MLK believed in equality, for all

We recently celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a holiday dedicated to a great American who spent his life working towards the recognition of all citizens' equal rights and liberties.

Yet, as the years have passed, the gaze of many has been drawn to a certain question: Did Dr. King believe in equal rights for all people, or just for all races? What would Dr. King think about today's gay rights movement?

There is a healthy debate emerging around this question, for King's words and actions back in the 1960s speak to the injustices homosexuals face today just as much as they pertained to African-Americans back then.

Would Dr. King have been a supporter of the LGBTQ community? There is no way to be sure. However, we can look at his past actions to help clear up a few basic questions—after all, actions do speak louder than words.

The first name that comes into the conversation is Bayard Rustin, who acted as MLK's strategist and organized the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin was a publicly gay man, and this very fact threatened to derail the civil rights project that Dr. King and so many others had been working for.

In the book "Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin," historian John D'Emilio describes a critical moment in the planning for the 1963 Great March on Washington, where King would deliver his famed "I have a dream" speech.

As a group, the planners for the march decided that despite Rustin's excellent work as an activist and an organizer, they would not appoint him director of the march simply because they disapproval of his homosexuality. Long story short, MLK stood up to defend Rustin, erasing the doubt of the others and reinforcing his place as the march director and, in turn, supporting the homosexual lifestyle that Rustin followed.

Just as King stood up for the rights of his race, he held true to his morals when it came to the topic of homosexuality. He truly believed in the idea that all men and women, regardless of sexual orientation, are created equal.

Just last week, Dr. King's youngest daughter, Bernice, reversed her 2004 statement against same sex marriage, stating at an MLK remembrance rally that "she didn't care if people were Hindu, Buddhist, Islamist, were from the North side or the South side, black or white, heterosexual or homosexual, or gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender—all people were needed to create unity."

Additionally, MLK's widow, Coretta Scott King commented quite often on what her husband's stance on LGBTQ rights would have been. In 1998 she said, "I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother—and sisterhood—for lesbian and gay people."

Just as Dr. King fought for the equality of all races throughout his lifetime, it is clear that he would have stood firm in solidarity with those supporting non-discrimination legislation, gender identity expression rights and civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Although the debate will never be truly settled without Dr. King here to speak for himself, we can use his past actions to determine what his stances today might have been. If he were alive today, I believe he would have gladly and enthusiastically joined the gay rights movement.