HISTORY
Bayard Rustin Pardoned for Sodomy Conviction
California also paves way for others to gain relief for decades-old same-sex offenses
BY MATT TRACY
The late gay civil rights
icon Bayard Rustin, a
New York native who
went on to become an
advisor to Martin Luther King,
Jr., was posthumously pardoned
on February 5 for his 1953 sodomy
related conviction in California.
Democratic Governor Gavin
Newsom of California announced
he pardoned Rustin — a lead organizer
of the 1963 March on
Washington — for a “vagrancy”
misdemeanor after he was allegedly
caught having sex with two
men inside a car. He was subsequently
arrested, sentenced to 60
days in jail, and required to register
as a sex offender.
Newsom also moved forward
with a clemency effort to help
clear others of similar charges.
The pardon followed an effort by
California State Assemblymember
Shirley Weber, who heads the
California Legislative Black Caucus,
and Senator Scott Wiener,
who chairs the California Legislative
LGBTQ Caucus.
“I thank those who advocated
for Bayard Rustin’s pardon, and I
want to encourage others in similar
situations to seek a pardon
to right this egregious wrong,”
Newsom said in a written statement.
Individuals can learn how
to apply for clemency in California
at gov.ca.gov/clemency.
As for Rustin, there are confl icting
reports about the charge for
which he was convicted. Author
Michael Flamm wrote in his 2016
book “In the Heat of the Summer:
The New York Riots of 1964 and
the War on Crime” that Rustin
was originally charged with lewd
vagrancy, but instead pleaded
guilty to one charge of “sex perversion,”
which under California
law referred to sodomy.
Regardless, the conviction will
now be wiped from the books
more than three decades after his
death in 1987 at age 75.
“Mr. Rustin was criminalized
because of stigma, bias, and ignorance,”
Newsom wrote in his
letter formally pardoning Rustin.
“I acknowledge the inherent injustice
of this conviction, an injustice
that was compounded by
his political opponents’ use of the
record of this case to try to undermine
him, his associates, and
the civil rights movement.”
The conviction took a signifi -
cant toll on Rustin’s life and career
because it drew attention to
his sexual orientation at a time
when virtually no LGBTQ people
were out in a public way. He was
fi red from his job as director of
race relations for Fellowship of
Reconciliation (FOR) and had to
re-establish himself among his
friends and wider social circle.
Still, Rustin went on to regain
his footing and played a signifi -
cant role in the civil rights movement,
but, in audio released last
year, he is heard explaining that
his sexual orientation became an
issue in his work alongside King.
“At a given point, there was so
much pressure on Dr. King about
my being gay — and particularly
because I would not deny it — that
he set up a committee to explore
whether it would be dangerous
for me to continue working with
him,” Rustin recalled in the newly
available audio, aired on the
“Making Gay History” podcast.
Rustin notably became more
vocal about his sexual orientation
➤ BAYARD RUSTIN, continued on p.13
HUMAN RIGHTS
ICE Temporarily Transfers Transgender Detainees
Federal immigration agency cites health conditions at infamous New Mexico detention facility
BY MATT TRACY
Dozens of transgender
women detained at
the controversial Cibola
County Correctional
Center in New Mexico under
the Trump administration’s
crackdown on undocumented immigrants
have been transferred
elsewhere, at least for now, but the
circumstances surrounding the
sudden move are murky and government
offi cials are suggesting
that the women will be returned to
the facility in the future.
The detention center, which is
privately owned by a company
called CoreCivic but still subject to
control by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), has had
a dedicated unit for trans women.
But Cibola has been under fi re in
recent years following the deaths
FACEBOOK/ ICE
Activist pressure helped prompt Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offi cials to move
dozens of transgender women from a troubled detention
center — but it may be only “temporary.”
of trans women in custody there
and allegations of abuse. Roxsana
Hernandez, a trans asylum seeker
from Honduras, died after a stint
at Cibola in May of 2018 and an
independent autopsy showed she
suffered bruises consistent with
abuse by a baton. The American
Civil Liberties Union said last year
that another trans woman held at
Cibola, Nicole Garcia Aguilar, suffered
physical and mental health
issues after she was thrown in
solitary confi nement for extended
periods of time.
Groups including Familia: Trans
Queer Liberation Movement, the
Santa Fe Dreamers Project, the
Transgender Law Center, Trans
Queer Pueblo, and the Transgender
Resource Center of New Mexico
placed signifi cant pressure on ICE
in response to those disturbing reports.
ICE told Gay City News in a written
statement that 27 transgender
women at Cibola have been transferred
“temporarily” to other facilities
around the nation “while ICE
works with its contractor to assess
and improve the quality of longterm
health care management at
the Cibola County Correctional
Center,” suggesting that the reports
of inadequate health conditions
triggered the government to
at least review the facility’s handling
of detainees’ healthcare.
The agency would not directly respond
to follow-up emails seeking
a specifi c reason for the transfers.
A spokesperson would only say
that the agency “will evaluate the
cases of all individuals in custody
and make appropriate decisions on
whether or not a transfer is necessary
or advantageous for detainees
considering all the factors involved
with each case.”
➤ ICE TRANS DETAINEES, continued on p.13
February 13 - February 26, 2 12 020 | GayCityNews.com
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