Bayard Rustin to be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom!

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Bayard Rustin to be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rustin was an invaluable leader and strategist during and after the civil rights movement, and one of Dr. Martin Luther King’s most trusted and influential advisers.

He was the chief architect behind the legendary March on Washington.

Rustin faced extraordinary opposition throughout his life and career; not only because of his race, but because of his sexual orientation as well.

From Human Rights Coalition:

The White House today announced Bayard Rustin, the late civil and human rights advocate will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. An aide and confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Rustin was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, an iconic moment in the history of our nation. HRC President Chad Griffin wrote President Obama a letter earlier this year urging him to posthumously grant the medal to Rustin. Griffin today made the following statement:

“Bayard Rustin’s contributions to the American civil rights movement remain paramount to its successes to this day,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His role in the fight for civil rights of African-Americans is all the more admirable because he made it as a gay man, experiencing prejudice not just because of his race, but because of his sexual orientation as well.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States. It recognizes those individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors”.

Rustin was active in the struggle for civil rights for sixty years, from organizing early freedom rides in the 1940s, to serving as key advisor to Dr. King, to helping found the A. Philip Randolph Institute. But his advocacy was far from limited to the rights of African Americans. He worked to end apartheid in South Africa, fought for the freedom of Soviet Jews, worked to protect the property of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, and helped highlight the plight of Vietnamese “boat people.” And in the 1980s, he also spoke up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, testifying in support of anti-discrimination legislation in New York.

Finally Brother Rustin…..We can all now say WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITH SERVANT TO THE CAUSE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS!

In Memoriam:Sir FRANK KAMENY (Sunrise May 21, 1925-Sunset October 11, 2011)

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Sir FRANK KAMENY (Sunrise May 21, 1925-Sunset October 11, 2011) Iconic Gay Civil Rights Pioneer Dies

An American hero has passed, and my first intimation of the heroism and the loss was the obituary.
Gay rights pioneer Franklin E. Kameny died of apparent natural causes at age 86 yesterday. And when I say “pioneer,” I really mean it. The Stonewall Riots, generally thought of as the launching pad of the modern gay rights movement, happened in 1969; Kameny was already fighting for the rights of gay Americans a decade earlier.
Oddly enough, he happens to have died on National Coming Out Day, a day that surely would not have been marked were it not for the work of courageous leaders like Kameny (indeed, Stonewall wouldn’t have happened if trailblazers like Kameny hadn’t already started blazing the trail).

From the obituary in The Washington Blade:
Born and raised in New York City, Kameny served in combat as an Army soldier in World War II in Europe. After the war, Kameny obtained a doctorate degree in astronomy from Harvard University.
He went on to work as an astronomer for the U.S. Army Map Service in the 1950s and was fired after authorities discovered he was gay. He contested the firing and appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first known gay person to file a gay-related case before the high court. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling against Kameny and declined to hear the case, but Kameny’s decision to appeal the case through the court system motivated him to become a lifelong advocate on behalf of LGBT equality.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said Kameny “led an extraordinary life marked by heroic activism that set a path for the modern LGBT civil rights movement.”
“From his early days fighting institutionalized discrimination in the federal workforce, Dr. Kameny taught us all that ‘Gay is Good,’” Solmonese said. “As we say goodbye to this trailblazer on National Coming Out Day, we remember the remarkable power we all have to change the world by living our lives like Frank ­— openly, honestly and authentically.”

Chuck Wolfe, CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Kameny’s death marked the “loss of a hero and a founding father of the fight to end discrimination against LGBT people.”

“Dr. Kameny stood up for this community when doing so was considered unthinkable and even shocking, and he continued to do so throughout his life,” Wolfe said. “He spoke with a clear voice and firm conviction about the humanity and dignity of people who were gay, long before it was safe for him to do so. All of us who today endeavor to complete the work he began a half century ago are indebted to Dr. Kameny and his remarkable bravery and commitment.”

I would argue that all Americans are indebted to Dr. Kameny. My country is a better place for harboring less bigotry, my children — no matter their sexuality — are coming of age in a place of greater compassion and acceptance because of his work. I am grateful to him, and so glad to have learned of his courage and leadership. I hope his passing was easy, and that those who loved him know comfort and peace today.

This song is so befitting for Dr Kamney: Whiteny Houston "You Were Loved"

May his memory be for a blessing.

Many THANKS FOR YOU HAVE DONE FOR THE LGBTQ Community..Sleep Father…Your reward indeed is of GREATNESS!