Women’s March isn’t just about Trump

WASHINGTON — The day after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president, an estimated 200,000 people from across the country will flood Washington for a demonstration billed as the Women’s March on Washington.

Some will stand up for what are traditionally labeled women’s issues, such as equal pay and paid family leave. Many say they will be marching just to feel heard, and to express their fear that a range of liberal causes could be endangered under Trump.

But many organizers say the march is not just an anti-Trump protest. It’s as much a rallying cry for all those people and issues on the other side as it against him, they say.

“We don’t consider this a protest. It’s a positive movement,” said Elizabeth O’Gorek, who co-chairs the logistics committee in Washington. “All of these causes — environmental concerns, immigration, Black Lives Matter — those are all women’s issues.”

To organizers, it’s a lot about believing.

“I haven’t felt hope since the election,” said Emma Collum, a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who said she woke up Nov. 9 “feeling a sense of loss.”

When she came across a small group of women who planned to march in Washington, she contacted them offering her legal services.

Two months later, she is the lead organizer for 20,000 people from Florida who are coming to Washington “on planes, trains and automobiles.” She knows of at least 50 chartered buses that are making the trip.

“It’s not a pleasure cruise, but these women are so activated and so excited,” Collum said.