Organizers of past marches unite around common opposition

Demonstrators gathered near MacArthur Park before marching to City Hall on Monday to express opposition to new policies from the White House.
(photo by Gregory Cornfield)

Labor unions, immigrants’ rights advocates, minority groups, LGBTQ community members, feminists, religious leaders, climate action proponents and more: the policies of President Donald J. Trump have prompted a diverse group of people in Los Angeles to take action, but not because they support him.

“Regardless of who is in the White House today, no man will ever change the values of who we are as a great state,” said California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon. “Today, I see Irish Americans, Jewish Americans, Armenian Americans, Mexican Americans, Salvadorans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Korean Americans, everyone united together.”

Thousands of Angelenos marched from MacArthur Park to City Hall on Monday for the annual May Day rally for worker’s rights. But this year’s “Resist” march was as much about opposition to Trump’s policies as it was about advocating for the equal treatment of immigrant laborers.

Traditionally celebrated as International Workers’ Day, or a “Day Without an Immigrant,” May Day grew in popularity in Los Angeles as a way to highlight the contributions immigrants – who make up a significant portion of the workforce – make in the United States. Over the years in Los Angeles, it has become a day to protest proposed anti-immigration laws, government raids or voter registration restrictions.

But as Trump continues to push anti-immigration policies at a faster rate than seen in recent years – which includes intensified immigration enforcement, plans for a border wall, a ban on refugees from Muslim countries and threats to withhold federal funding from “sanctuary” cities and states – advocates of other issues joined an event traditionally reserved for labor rights.

“In light of President Trump’s cruel, ill-intentioned and disruptive policies that attack working people, immigrants, public education, Muslims and the LGBT community, we all recognize that the time to resist is now,” said Nordykian Araskya, an Armenian DACA recipient.

For the first time in nearly a decade, all marches happening on May Day announced unity among the groups.

“We are promoting our vibrant and diverse communities, and sending a message to the administration that we are united,” the May Day Coalition said in a press release.

“We are building solidarity across differences and uniting in our resistance,” said David Huerta, president of SEIU United Service Workers West.

Ari Gutiérrez, co-founder and advisory board president of the Latino Equality Alliance, said the LGBTQ community includes immigrants, survivors, dreamers, college students, professionals and entrepreneurs.

“The LGBTQ community supports labor, immigrant and racial justice because those issues affect us too,” Gutiérrez said.

John Parker, member of the Workers World Party and on behalf of the May Day General Strike Coalition, said Trump’s policies ­– which he said are aimed at immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, Muslims and minorities targeted by ICE and the police – are part of a larger attack against all working people. Angelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the nation is “at a crossroads.”

“We are living in a moment when we should be asking of ourselves, what kind of country do we want to have? Most Americans are concerned their freedoms and liberties, even their well-being, health, education and air we breathe, is threatened under this administration,” Salas said. “We are joining today in resistance and every day after this as long as it takes to bring balance to the body politic.”

Rachael Rose Luckey, executive officer with the Stonewall Democratic Club and a transgender woman, explained how workers’ rights and LGBTQ equality overlap.

“In 32 states, I can be legally denied employment,” Luckey said. “In 32 states, I can legally be fired. In 32 states, I can legally be harassed in the workplace. In 32 states, I cannot take them to court. … I have a right to live my life as I see fit, free from interference from Christian supremacists and the Trump Administration.”

Joey Hernandez, a public and community building representative for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, helped organize the center’s contingency for the march. He explained the center provides legal and health services for immigrants and undocumented immigrants, and the May Day march is an extension of its larger policies and proactive LGBTQ agenda. He said approximately 20 percent of the center’s clientele are immigrants or undocumented immigrants.

“There are approximately 267,000 LGBT undocumented immigrants in America,” he said. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the demonstrators stand together to send a message that Los Angeles will stand up “against any attempt to scapegoat immigrants, break up families and create a climate of fear that unsettles our communities and disrupts our economy.”

City Council President Herb Wesson, 10th District, said the diverse crowd is a reflection of a diverse city.

“We are L.A. We are a city, when we look out into a crowd and that crowd is not diverse, we know something is wrong,” Wesson said. “We are L.A. and we have a responsibility to protect and save this country.”