Ray Lira is a California-raised Mexican American who moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ray holds a couple jobs including working with vegetables in Meck’s Market in Lancaster and is an activist involved in LGBTQ rights locally. Being part of the Latinx community and seeing the inequalities and injustices affect his own life and families life, Ray pointed out that it made it that much easier to get involved in activism to bring about change for future generations. Ray’s mother has also been his biggest inspiration and is one of the reasons why he believes that peaceful protesting is what truly makes a difference. Ray’s experiences being in both California and Lancaster has shown him what activism looks like in different regions of the country. Despite regional differences, he notices the similar approaches to activism that are slowly but surely shaping our future (Melanie Dios and Juan Ayala).
