Women’s March takes aim at Trump, Barrett
Thousands of mostly young women in masks, costumes rally in Washington, other cities urging voters to reject president, nominee
WWASHINGTON earing costumes and carrying signs, thousands of people gathered for the Women’s March in downtown Washington and cities across the country Saturday to protest the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and to build momentum to vote Donald Trump out of the White House.
Nearly four years after an election that galvanized millions of protesters to march in cities nationwide — many of them for the first time — Women’s March leaders hoped to bring a final show of force before Nov. 3 with a rally in the nation’s capital and in more than 429 marches across all 50 states. Organizers said more than 116,000 people had pledged to march or participate in other actions Saturday.
“Everything we’ve been doing has been leading up to this,” said Caitlin Breedlove, deputy executive director of organizational advancement for the Women’s March. “We’re not only in resistance. We’re actually fighting for what we need to build.”
The march took place days before the Senate holds its first vote on confirming Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal leader and feminist icon. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on the nomination of Barrett, who would cement the conservative advantage on the court. The Republican majority in the Senate is expected to approve the nomination.
By 11 a.m. Saturday, several hundred people had gathered at Freedom Plaza ahead of a noon rally urging women to vote and calling on Congress to suspend the Supreme Court confirmation process. After the rally, participants planned to march southeast along Pennsylvania Avenueand then Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court.
Amid the protesters decked out in bright pink hats and bejeweled face masks, 7-year-old twins Harriet and Myles Gilliam of Boston sat stoically next to their mother. Harriet, who was dressed as Ginsburg, complete with lace collar, was taking part in her third Women’s March. Myles was dressed in a suit and held a sign that resembled the one held by the late congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., in his iconic 1961 mug shot taken after he was arrested for using a bathroom reserved for White people in Mississippi.
“You can use social media all you want, but there’s something to be said about showing up,” said Justina Gilliam, 40, who said she had attended every Women’s March in Washington.
This year’s event had an urgency akin to the first one, she said. “There’s a desperation to it.”
A group of a dozen women dressed as handmaidens, with red dresses and white bonnets, lined up in a row with signs hanging from their necks with the words “Trump Pence OUT NOW!” The costumes were a reference to Barrett’s leadership role in the Christian group People of Praise, a position that had been called “handmaiden” until 2017 when The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, was adapted for TV and the term was associated with women subjugated by men.
A few feet away, Kelsey Weir, a 29-year-old artist from southern New Jersey, held a sign with the words “W.A.P.: Women Against the Patriarchy.” Weir said she feels terrified about the years ahead, especially with Barrett on the Supreme Court. She said she felt it was her duty as a citizen to march. “Women are threatened in a world where a Christian theocracy is threatening to take over,” she said, pointing to the women in handmaiden costumes. “This is the crisis for our world. The next few weeks are going to decide so many things for women.”
Protesters planned to wrap around the U.S. Capitol and end the march on the Mall, where a smaller group of demonstrators would take part in a text-a-thon event to urge women across the country to vote. Thousands of Women’s March volunteers had already texted more than 4 million female voters and aimed to send 5 million texts Saturday, according to the group.
At the same time, a counterprotest organized by a conservative women’s organization took place at the Supreme Court. An “I’m With Her” rally in support of Barrett and organized by the Independent Women’s Forum sent the message that the Women’s March participants “do not speak for all women.” The counterprotest was expected to be smaller than the Women’s March.
Each year since pink-hatted women first flooded the nation’s capital the day after President Trump’s inauguration in 2017, the Women’s March has organized marches in January nationwide, promoting a list of policy demands and helping motivate women to run for office in record numbers. But the marches in recent years have drawn much smaller crowds than the first historic showing. The national organization has at times struggled to remain relevant, as scores of its initial attendees have redirected their attention toward other causes.
At the most recent Women’s March in January, some attendees said they hoped they wouldn’t need to march again following the 2020 election. But last month, “the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg reset the whole country,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March.
The group’s organizers quickly planned hundreds of marches, both virtual and in-person, focused primarily on voting rights and the Supreme Court confirmation process.
“We didn’t want to drain any energy from the election process,” Breedlove said. “We actually wanted to help harness the power of the women we work with.”
The march came amid an economic recession that has fallen especially hard on women of color and mothers, a Supreme Court nomination that many fear threatens the reproductive rights of women, and a presidential election that could be decided in large part by women.
Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 23 percentage point advantage over Trump among female likely voters (59 percent to 36 percent), according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Meanwhile, Trump and Biden split men, with 48 percent each.