Donald Trump was the target of protest marches the day after his election, with the Women’s March on Washington D.C. probably being the largest march held today.
The BBC says an estimated 673 rallies and marches are going on around the world as women and men in other countries show their solidarity with their American neighbors. The marches span the 50 states, several U.S. territories and at least 60 countries across all seven continents.
The organizers of the Washington march had originally asked for a permit for 200,000 marchers, but as the day progressed, it became obvious that over half-a-million people, more than the number who attended the inauguration, had shown up.
There were plenty of celebrities in attendance, many speaking to marchers at the rally, including Katy Perry, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Schumer, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, Patricia Arquette and Michael Moore. A planned march on the White House had to be changed because there were more demonstrators than was initially expected.
Besides women’s rights that include equal pay, abortion rights and healthcare for women, many people are still angry at Trump’s rhetoric and lewd comments on women, and that is not going to go away anytime soon.
Marchers are also protesting Trump’s claim of building a wall, doing away with climate change policies, environmental policies, and treatment of minorities, including Mexicans, Latinos, Muslims and the disabled.
If Trump thinks he can “Pooh-poo” the crowds of protesters that number in the millions, he needs to remember he lost the popular vote, and that means there are a heck of a lot of people who just don’t like what he is doing or proposes to do. And the message is being sent, loud and clear, from around the world.
According to CTV News Canada, our neighbor to the North marched in solidarity with Americans today, with marches held in over 30 cities across the country, and that’s not including the hundreds of women who traveled to Washington to march alongside women there.
In Paris, France, the day was bright and clear. Thousands upon thousands of people turned out in support of the women’s march in Washington, D.C., but they also turned out to voice disdain for Trump’s rhetoric and behavior, reports the Washington Post.
Marie Allibert, one of the organizers of the Paris march said, “It’s more about women’s rights, human rights. During the campaign, there were lots of misogynist, racist and hateful messages, and that’s what we’re standing up against.”
Although it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, many people in Australia and New Zealand were spotted wearing knitted pink “pussyhats” — a cat-themed reference to lewd remarks Trump made about women in a 2005 video.
“People ask: ‘Why here? Why Sydney? This isn’t your issue,’ ” Kate Taylor, co-founder of the march on Sydney, said in a brief interview during the rally, according to the Washington Post. “But it is. Misogyny and bigotry are global issues.”
Linda Zunas is the hardy woman who is credited with bringing the Women’s March on Washington to Antarctica, making the movement truly global in its reach to all seven continents. She led a group of like-minded marchers to Paradise Bay where they actually got off the ship and carefully marched, but did not mess up the environment.