1963-08-13Bayard Rustin attacked as sexual pervert by white supremacist U.S. Senator.

Strom Thurmond, a white supremacist Senator from South Carolina, verbally attacks Bayard Rustin on the floor of the U.S. Senate and labels him a sexual pervert in an effort to discredit the upcoming March on Washington, for which Rustin is the chief organizer. Thurmond’s attack backfires, as the key leaders of the civil rights movement publicly express their “complete confidence” in Rustin’s character.