While Bayard Rustin did not leave behind many widely-circulated quotations explicitly naming HIV or AIDS before his death in 1987, he did speak directly in his final years about the need to confront anti-gay stigma, public indifference, and the denial of human dignity—the same forces that fueled the AIDS crisis.

One particularly powerful quotation that could work well in an AIDS Walk statement is:

“The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it is the gay community.”
— Bayard Rustin, 1986

Another, from the same period, connects directly to the struggle against stigma:

“Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us... Our aim was to create the kind of America... such that even though some continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate.” 

You could then bridge those ideas to HIV/AIDS and the continuing fight for dignity in Atlanta and the South with language such as:

“Today, as we walk for those we have lost, for those living with HIV, and for the generations still to come, we honor the unfinished work of Bayard Rustin. Rustin understood that the struggle for civil rights was always about more than laws—it was about human dignity, visibility, and the refusal to allow fear and prejudice to determine who is worthy of care.

In the final years of his life, as the AIDS crisis emerged, Rustin became an advocate for gay rights and AIDS education, recognizing that the same forces of silence and discrimination that once confronted the Civil Rights Movement were now threatening the lives of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS. 

That legacy feels especially meaningful here in Atlanta. This year, Atlanta and Georgia became the first city and state in the U.S. South to recognize March 17—Rustin’s birthday—as Bayard Rustin Day. Through the launch of the Rustin Institute for Leadership Development, we seek to carry forward his belief that leadership must be intergenerational, courageous, and rooted in justice.

We are proud to stand with AIDS Walk Atlanta because this work remains urgent. AIDS Walk is not simply a fundraiser—it is a declaration that every life has value, that no one should face stigma or isolation alone, and that building a more just future requires all of us. As we build the foundation for the Rustin Institute’s intergenerational leadership development work, we honor AIDS Walk Atlanta as a vital partner in ensuring that Bayard Rustin’s vision of dignity, care, and collective action lives on.