American students in Montreal hold ‘Love Trumps Hate’ rally

American students at McGill University have a lot to say about the future of their country since the election of President-elect Donald Trump.

“I’m afraid for the future. I’m gay, but I’m a white male and I have privilege and a voice, but many other groups don’t,” Logan Hall from Virginia told Global News Monday.

Nearly a hundred students, mostly Americans living in Montreal, held a “Love Trumps Hate” rally on the university campus.

“I just don’t want to see our nation regress,” Amanda Demers from New Jersey said ahead of the rally.

They’re concerned about where the U.S. is headed on the issues of LGBTQ rights, abortion, minority rights and the environment.

READ MORE: What President Donald Trump will mean for Canada

“His rhetoric on climate change is that it is a hoax. We are at the zero hour, we are out of time. We need to transition to clean energy as soon as possible and he says he will support the fossil fuel industry,” Louisiana native Aneil Prasad said Monday.

There are also concerns that the ‘alt-right’ in the U.S. will see Trump’s election as a opportunity to harass and demean minority groups.

“We aren’t going to sit quietly if our fellow citizens don’t feel safe,” said Hanna Harrison a member of the group Democrats Abroad.

Political watchers note that since being elected, President-elect Trump has started to backtrack on some of this promises.

“He’s saying it won’t be a big wall, and maybe just a fence in some places and that maybe he won’t deport 11 million people, just three million. People hear and think that maybe he is not so extreme, but he has a long way to go to convince a lot of people,” Concordia Political Science Professor Graham Dodds explained.

The group of demonstrators at McGill Monday are not convinced that Trump has softened his positions, and they promise to keep speaking up even though they are far from home.