On Tuesday, the Rev. Donna Tara Lee wore a pink shirt that clashed with her vibrant blue hair.
The blue hair was a gift to herself, bestowed on her 67th birthday.
But the pink shirt was a statement supporting an organization she believes in.
She stood in a cluster of 30 pink-clad Planned Parenthood supporters gathered on the corner of University Avenue and Northwest 13th Street on Tuesday evening to demonstrate their support for the organization.
The rally was held in response to the House of Representatives’ recent bill to defund the organization after controversial videos surfaced in July, filmed by the Center for Medical Progress and featured Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted body parts to medical research.
For Lee, the debate is a religious one.
A local LGBTQ+ activist and organizer, she is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville. The congregation states on its website that it is a liberal church, welcoming people regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes.
"The church has backed women’s reproductive rights for 50 years, pretty much since it was an issue," Lee said.
She said the House of Representatives is trying to use religion to decide what is right, but noted that there are plenty of people who don’t hold that same viewpoint.
"They have the right to believe what they believe, but so does everybody else," she said. "This isn’t a theocracy."
The rally marked Madeline Fitts’ first time organizing an event in Gainesville.
The 27-year-old said she received an email from MoveOn.org requesting an event organizer for the nationwide rally to support Planned Parenthood.
"It’s a political grassroots movement trying to combat a lot of the misinformation being spread by the videos, which (the Center for Medical Progress) acknowledged were heavily edited," she said.
UF students were lacking in attendance, but a group of four Eastside High School students rallied using handmade signs. The 16-year-olds were all members of the Eastside Young Democrats, a club they formed at the start of the semester.
One of them, Margaret Parker, held a sign that asked, "When you vote against healthcare and human rights...can you really call yourself pro-life?"
Parker said she hopes the event will call attention to the issue, combating the stigma around Planned Parenthood.
"The recent action taken by conservatives is counterproductive," she said. "There are a lot of misconceptions, and by coming out here we hope to clear some of them up."
Contact Brooke Baitinger at bbaitinger@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @BaitingerBrooke
Tamara Leisey (left), her husband Silvestre Hernandez, their 1-year-old son Ollin Hernandez-Leisey and Rawlings Elementary ESE teacher Christe McGann rally Sept. 29, 2015. Leisey said she and Hernandez went to the organization for medical tests before getting pregnant with Ollin. “I think a lot of people forget about the actual family-planning portion of their services,” she said. “It’s not just women’s healthcare. It’s men’s healthcare as well.”
