On January 21, 2017, the day after the 45th President of the United States took his oath of office, more than 500,000 people took to the streets of Washington, D.C. to protest Donald Trump and his political agenda. This Women’s March on Washington, which was not, of course, restricted to only women, was intended to be a peaceful protest against hatred and inequality. Many people carried signs, some more creative than others, which said everything from “Love trumps hate” to “A woman’s place is in the House and Senate”.

I was one of those 500,000 people. I woke up at 6:00 that morning and dragged myself to a Metro station, I braved huge crowds everywhere we went, I stood for four hours listening to speech upon speech by important people. I marched for hours, chanting things such as “My body, my choice!” and “We will not go away, welcome to your first day!” I marched through the National Mall and to the White House, holding signs and cheering with the crowd.

But it’s not important where we marched or what we said while we marched. What’s important is why we marched.

We’re not sore losers. Sure, the election didn’t go our way, but we didn’t march on Washington just because we didn’t get the outcome we wanted - we marched because we wanted our voices to be heard.

We marched because we want equal rights for women and no gender pay gap. We marched because we want funding for Planned Parenthood and the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. We marched because we want our LGBTQ+ friends to feel accepted and safe. We marched because we want African Americans to get the same rights that white people have, and because we want to stop the racism that’s so prevalent in our society nowadays. We marched because we want immigrants to know that they are welcome here, and because we want to end the anti-immigrant sentiment that so many Americans are preaching. We marched because we want our Muslim friends to know that we love them, that we don’t think they’re terrorists, and that we don’t want them to be kicked out of the country. We marched because we don’t think the President of the United States or anyone else should be allowed to sexually assault someone. But most importantly, we marched because we want Congress and the president to know that we’re not going anywhere and that we’ll keep fighting until we get what we want.

I don’t understand how anyone could possibly be against this protest. To those who are, I ask: why don’t you want equality for all people? Why do you believe that you’re better than someone else? Don’t we all deserve to live life in whatever way we please? Don’t we deserve to make our own decisions about our lives and our bodies? Don’t we deserve equal pay for equal work?

There’s no excuse for this inequality anymore. This isn’t 1950. It’s time that women, blacks, Muslims, LGBTQ+ people, and all other Americans are treated with the same respect that straight white males are.

Mr. President, if you’re reading this, please do something. No one should have to hide their true self because they’re afraid of what might happen if they reveal who they really are. No one should have to live in fear of their president and their government. No one should have to live with the knowledge that they’re valued less by society than their neighbor is. Respect our existence or expect resistance. Respeta nuestra existencia o espera resistencia.