It was a small but enthusiastic crowd that gathered at the Vancouver waterfront Saturday for a march in solidarity with Women’s Marches across the world.
About 150 people braved heavy rain and cold temperatures to march in Vancouver’s version of the Women’s March on Washington, a protest movement in the wake of Friday’s inauguration of President Donald J. Trump.
“Stand up!” organizer Suzanne Kendall shouted at the crowd of women, men and children as they traipsed along the Waterfront Renaissance Trail, past condos and waterfront businesses.
“Fight back!” the crowd replied.
Similar events around the world gathered massive crowds. In Portland, organizers of that city’s Women’s March report 100,000 people gathered along the waterfront to demonstrate. In Washington D.C., the crowds were estimated at 500,000.
Kendall, who started an organization called Right2BHeard dedicated to promoting civil discourse, rallied the crowd through a brief rally, then the march.
“I have been working for years to help other people in our community engage and involve citizens in important things that are happening,” she said. “This is the most important thing that happened in decades.”
The inauguration of a man revealed during the campaign to have once boasted about grabbing women’s genitals was high on the minds of participants. But participants were also rallying in favor of other issues: the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people, equality for people of color, the safety of Latino and Mexican immigrants, and accessibility to affordable healthcare.
Diana Perez, northwest regional director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, was among the speakers featured at the rally. Perez, donning a Wonder Woman shirt and leading the crowd in a series of roars, urged the crowd to speak out against injustice.
“We are going to unite all our brown, black, Native American and Asian friends,” she told the crowd to cheers.
Elizabeth Angulo, 56, also marched with her daughter, 38-year-old Veronica Child.
Angula said she was marching for her family.
“I want to make sure they have every opportunity,” she said.
Jennifer Dixson, a 36-year-old Washougal resident, brought her 8-year-old daughter, Avery. The two held lime green and hot pink signs that read “I’m with her,” a reference to the rallying cry of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s supporters, and “Keep your hands off my future.”
Dixson wanted her daughter to see the protests, and be surrounded by women standing in solidarity.
“I couldn’t not,” she said.
