We asked students how they felt about the ongoing United States Supreme Court proceedings regarding Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.

Iris Colburn

First-year, art history

“It’s already so difficult in this society to find your true love, and to fall in love, and to live it out, and for some government to step in and say ‘hey you can’t do that’ is more than violating someone’s right – it’s violating the right to feel, or like putting a ban on feelings.”

Sur Samtani 

Second-year, mathematics/economics

“I think that gay marriage is a state issue, so I wouldn’t want the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on a state or ban any state from supporting gay marriage.

David Guo

First-year, economics and political science

“If the state, as in government, has to define marriage, then it should define it equally under the equal protection law stated in the 14th Amendment.”

Christine Nguyen

Second-year, English

“The Supreme Court case is just a formality. It will take much more time to change people’s views, but it should happen for progress to begin.”

What challenges beyond marriage equality does the LGBT community face on campus?

Karen Jimenez

Fourth-year, anthropology

“Violence. People that may not be from this community but visit, say very mean things or do things that you wouldn’t do if you were outside UCLA. We forget that UCLA is a bubble, and outside it’s very different.”

Will Parsons

Second-year, Spanish 

“They face misconstrued stereotypes and conceptions of them that aren’t validated. People judge them before they get to know them as people and go off labels.”

Steven Tan

Fourth-year, chemical engineering

“I think they face discrimination, prejudice, social conception and the stigma that comes with being a part of the community.”

Aisa Iyawe

Third-year, neuroscience

“Stereotypes – a lot of people stereotype LGBT people.”