Hollywood #MeToo march helps give legs to movement in wake of latest sexual assault allegations

Nov. 12--Survivors of sexual assault and harassment gathered Sunday in Hollywood to participate in a #MeToo march and rally as cascading allegations continued to surface against powerful men in the entertainment industry and beyond.

The demonstration started at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue around 10 a.m., and was to continue with a march to the CNN building at 6430 Sunset Blvd. with a series of speakers.

Linda Crossley, a yoga teacher and psychotherapist, said she made the trip by herself from Huntington Beach to support an effort to prevent the voices of women, or anyone oppressed or abused, to be silenced again.

"I feel like every woman has been harassed, abused or assaulted in some way and I'm so excited about the energy level getting to this point, the tipping point, so it's never going to be hidden again," Crossley said.

See, hear some of the marchers here

Allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis C.K. and others have rocked the entertainment industry in recent weeks, sparking an international discussion about a longtime scourge often hidden from public view.

"Sexual violence really doesn't know a race, a class, a gender. It can happen to anybody," said Tarana Burke in a statement on a GoFundMe page for the event. Burke started the Me Too movement a decade ago through her nonprofit Just Be Inc. that focuses on the health and well-being of young women of color

"What we're seeing, at least for now, is a unity of survivors, a community of survivors that have grown out of this #MeToo viral moment, that I'm just hoping and praying that we can sustain."

Aleesha Barlow, who made the trip from the Bay Area to speak at Sunday's event, said it was "magical" for her to participate.

"This is the change that the world needs," said Barlow, a survivor of child sexual abuse who created the Tell Somebody organization, which aims to end child abuse of all kinds.

Barlow said she was molested as a child by a relative and at age 6, was told to keep it a secret. It took her 20 years before she worked up the courage to tell her dad but when she did, she felt "the weight lifted" off her shoulders.

"I just want all survivors to feel that," said Barlow, who has written a children's book about sexual abuse of children as well as a memoir about her life.

Allegations of sexual abuse have also rocked the news business, the California capitol and other industries in recent weeks.

Anthony Solis, 40, of Hollywood said he came to the march to stand with women who have been sexually assaulted, as well as men.

Last year he had to share a hotel room with a man he did not know well. Solis said he woke up in the middle of the night to the man naked in his bed and touching him.

Someone suggested he go to a women's battery shelter after the incident, which was not helpful, he said.

"I just wanted people to know out there that this happens to men," he said, "I felt pushed aside."

The phrase #MeToo became pervasive on social media after actress and activist Alyssa Milano asked her followers on Twitter to acknowledge their own sexual assault and harassment experiences while standing with other survivors by using the hashtag #MeToo.

City News Service contributed to this report.

___

(c)2017 the Daily News (Los Angeles)

Visit the Daily News (Los Angeles) at www.dailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.