Car horns repeatedly blared in downtown Los Gatos as hundreds of people with signs criticizing Donald Trump’s presidency lined the sidewalk by the town plaza for a May Day rally.
In some countries May 1 is known as International Labor Day and observed as a public holiday honoring labor. But this year communities across the U.S. marked the day by demonstrating opposition to Trump’s policies against immigrants, federal workers and diversity programs.
Together We Will/Indivisible-Los Gatos rally organizer Marsha Palitz-Elliott helped coordinate the protest with the goal of creating a safe space for people to share their concerns about the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s role in government. Between 250 and 300 people showed up with handcrafted signs calling out several issues, including deportations, wealth inequality and reproductive rights.
Los Gatos resident Kristine Kasten, 75, said the protest was not too different from the ones she participated in as a college student in the 1960s, minus the violent suppression. Kasten said protests against the Vietnam War touched on the same issues that still reverberate in the present. She said came to the May Day rally in support of labor unions, income equality and women’s reproductive rights, which she fought for in the ’60s and saw reversed in 2022.
“This is important to show up for my own sanity and coping, as well as just for others, to make it known that it’s important that we strive to change things for the better,” Kasten said.
Palitz-Elliott said many of the Trump administration’s threats to Social Security, health care and immigration could affect Los Gatos residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one-fifth of the town’s population is 65 and older.
“We have older people in town, so Social Security is an issue. What’s happening with healthcare is an issue,” Palitz-Elliot said.
Don Thomas, a 77-year-old Saratoga resident, came out to protest the GOP’s anti-science platform. He said he disagreed with many of Trump’s policies due to concerns about human rights and rule of law, but he admonished the administration’s ignorance of climate change, which he called an “existential problem.”
Thomas said his participation at the rally was also personal, as his son, a Montana State University student, was denied a research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that had previously been approved, which could affect his work figuring out how algae might be used for biofuel.
Bay Area residents also showed concern for the way Trump’s policies could affect those outside the region. Karla Albright, co-founder of Together We Will/Indivisible-Los Gatos, said the organization was formed about eight years ago to canvass neighborhoods and raise money to inspire people to vote against Trump. The organization also does political action work in the Central Valley, and Palitz-Elliott said, “Even if we do not have immigrants who are being kidnapped by our government, we care deeply about that.”
Avani Hirway, a 53-year-old resident from San Jose’s Almaden Valley, said she was upset by Trump’s tariffs on other countries and the funding freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and National Institutes of Health. USAID is responsible for providing foreign civilian aid and development to other countries. The National Institutes of Health fund medical research to help improve Americans’ health and longevity.
Hirway said being able to draw comparisons between Trump’s policies and the conservative influence of the fundamentalist Hindu government in her native India inspired her to come to the rally and voice her displeasure with the Trump administration.
“If we don’t fight, who’s going to do it for us?” Hirway said. “It’s our response, and we’re going to fight for the right thing.”
Amid the chattering crowds and drum beats, a boy chased his father around the corner of the plaza.
Tim Crane, 37, from Mountain View, held a sign criticizing the economic inequality in the U.S. as his son chased him around the plaza. He said he came to the protest to voice his unhappiness with how society and the U.S. government are working. He said he was most concerned about the unfair concentration of wealth and power in the U.S. A ProPublica report stated that the 25 wealthiest Americans only paid an average of 15.8% in personal federal income taxes between 2014 and 2018, a lower rate a worker making $45,000 a year might pay in taxes including Medicare and Social Security. Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute reported a growing gap between increasing worker productivity and stagnant wages.
Crane said he wants to see the U.S. move toward more equality and hopes his son will grow up with economic opportunities.
“When we see all this concentration, it hurts growth; it hurts technology; it hurts our kids; it hurts our families,” Crane said.
