This is a story from a middle chapter in Bayard Rustin's career, the story of the War Resisters League's decision to hire Bayard. Hiring him was a decision that WRL’s leadership wrestled over and ultimately decided to do. Even a cursory look at it reveals a lot about American social norms (then and now) and, likewise, about how power, oppression, and homophobia function even in professed radical organizations like WRL.