Justin Lippi, programming director of LBGTA and a psychology and philosophy senior, co-organized the event with Dustin Petty, an agriculture and natural resource communications senior.

Petty said the goal of the event was to draw attention to the belief that same-sex couples deserve the same rights as straight couples.

“We are the same law-abiding, tax-paying citizens and we don’t have the same rights as everyone else and that’s not justice,” Petty said. “This is our generation’s fight for equality. Rallies like this worked in the 1960s for civil rights and the 1910s for women’s rights.”

The rally also was a call to unite against Michigan’s laws opposing same-sex marriages and civil unions and a lack of protection from hate crimes and discrimination.

Keynote speaker Julie Nemecek, a transgender activist and Baptist minister, spoke of the importance of peaceful protest.

“If we get angry and do stupid stuff, it’s not going to be very helpful, but there’s a lot of positive things we can accomplish being non-abrasive,” Nemecek said.

Speaker Will Calhoun also read poetry and excerpts from other equality protests. Yona Cloonan, a postdoctoral student, spoke second, telling a story of adversity she endured with her partner.

Cheryl VanderKerkhove, a former president of the Lansing Association for Human Rights and longtime Lansing-area LBGT activist, spoke of the importance of following through on activism with voting.

Nemecek said the event is just the beginning of the movement.

“People need to get involved at the state level with their representatives,” she said. We passed the hate crimes bill in the House earlier this week and whether it will even get a vote in the Senate is up to public pressure.”