Bayard & Me

Directed by Matt Wolf

Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington, found love with Walter Naegle. In the 1980s, Bayard adopted Walter to secure the legal bond marriage couldn’t offer. Years later, Walter recalls their life together and the quiet link between gay love and the civil rights struggle.
Bayard & Me uncovers one of those pieces of gay history that sounds almost unbelievable until Walter Naegle explains it himself: Bayard Rustin legally adopted his younger partner because marriage was unavailable to them. Matt Wolf’s documentary short film uses that legal workaround as a doorway into love, ageing and civil-rights history. Sixteen minutes feels too short, but the intimacy of Naegle’s memories is exactly what makes the story land.

Bayard & Me

Directed by Matt Wolf

Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington, found love with Walter Naegle. In the 1980s, Bayard adopted Walter to secure the legal bond marriage couldn’t offer. Years later, Walter recalls their life together and the quiet link between gay love and the civil rights struggle.

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Bayard & Me uncovers one of those pieces of gay history that sounds almost unbelievable until Walter Naegle explains it himself: Bayard Rustin legally adopted his younger partner because marriage was unavailable to them. Matt Wolf’s documentary short film uses that legal workaround as a doorway into love, ageing and civil-rights history. Sixteen minutes feels too short, but the intimacy of Naegle’s memories is exactly what makes the story land.

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