California governor asked to pardon late gay rights leader Bayard Rustin

 | 
01/22/2020

The California Legislature’s LGBTQ and black caucuses on Tuesday asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to posthumously pardon a civil rights leader who was jailed for having gay sex nearly 70 years ago. Bayard Rustin was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with being an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. He also helped plan other nonviolent boycotts and protests to end racial discrimination. In 1953, he was arrested on a charge of vagrancy when he was caught having sex with two men in a parked car after he gave a speech in Pasadena as part of a lecture tour on anti-colonial struggles in West Africa, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Assemblywoman Shirley Weber wrote on behalf of the caucuses.

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 11/20/2024
11/19/2024
The parliament in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has voted to prohibit same-sex marriage. That move came less than a month after …
Added on: 11/19/2024
11/19/2024
On September 24, Thailand celebrated the landmark passage of a marriage equality bill. The legislation, which goes into effect in January 2025, will solidify …
Added on: 11/19/2024
11/18/2024
Last month saw the New South Wales Parliament pass the Equality Bill, introduced by Independent MP Alex Greenwich. Star Observer interviewed Greenwich and Rainbow …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 11/19/2024
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) unveiled a resolution on Monday that would ban transgender women from using female bathrooms inside the Capitol — drawing immediate …
Added on: 11/18/2024
Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since the election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes central to his …
Added on: 11/17/2024
Former NCAA swimming champion Riley Gaines made a stop at Oklahoma State University in her “Taking Back Title IX” Tour. Wednesday’s event was hosted …