I just came home from the May 21 SLO Women’s March protest on the courthouse steps, and I am a little disappointed.
As an “old white man” (one of four monikers with strikethroughs on the main banner), I thought I would sort of be welcomed as a sympathizer from the other side. Not so much: “male interloper,” one person said.
I am an ardent feminist and ridicule my friends who talk about some man-hating ideology that allegedly pervades the women’s movement. But I was just plain dissed tonight. Repeatedly.
I’m 100 percent on your side, girls. Don’t treat me like the enemy just because I have a Y chromosome. It’s not my fault, I swear.
Carry on the fight and know that I’m behind you all the way, except for the discriminators—you need to grow up. Accept acceptance even if it comes from a man. We’re human, too.
Bryan Parker
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Summer Guide 2019.