Stand on the Word (Terry Farley)

You've probably not heard of Rev. Robert Spike, and there's a reason for that. While he was one of the most important and influential figures in the sixties civil rights movement, he was threatened with being outed if he continued his activism. This was no small threat, homosexuality was illegal in the US and carried social and political ostracisation, but Robert Spike refused to be cowed and told those threatening him to out him. Two weeks later he was brutally murdered. The case remains unsolved.

He was an enormous presence within progressive politics at the time and a close associated of both Martin Luther King and President Lyndon Johnson. His death was a shock to America, but he was intentionally smeared with sexual innuendo and tainted by the suggestion of homosexuality. Those close to him deemed it safer to let his death go quietly than be associated with the queers.