‘Rustin’ Details Life of Out Civil Rights Activist, ‘Next Goal Wins’ Charts Out Soccer Player

The life of gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin is explored in the new film, “Rustin,” starring out actor Colman Domingo in the title role. It’s a project a long time in the making.

Producer Bruce Cohen had seen the acclaimed documentary, “Brother Outsider,” in the ‘90s and was familiar with Rustin’s work. He produced the Oscar-winning film, “Milk,” which was written by Dustin Lance Black, and then the pair also worked on the ABC miniseries, “When We Rise,” about LGBTQ activists in San Francisco. When he learned Black was writing a script about Bayard Rustin, Cohen lobbied hard to get a chance to be involved.

Cohen saw a script way back in 2017, but ran into a big hurdle. As the team started looking for a home, they became starkly aware that almost no one knew who Bayard Rustin was.

“We were hearing that again and again,” he said. “Even people that should have — young activists — had not.”

Luckily, Cohen did know of one person who knew Rustin’s work well: President Barack Obama, who awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. In what Cohen calls “a gift from the film gods,” the Obamas had just opened Higher Ground, their production company at Netflix, about a month before. By that time George C. Wolfe had come in to direct. The team sent the script to the Obamas and fate intervened — they loved it.

“Fortunately for the legacy of Bayard Rustin, once this comes out in theaters and worldwide on Netflix, I truly hope and believe people will know who Bayard is and his name isn’t going to be lost in history,” Cohen said.

He feels Rustin isn’t well known because of a combination of factors. Wolfe has mentioned that history can be very cruel, and history