Against a grey sky and indigo mountains, a sea of signs and pink pussy hats overflowed from Vancouver’s Jack Poole Plaza and into the streets — just some of many colourful visuals at Vancouver’s Women’s March on Washington Saturday, which saw up to 15,000 protesters flood the downtown core.
Part of a worldwide response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Vancouver’s march was a sister event of the main march held in Washington, DC.
A diverse group of participants had begun to gather in Vancouver’s waterfront starting by mid-morning. Speakers and folk musicians performed to a vibrant crowd that had dressed for a chilly and damp winter day. First Nations drummers lead the densely packed march to the nearby Trump tower and back.
The Tyee spoke with a dozen attendees and asked why they were marching, what they thought of the event and about Trump’s win.
1. Robin Rivers
“I immigrated to Canada 10 years ago from the United States... and I want to make sure that we are fighting for everybody’s civil rights and that we’re not deciding who gets to have civil rights but more how we can maintain them all for everyone.
“Trump being elected in the United States was one of the greatest catastrophes possibly that... I will experience in my lifetime. We have taken this opportunity to provide for populist government and turned it into something that is racist and xenophobic and anti-democracy.”
2. Mhari
“I’m here because, well, because Trump is doing things that aren’t exactly fair to women, and he’s saying that he can do whatever he wants to them but it’s... your body... Even if you’re like the most famous person in the world you can’t do something that people don’t want you to do.”
“I feel like people should be a little smarter about who they’re choosing to lead a country... if it’s like such a powerful country and the person only wants to hurt other people and like, sort of lie about stuff, it’s not really fair to anyone, I don’t think anything he’s doing to anyone is very fair to anyone.”
3. Morgane Oger
“I’m here because women and our allies as well as people in other communities who are marginalized you know, like the LGBT community, the transgender community — as you know, I’m a transgender woman — immigrants, people without documentations, the poor, all of these groups are the targets of... populist conservative extremism that has been stirred up by the election in the U.S.
“I think it’s sad [there are no trans people speaking at this march]; it shows that they overlooked something important... trans women, sex workers, women of colour, women living with disabilities, we are the most vulnerable women in society... people from our communities should have been part of this... I think that in the zeal of organizing and in the hurt that non-marginalized women feel, it was so painful to see this man get away with this garbage, that they threw a number of people under the bus by accident and this mistake could so easily have been avoided. Of course, they have the very best of intentions.”
4. Shalyn Ferdinand
“I am a human rights activist, I acknowledge and appreciate climate change and respect facts of the scientific community. I don’t believe in governments that disrespect basic fundamental rights everyone has. I like seeing people come together based on their diversity and including all people.
“The original Women’s March on Washington was founded by a group of black women. I feel like this march, the original organizers, their intentions were good to include everyone, I don’t think they necessarily made a strong enough effort to invite all groups of people including the Black Lives Matter movement in Vancouver.”
“I marched for basic human rights, for all people. For historical, political and cultural reference; it’s important to know the original March on Washington was a civil rights movement. That being said, I appreciate the positive, inclusive and progressive initiatives that have been taken to advance all women. I believe the organizers of the March in Vancouver had good intentions.”**
5. Ari Crossby
“I almost made a sign that said ‘my mama told me not to take shit from fascists.’ I was already brought up to believe that you have a responsibility in your community to stand up when you see things happening that shouldn't be happening. Also, I have a lot of American friends that are terrified out of their minds and I’m scared but not nearly as scared as they are... It’s relatively easy for us to go out and protest because we’re in a really safe position, but some of them are in fear for their lives so this is almost literally the least I could do.”
6. Marie Beck
“Human beings are important, human rights are vital and we need to continue to go forward and not allow propaganda, fascism, bullying, bring us back to the wrong places... We need to carry on with our responsibilities that Mother Earth has given us, and Father Sky. It’s simple, it’s all about love.”
“First of all [I’m here to represent] First Nations, First Nations women, the LGBTQ and visible minorities. And [to stand against] bullying, women being bullied by men. Intimidation has gone on far too long. I’ve experienced it many times myself and it can be difficult to fight back.”
7. Luke Bramwell
“My mom brought me here... to support women’s rights... because if women don’t have rights they [the governments] could take away other things and I think it’s important because everybody should have freedom.
“[Trump] does not seem fit for the position, he seems like someone who would discriminate against other races and other sexes... I feel like it’s good that there’s a lot of people standing up to Trump and that people don’t fear him because he’s the president now.”
8. Erica Luce
“I'm here because I’m a feminist, I’m a young person, I’m 19 years old and I think women need to be treated equally. Women deserve to be seen as equal, women deserve to be leaders.”
“I’m scared for my American sisters, scared they’re going to get all of their rights taken away, things like abortion are going to get abolished. The LGBT community is going to lose support and... it’s like it’s going backwards... Like ‘So what? I love someone that’s the same gender as me?’ Why is that your business, why is it the end of the world for me to love someone I love? The world needs to stop hating on love.”
9. Deborah Harford
“I believe today we have to stand up for the values that we believe our society should be based [on such as]... equality and respect for all people no matter what gender or race, respect for future generations in terms of our treatment of the planet and our thoughtfulness or lack of it in how we behave with our beautiful Earth.”
“Donald Trump, immediately his first action was to cancel president Obama’s climate plan. He has said that he will take the U.S. out of the Paris agreement. The Paris agreement we fought for years and years, and it was a pact that we would all work together to safeguard the future for ourselves, our children and our children’s children.”
10. HsingChi von Bergmann
“I’m here because I care for equal rights... I voted in Michigan and I was totally disappointed by the result.
“I believe in education and I’m a UBC professor. It’s important to actually practise what you preach... I brought my son with me today. My son has been in various marches with me and he wanted to come.”
11. Laarni Martin
“I’m here because of equality... I need to stand up for this. I need to be a part of this amazing group.”
“I kind of followed [Trump’s] entire campaign and every single time he would say his racist comments, it would spark rage out of me. I would go to Twitter, I would go to my group of friends and talk about it, like basically a support group, and then we just suddenly decided that ‘hey we should stand up for this and we should go to the Women’s March.’”
12. Odessa Shuquaya*
“I want to raise my voice for all women everywhere, for equality, for solidarity. I marched with my daughter today, I want to be a good example to her and help the next generation keep fighting.
“I brought my drums... I didn’t really know about the organization, I just came down and then I saw the drummers walking by and I saw some people that I knew, and somebody was saying ‘hey, drummers at the front.’ I was very honoured that I got to be marching near the front and singing the songs... [such as] the women’s warrior song.”
*Name spelling corrected Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. **Story updated Jan. 31 at 2 p.m.
Read more: Rights + Justice, Politics, Gender + Sexuality
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