The Feminist Majority Foundation:

As anti-Proposition 8 marchers have been recently voicing their opposition to the proposition around the city, feminists have been more actively fighting for the equality that they feel they have been denied. Many people are still under the impression that feminism means women above men, and some even remain convinced that feminists are anti-men.

However, feminism means something far from that, which is equality for all, no matter what race or gender, or any other factor. Equality is equality. Contrary to popular belief, this includes not only lesbians, but all homosexuals as well as heterosexuals.

The Feminist Majority is a group of people who declare their purpose as promoting "equality for women and men, non-violence, reproductive health, peace, social justice and economic development and to enhance feminist participation in public policy. Feminist Majority supports workers' collective bargaining, pay equity, and end of sweatshops. We encourage programs directed at the preservation of the environment," (www.feministmajority. org).

The Feminist Majority Foundation, the Feminist Majority's sister organization, works with campuses across the nation to promote feminism, including Santa Monica College's Feminist Alliance. Leigh Conner, co-president of the club who has also previously worked for Feminist Majority, explains that as well as promoting feminism and equality, the club works "for lesbian rights,and accesible contraception." She also says that, unlike some of the groups on campus who are not very active and involve a lot of sitting around and hanging out, the 30-member group Feminist Alliance is very motivated and active in their cause.

Proposition 4, known as the Abortion Waiting Period and Parental Notification Initiative, is another cause the Feminist Alliance fought against, as well as Proposition 8. Obviously, the club was relieved that Proposition 4 didn't pass, but said a lot of them have been taking part in the marches which have been occurring. She described the one by the Mormon Church on Saturday as, "amazing. There were 12,000 people there and it was completely peaceful and inspiring." On the other march, she mentioned that there was one incident she witnessed where a man driving a car which was sporting a "Yes on Prop 8" sticker punched one of the anti-Proposition 8 marchers in the face as he was passing through traffic, as many of the marchers were. On this and other aggressive marchers, Conner says, "there are always a few bad people in the crowd."

In addition to participating in these walks, the Feminist Alliance could be seen around campus, handing out flyers listing reasons to vote no on 4 and 8. "We did as much as we could," Conner says, "I feel like we reached a lot of people." She said they handed out hundreds of those flyers just on Election Day alone, and participated in phone-banking as well.

If any of these activities and causes sound interesting, Feminist Alliance is open to, as Conner puts it, "any students who have experienced inequality. It's open to anyone who's interested in working towards equality." They meet every Thursday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in HSS 255, and also every Friday night at various coffee shops.