WASHINGTON: Thousands of protesters, mostly women, gathered in Washington on Saturday to voice their opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, with many wearing pink hats reminiscent of a much larger protest during his first swearing-in ceremony in 2017.
In Franklin Park, one of three starting points for the “People’s March” that will wind through downtown, protesters gathered in a light rain to rally for gender justice and bodily autonomy.
Other protesters gathered in two other parks also near the White House, with one group focusing on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues before heading toward the march’s final gathering at the Lincoln Memorial.
Police cars, with sirens on, drove between the kickoff sites.
Protests against Trump’s inauguration are much smaller than in 2017, partly because the American women’s rights movement fractured after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Vendors hawked #MeToo and “Love trumps hate” buttons and sold People’s March flags for $10. Protesters carried placards reading “Feminists v. Fascists” and “People over politics.”
“It’s really healing to be here with all of you today in solidarity and togetherness, in the face of what is going to be a really horrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, the head of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told audience when the events started. off.
She said the good news was that abortion rights remain popular despite Trump’s victory, leading to chants of “We are the majority!”
Reproductive groups joined civil rights, environmental and other women’s groups in organizing the march against Trump and his agenda as he prepares to take office on Monday. Trump won all seven battleground states and the popular vote in the November election.
