WASHINGTON: Thousands of protesters, mostly women, gathered in Washington on Saturday to voice their opposition to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, many of them wearing pink hats reminiscent of a much larger protest at its premiere investiture ceremony in 2017.
At Franklin Park, one of three launch sites for the “People’s March” that will take place in the city center, demonstrators gathered in light rain to rally in support of gender justice and bodily autonomy.
Other protesters gathered in two other parks also near the White House, one group focusing on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues, before heading to the march’s final rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Police cars, with their sirens blaring, drove between the kickoff locations.
Protests against Trump’s inauguration are far fewer than in 2017, in part because the U.S. women’s rights movement fractured after Trump’s loss to Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Vendors sold buttons reading #MeToo and “Love Trumps Hate” and sold People’s March flags for $10. The demonstrators carried posters reading “Feminists against fascists” and “People before politics”.
“It’s really healing to be here with all of you today in solidarity and unity, in the face of what is going to be truly horrific extremism,” said Mini Timmaraju, head of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All , to the crowd as the events began. disabled.
She said the good news was that abortion rights remained popular despite Trump’s victory, chanting “We are the majority!” »
Reproductive groups joined civil rights, environmental and other women’s groups to organize 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.
