On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of women (and men and children) across the world marched in solidarity for women's rights. While these marches were inspired by the protestation of Donald Trump's inauguration the day before, they meant so much more than that to many people. I personally was unable to attend the march here in Indianapolis, but I was with every marcher across the globe in spirit and solidarity. I 100 percent support the platform of the marches, and I have never been more proud of my city, my nation, or my entire world than I am in the aftermath of those marches.
The women's march on Washington was the base march, and it was a phenomenally large march in and of itself. It was more than twice the size of Trump's inauguration the day before, and I find it so heartening that so many people were moved enough to show up for this march and the others across the world. What I think is more important to note than the size, however, is the fact that there were zero march-related arrests in Washington, D.C. This shows that the women's march was exactly what it should have been: a peaceful protest well within our constitutional rights.
In the last 48 hours or so, I have seen a few people decry the marches and their platforms, especially on social media. Most of those people, however, have been very firmly shut down in various ways. I believe that it is everyone's right to think whatever they want about these marches, and I'm going to be the last person to say that people shouldn't post what they think on their own social media pages. I will stand up for my rights and for what I believe in, however, regardless of the forum. Freedom of speech goes both ways, so I'll use my voice to attempt to help people understand where I'm coming from rather than to shut them down.
Overall, these marches truly showed what can be accomplished if we stick together as one rather than allowing ourselves to be divided. The marches didn't discriminate based on political party, gender, race, religion, or anything else; they were entirely inclusive to anyone who believes in women's rights across the board.
On that note, I stand with women. I stand with Planned Parenthood. I stand with women of every color and religion. I stand with LGBTQ+ women. I stand with the women of Black Lives Matter. I stand with feminist women. I stand with women.
