I’m a middle aged, white, married, CIS male father. I’m also a US Army OEF and OIF veteran. I’m definitely not the typical Bans Off Our Bodies rally and march attendee. I think other protesters assumed I was a cop or infiltrator. I’m not. So why me? Why did I feel compelled to match today?
Today, I marched for women’s rights and human rights in my home, of Philadelphia, PA. I marched for one woman. Not my mother. Not my wife. In fact, I never learned her name. The woman I marched for i only met once. I met a woman on the streets of Kabul in 2002. The woman, covered in a blue burka, was begging for money for her family. One of the soldiers on my team told her he would give her a dollar if she showed us her face. I told him to stop, but he kept asking her. Finally, fed up and desperate, she yelled and showed us. This woman’s face was severely disfigured by the Taliban. And it still haunts me.
I don’t want anything like that to happen here. That’s why I marched today. Thank you to the organizers.