Students March Against Prop.8

The United Rainbow Alliance marched down Colorado Boulevard on Tuesday in opposition to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that eliminates the right for same-sex couples to marry. Participants held up "Vote No On Prop 8" signs and waved a large rainbow flag to demonstrate pride and support of same-sex marriage. "This is the first law in California history that would actually encourage discrimination in the state Constitution and we're just fighting against that," said Lauren Eras, president of the Rainbow Alliance.

"We were expecting a lot more people to be around, but we're just really glad we were able to do this," said Daniel Nguyen, secretary of the Alliance.

With the upcoming election and people voting on the California propositions, the goal of the rally was to encourage everyone to vote against Proposition 8.

The last major event the club had was "National Coming Out" day last year, which featured celebrities who were part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. According to Eras, the number of members in the club has doubled since last year. The club consists of students, faculty and former students.

Eras said that some of the people who attended club meetings are not even members of the Alliance or students at PCC. However, they attended the meetings because it is something they love and want to be a part of.

Not all participants at the rally belonged to the club.

"I came along because it is a very important issue that's coming up right now. We have a chance to be one of the first states to authorize equality, that should definitely happen," said Taylor Doran, 19, who was there to show support.

Members of the college staff also participated in the rally.

"The main reason I think this should concern everybody is that the purpose of a constitution is to defend the rights of the minority. So the idea of a constitutional amendment being voted in by a simple majority should horrify everyone whether you're for gay marriage or not," said Monika Hogan, professor of English.

In addition, Eras expressed that supporters of gay marriage are fighting for love because the core value of marriage has already changed, "Even people in Sacramento have been seeing the attack ads and have said themselves that the ads are false and misleading.