Many marchers brought handmade signs to support women’s rights.
Marchers pass through the International District in Seattle.
Marchers pass through the International District in Seattle while street vendors sell a hot lunch.
One marcher rallies the crowd as they pass by.
Marchers gather in Judkins Park, Seattle.
Marchers gather in Judkins Park, Seattle.
Solidarity in Seattle
Large crowds take to the streets as part of the Seattle Women’s March
January 26, 2017
Not long after the presidential inauguration, millions gathered across the world in support of women’s rights as well as in opposition of President Trump’s views and ideas.
Crowds exceeded expectations in Seattle as an estimated 140,000 people marched in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington last Saturday. Many focused on civil, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights while others directly protested the newly sworn-in president.
According to the Seattle Times the march is believed to be Seattle’s largest political march.
The large crowd created a human traffic jam that left some marchers stuck in Judkins Park for hours.
More than twice the expected amount of people gathered in and around the park before stretching over three miles to Seattle Center. The line of protestors stretched across the length of the route as some reached the endpoint before others left the start.
Around 350 Ellensburg and Kittitas County residents traveled to Seattle in support of the march according to the Daily Record.
The atmosphere was energetic and defiant as marchers flooded the streets sporting numerous unique signs and the symbolic “pussy hats.”
“Pussy hats” are pink caps with pointed ears that have become a prominent pro-women’s rights and anti-Trump symbol.
Many signs were handcrafted by marchers. Some were witty, some more direct: “Girls just want to have fun-damental rights,” “Build bridges not walls,” “Respect existence or expect resistance,” “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries,” “Release your tax returns.”
Marchers gather in Judkins Park, Seattle.
Cheers periodically rippled up and down the line of marchers and throughout the day people chanted on numerous issues: “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.” “Our body, our rights. Her body, her rights.”
Smaller marches also took place across the the state in Wenatchee, Bellingham, Spokane, Walla Walla and Vancouver. Other sister marches took place around the world.
About 370 marches in every state and six continents according to Gloria Steinem, a political activist and feminist organizer who spoke at the Women’s March on Washington.
“I was just talking with people from our many sister marches including the one in Berlin,” Steinem said to the crowd in Washington. “They ask me to send a special message, ‘we in berlin know that walls don’t work.’”