By Edgar Lopez
While East Los Angeles College prepared to hold hands for Hands Across California April 17, a feminist group’s hands were busy stripping a booth.
The event had booths lined up for information, contest and company vendors, but apparently, there were no booths for the ELAC Feminist Movement Club.
The club was asked to leave a booth they occupied because they did not have a reservation for the event said Selina Chi, a dean of Resource and Institutional Development at ELAC.
Although a staff helper told the group they could use the booth, as the group said, the staff member said they had no reservation for the booth.
The group said that their adviser reserved a booth for them but was cancelled.
In addition to that, the group had reserved a separate table.
The group said that the real issue at hand was a poster drawing of a nude woman.
The poster hung high displaying the bare woman surrounded by the opening of a vagina.
After the staff member told them to remove the poster, the group and staff member agreed to lower it instead.
However, it still caught Chi’s attention.
“So we were rudely kicked out of the booth,” said Angie Rincon, the club’s president.
Chi had an aggressive tone that upset the Feminists, said Samantha Hess, a member of the group.
She said that Chi instructed them to remove the poster and when the group said no, she then mentioned that the group had no reservation.
She also said the group had offered to bring their own tables and chairs, but Chi would not allow it.
“We wanted the clubs to come,” said Chi, but no Associated Student Union club reserved a table. She said that the clubs that registered for booths had months to do so.
“They just showed up,” Chi said.
She said that it would be unfair to the other booths and that it would lead to disorganization.
Chi said the staff member who assigned the group their booth should not have done so.
When the group visited ASU, they were advised to put a bathing suit on the poster.
“You know how long it took me to draw this,” said Rincon.
Rincon said the idea behind it was the feminist movement.
“We’re kind of idolizing the vagina,” said Rincon.
Chi said she did not mind the poster if the group had a reservation for a booth.
The group decided to stay and support the cause as they held hands when it came down to the hour.
“In the end, the table didn’t seem to be occupied by anyone.
“And the naked woman in our poster will be covered by the words shameful, at least her breast and vagina,” said Rincon.