Justin Jones, a UF senior, knew at 11 years old that he was different.
At the age of 16, he confided in friends from school and church that he was gay.
The word got back to the youth pastor at the church he attended, and one Sunday Jones was pulled into the pastor's office to be informed that he was possessed by a gay demon.
The church officials asked permission to pray for Jones. He agreed, and they pressed their hands on him while praying fervently to expel the homosexual demon.
After admitting he felt no different, Jones was told he could no longer participate in the choir or any other leadership role within the church.
Since being cast off by his "church family," Jones said he has found a new home within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Jones traveled to Washington, D.C., with a group of 35 UF students and Gainesville residents to show the pride he feels.
The Gainesville chapter of the International Socialist Organization learned of the National Equality March and contacted several other local activist groups, realized no one else was organizing a trip and stepped up to the plate, said Joe Richard, a member and organizer for the group.
"Socialists like to support equality whenever we get a chance," Richard said.
The group teamed up with Pride Student Union at UF to organize the trip.
Participants paid $80 for a ride to and from Washington, D.C., and lodging in a church on Saturday night.
On Saturday at 4:30 a.m., the 35 participants piled into three vans and began the 15-hour drive.
The march began at noon on Sunday, and the chant, "Gay, straight, black, white. Same struggle, same fight," echoed through the streets.
The crowd, which included pop singer Lady Gaga, followed a nearly 2 1/2-mile route that took them past the White House and ended at the Capitol building.
In a press conference earlier Sunday morning, the event's executive steering committee expressed its intention to use the march as the beginning of a new strategy for the gay community, taking inspiration from the 1960s civil rights movement.
The hope was to inspire "a generation of Harvey Milks," said Kip Williams, co-director of the march.
Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office, was assassinated in 1978.
Williams, 27, said the new movement will focus on obtaining full equality, rather than just equal marriage, citing the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
March organizer Cleve Jones, who was played by Emile Hirsch in the 2008 movie, "Milk," is a longtime leader of the movement, beginning as a student intern in Milk's office during the 1970s.
"We're not settling," he said. "There is no such thing as a fraction of equality."
Williams said Jones is a mentor to himself and to other young activists within the gay community because he accepts change without feeling threatened.
"Often older folks tell younger folks to be quiet and to wait," Williams said.
But Jones fans the fire in activists' bellies by encouraging young people to effect change in new ways.
Williams began his career as a gay rights activist while attending the University of Tennessee and now, less than six years after graduating, he directed a national march.
He had some advice for students being told the world is too big for them to change: Don't listen.
"All people get told, 'You're just one person,'" he said.
The demonstrators from Gainesville drove all through Sunday night and Monday morning, discussing how to bring grassroots activism back with them.
Ford Dwyer, a UF freshman, was inspired by the march and, even though he is heterosexual, decided to become more active.
He said he participated in the protest because he believes justice means fighting for equality.
"We all have a stake in each other," he said.
