanatiuon why:

Background on Bayard Rustin
Although Bayard Rustin was one of the most important leaders of the American civil rights movement from the advent of its modern period in the 1950s until well into the 1980s, his name was seldom mentioned; he received comparatively little press or media attention, and others' names were usually much more readily associated with the movement than his was!. His was a behind-the-scenes role that, for all its importance, never garnered Rustin the public acclaim he deserved!. Rustin's homosexuality and early communist affiliation probably meant that the importance of his contribution to the civil rights and peace movements would never be acknowledged!. However, fairness demands that the extent of Rustin's work receive a fair public reception!.
http://www!.quakerinfo!.com/quak_br!.shtml

other links
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