WASHINGTON, D.C. — Women and men from all corners of the country converged on the nation’s capital a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The reason? The Women’s March on Washington.
An estimated 500,000-plus people participated in the day-long event, more than twice what was expected — all to promote the message of women’s equality and the defense of all citizens’ basic human and civil rights, which protesters fear may come under attack by a Trump Administration.
Those who participated hope the sheer number of people who turned out Saturday, giving collective voice to those concerns, may thwart any efforts to curtail those rights..
Activists and some politicians fired up the crowd at the rally, which featured speeches from women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, Madonna, actresses Ashley Judd and Scarlett Johansson, and filmmaker Michael Moore.
Protesters also rallied worldwide as a show of solidarity, including a well-attended event in Seneca Falls.
Logistically, it might have been a whole lot easier for some Seneca Falls residents to have attended that rally closer to home rather than boarding a bus at 2 a.m. for the multi-hour trip from the Finger Lakes to D.C. Over 2,000 other buses from around the country made the trip there, testing the limits of traffic and crowd control for D.C. officials. The Metro train system saw long lines of activists waiting to board as the Finger Lakes crew commuted into downtown from where the buses parked.
Upon arriving in the city about 10:30 a.m., Finger Lakes protesters were met with a huge and, at times, massive gridlock of humanity.
Heather Swanson, who works for the Geneva City School District as public relations officer, was one of the Seneca County residents who made the trip south.
“I wanted it known that not all of us supported the tone of the campaign and, ultimately, the result of the election,” she said, “so I wanted to be a part of a worldwide statement.”
She said she was glad she went and found the experience extremely uplifting because so many were gathered together to share the same message.
She did, at times, find the size of the crowd a bit overwhelming and unexpected.
“I was surprised at what it felt like to be a tiny person amongst such a large crowd,” she quipped.
The Finger Lakes contingent was expected to board the bus at 7 p.m. Saturday for the trip home.
Getting to the rally site was a bit easier for Geneva High School graduate Hannah Schoonover, 26, who moved to the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Dupont Circle over a year ago to join BodyConnect, a women’s health practice, as a doctor of physical therapy. Her close proximity allowed her early access into that relatively small area. However, that later proved to be detrimental, when she found herself at the end of the line for the actual March. She spent hours waiting to make significant progress toward the White House — the March’s ultimate destination.
By 2 p.m., so many people had joined the March that safety became a priority for organizers. From the back, Schoonover said things were quite loud, although visually stimulating. Just reading the creative protest signs was worth the price of admission, she said. (The March was free.)
For Schoonover, she was motivated to join the effort as a way to help raise awareness of female health care. She said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add her voice to the hundreds of thousands of participants calling for equality. She also feels strongly that the persecution of various female minority groups must not be ignored.
Schoonover said although the political climate may be troubling, she remains hopeful. The sheer variety of people represented at the March, in and of itself, was reassuring, she said.
