World

Obama Faces Armenian and Gay Rights Protesters in Beverly Hills

by cyn.khoo | May 28, 2009 at 11:31 am

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Protesters gathered outside the Beverly Hilton hotel Wednesday night, where President Obama was attending a Democratic Party fundraiser.

A day after the upholding of Proposition 8 in California, which bans gay marriage, one of the protests was meant to encourage Obama to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring those who are openly gay to join the US military. Lieutenant Dan Choi, who was issued a discharge from the Army after declaring on national television that he was gay, led a crowd of approximately 100 supporters.

"There is a message that I want to give to Obama," said Choi. "Stop forcing our soldiers to hide. Let them be free to serve."

A protest was also organized by the Armenian Youth Federation, in order to remind Obama of his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide.

“We are not here to label the President as a Genocide denier, but rather to raise our voices and our concerns regarding his broken promises,” said Arek Santikian, a spokesperson for the AYF. “We also want the president to realize how dissapointed the community is with his ill-advised cut in foreign aid to Armenia.”