UCLA students lined Wilshire Boulevard on Wednesday night across from the Beverly Hilton to protest different issues affecting the LGBT community including Proposition 8, the don’t ask, don’t tell policy and the Defense of Marriage Act.
The students were among dozens of protesters hoping to gain the attention of President Barack Obama, who was hosting a fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton for the National Democratic Party.
Protesters were originally spread out throughout Wilshire Boulevard, but after a group of people exited the hotel, they congregated and began to chant together. Policemen monitored the activists to ensure that they remained on the sidewalks. The protest remained peaceful throughout the remainder of the night.
Participants differed in age and background, and though the majority were fighting on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, many were there to protest torture and the possibility of the U.S. starting a war with Iran, among other issues.
Dave Valk, executive director of the LGBT campus group Won Together, said he was there asking for the civil rights act to be amended to protect gender and sexuality issues.
Valk said Wednesday’s event was different from others because it was about conveying a message to Obama instead of just protesting about marriage equality.
“It’s a turning point in the movement. People are calling upon Obama for federal action. … We didn’t do that before,” Valk said.
Jason Bernabe, a first-year nursing student who is also a member of Won Together and the Queer Alliance, said the state Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold Proposition 8 means the LGBT community needs to raise awareness outside of California.
“We have an issue here in Los Angeles that the state can’t help us with anymore,” Bernabe said.
Though Valk and Bernabe were representing specific student groups, several UCLA students came on their own after hearing about the protest through Facebook.
Miles Prince, a fourth-year economics student, was one such student. He said that while he is not a member of an LGBT campus group at UCLA, he decided to attend the rally because he wanted to send a message to the president to hold up promises he made during his campaign regarding LGBT rights.
Other students also said they were protesting to directly remind Obama about issues he raised in his campaign.
Daniel Lopez, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, said young people, minorities, and the gay community specifically were important reasons for Obama’s victory in the election.
“We fought hard to get him the presidency, and he should fight to get all minorities equal rights,” Lopez said.
While protesters were aiming their message at Obama, the rally was different because the group of people protesting was diverse, said Jennifer Ly, a fourth-year English student.
Ly said that while she has generally attended protests with other young people, she enjoyed seeing older people protesting.
Lesly Michals, a 46-year-old resident of Studio City, was there with her husband and three children, and said her parents took her to Vietnam War protests when she was younger and has since been attending demonstrations in support of different causes.
Michals said she first found out about the event at 2 p.m. and immediately rushed to get to the location and even asked her children to stop doing their homework.
“I feel like this is more important than anything they can learn in school,” Michals said.