For the third year in a row, women, non-binary people, and allies are gathering in cities across the United States for the annual Women’s March. The march started as a protest in 2017, just days after President Donald Trump took office. While it’s difficult to find concrete attendance numbers, many speculate that as many as 5.1 million people marched nationwide. Last year, an estimated 2.5 million people marched.
This year, people are marching amid some serious controversy. Allegations of anti-Semitism have likely contributed to an overall lower turnout of people marching. In Washington, D.C., for example, the permit was initially approved for up to 500,000 people. So far, it appears numbers (while still reportedly in the thousands) are a lot lower.
Some cities, like Chicago, are not hosting their local Women’s March at all. Some politicians, including Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who actually spoke at the Women's March in 2017, will not be participating this year, as reported by Buzzfeed News.
On the other hand, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who, like Harris, spoke at the 2017 Women’s March, is attending the Women's March in Iowa. Her campaign addressed anti-Semitism in a statement, saying, "Senator Gillibrand strongly condemns anti-Semitism from anyone, in all forms, and believes it has no place in a movement for women's empowerment or anywhere else.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the Women’s March in New York, saying:
“Last year we brought the power to the polls, and this year we need to make sure we translate that power into policy… That means we will not let anyone take our rights away - in fact we will expand them.”
A number of groups have stepped away from the march amid recent allegations, including the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Human Rights Campaign, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Center for American Progress. This includes dropping sponsorship.
Jazmine Marie Cruz, a 19-year-old student in Chicago, decided to organize an alternative march when the city canceled theirs. “The community is so diverse,” Cruz said in reference to Chicago. “I want people to be empowered, to feel like there will be change. I think with the government shutdown, people feel powerless.”
Since the inception of the Women’s March, there’s been controversy. Many point out that the Women’s March has been focused on white women. One Women’s March in California was actually canceled this year over concerns that it would be too white.
The overwhelmingly popular pink “pussy hats” can read as trans-exclusionary (the implication being that one needs a vulva in order to identify as a woman, or that having a vulva makes you a woman). Ableism is also a serious problem, as is the implied classism in having the ability to take time off of work to march (if not travel to march) to begin with.
Are you marching this year?
