On Nov. 20, a galvanizing Bayard Rustin biopic, a West Chester native and gay civil rights activist who organized the 1963 March on Washington will be available on Netflix, writes Gary M. Kramer for Philadelphia Gay News. 

When Producer Bruce Cohen was originally looking for a home for the movie, which stars gay Philadelphia native Colman Domingo, he realized no one had heard about Rustin before. 

“I remember thinking, I know one person who knows who he is — President Barack Obama, who gave Bayard Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington,” said Cohen. 

At the time, Obama and his wife Michelle had just opened their production company, Higher Ground Productions, at Netflix. 

“We sent the script to Higher Ground and, fortunately, they loved it,” said Cohen. 

Making the movie was a very emotional experience for most of those involved. 

The more everybody found out about Rustin, “the more we fell in love with how charismatic he is, how joyous he is, and how funny, and irreverent he is,” said Cohen. 

Read more about the Bayard Rustin biopic on Netflix in Philadelphia Gay News. 

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