Quick Take
A senior at Pacific Collegiate School, Zero Pabich felt horrible after the news of Donald Trump’s victory last week. So the day after the election, Pabich said they began organizing a protest to show that young people will continue fighting to protect the rights of marginalized communities.
Holding signs and shouting chants, more than 50 students, mostly from Pacific Collegiate School, marched Tuesday afternoon from its Westside campus to the Santa Cruz town clock on Pacific Avenue to denounce the election of Donald Trump.
Signs read, “Young people against 2nd Trump term,” and “The only thing America hates more than a rapist is a woman,” and the students chanted, “We reject the president-elect.”
Zero Pabich, president of the Feminist Coalition at the independent, public charter school, said they organized the protest because they felt it was important that local elected officials know where students stand on issues relating to abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and democratic values.
“Over the last week, my world has been flipped upside down,” they said during a speech. “I think, in this country, and what we stand for as Americans has drastically deteriorated. As a transgender child, as someone who has a uterus, as someone who is disabled, my rights will be stripped for me over the next four years.”
At the protest, PCS students, aged 13 to 17, told Lookout that they’re concerned about what a second Trump presidency will bring. Students said they were disappointed the country voted for a convicted felon and someone who was found liable in court for sex abuse.
They also spoke out against Trump’s policies, including his plans to cut funding to schools who recognize transgender identity and to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, and his ties to the developers of a conservative policy playbook, Project 2025. Created by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025’s 900 pages lay out plans for Trump that would give him unchecked powers to carry out his agenda, including cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, targeting his enemies by using the Justice Department and limiting abortion rights.
“Project 2025 will be deadly to those in my community, denying access to life-saving health care,” said Pabich.
In addition to Pabich, six other PCS students gave speeches on the impact the election has had on them. One of those students was 15-year-old Phin Humble.
Humble, who is transgender, said he feels a lot of emotions about the results. He’s concerned about the rollback of trans rights proposed by Trump and Project 2025.
“I’m definitely scared because I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “I feel like the man in power doesn’t value me and would rather me be erased from society.”
Humble said under Vice President Kamala Harris, he wouldn’t have felt more protected, but with Trump, he’s concerned for his safety.
“It’s terrifying. It’s like an apocalypse,” he said. “I feel like everything I want for myself is being stripped away.”
Still, he added, he feels lucky to be in a state, and at a school, that protects trans rights.
Several adults and parents also showed up to support the students. Parent Jillian Tucker came to tears as she watched her sons Phoenix and Malloy, 13 and 11 years old, holding signs alongside the other students.
“The idea that they could grow up and have less rights than I have, is just the most anti-American thing I could ever imagine,” she said.
Phoenix Tucker said he’s terrified for the future, and he would have voted for Harris if he was old enough.
“I’m here to protest Trump. I think that he’s a horrible person,” he said. “I support women’s rights. I think that every single race, every culture should be all supported in the U.S. I don’t think that he’s the right person [to lead] the U.S.”
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