Thousands march against Trump
Hundreds of thousands of women around world march against US presidency
IN A global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at women’s marches in Washington and cities around the world on Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won’t let his agenda go unchallenged.
Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared “pussyhats” to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney.
The outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres.
“We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war,” actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. “Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America… we are America, and we are here to stay.”
The Washington rally attracted over 500 000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials – apparently more than Trump’s inauguration drew on Friday.
Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington.
“We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter,” some marchers chanted. Others: “Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!”
Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as “Women won’t back down” and “Less fear, more love.” They decried Trump’s stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more.
In Chicago, organisers cancelled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150 000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100 000 marched past Trump’s home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles.
In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying “Repeal and Replace Trump”.
“I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal,” she said.
All told, more than 600 “sister marches” were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organisers around the globe added up to more than a million.
“I feel very optimistic even though it’s a miserable moment,” said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. “I feel power.”
Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when “many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes.
“It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were,” she said.
As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he travelled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters.
The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested.
Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their “Make America Great Again Hats” as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday.
“I think it’s very oppressive,” she said of the march atmosphere. “They can have their day, but I don’t get it.”
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for “standing, speaking and marching for our values”.
The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote.
The hand-knit “pussyhats” worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump’s crude boast about grabbing women’s genitals.
They “ain’t for grabbing,” actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd.
The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump’s inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers.
In Park City, Utah, it was South African actress Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of “Love, not hate, makes America great.” Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London’s Trafalgar Square. In Paris thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighbourhood. – AP