“This is what democracy looks like!” and other chants rang through the streets of downtown Los Angeles as thousands rallied for the International Women’s Day Protest on Saturday, March 8. The first women’s march in LA by the Women’s March Foundation (WMF) took place in 2017, and although some protesters attended the event before, many attendees said they felt more at stake in the wake of the second Trump administration.
“We’re in crisis mode and everything that we thought was a possibility maybe in another part of the world unfortunately—we never could’ve imagined them in this country,” said Patty Quilizapa, a mother of two daughters who attended the march for the first time in several years. “Even with our past problems of racism and misogyny and all these things, it was always moving forward, even at a slow pace. We just went off the cliff immediately.”
The crowd began at Pershing Square and made their way down to City Hall. Once there, speakers took to the stage to voice their concerns on all kinds of issues, including women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration.
Alejandra Marchevsky, the chair of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Cal State LA, and Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies Professor Leda Ramos were among the speakers at City Hall.
Ramos has been friends with WMF founder and President Emiliana Guereca for years, and Guereca asked her to be a speaker. Marchevsky has also been friends with Guereca for years and credits Ramos for the connection. Marchevsky called it a privilege to be able to speak on the stage and spoke on the sense of urgency and intensity since Trump has been back in office.
“Make no mistake, Donald Trump and the Republican Party pose an existential threat to our safety and health and the very survival of the planet,” said Marchevsky.
The executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, as well as bills introduced by Congress, have only increased that sense of urgency. The National Partnership for Women and Families said that the dismantling of the federal workforce has weakened enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, and many activists are petrified by efforts of anti-abortion groups to limit access to abortion medication.
Marchevsky mentioned the importance of being a woman who speaks out and advocates.
“No larger movement that claims to support our rights or speak for us can be truly for us unless we’re the head of that movement,” said Marchevsky.
Other protesters shared similar sentiments about the state of women’s rights and the country in general. Actress Jodie Sweetin was among those in attendance, and has been openly critical of Trump in the past, including calling him a fascist.
“I think the urgency feels much more imperative right now,” said Sweetin. “All of a sudden here we are slowly drifting into fascism — right now I think people are realizing that the worst thing can happen, that the bad thing can happen here, and hopefully it spurs people into action.”
Sweetin, who is a mother of 16 and 14-year-old girls, said she was worried for her daughters’ future.
“My mom told me ‘I didn’t ever imagine that your generation would have less rights than I did,’ and I said ‘that makes me terrified for my girls’ generation,” said Sweetin.
Adam Rossier, another protester, said it was important to attend protests, as it expresses people’s opinions clearly on issues prevalent in today’s world.
“People here are calling clearly women’s rights, trans rights, equal rights,” said Rossier. “It’s none of your f—– business rights. What I want to do with, whomever I want to do it with, if it’s not hurting the general public, then who God damn cares.”
Rossier, who has a daughter, said she was the reason he showed up to the march.
“I don’t want anybody to ever f—– tell her what she can and can’t do with her life and her body,” said Rossier. “It’s my prerogative to try to do everything I can to protect her, to protect my girl and if she wants to live her life, I’m going to support it, period.”
Ramos also took her opportunity as a speaker to speak on the recent budget cuts to CSU schools that threaten to impact students and faculty.
“Our students are so amazing and when I see less given to those who have less, it’s like what an injustice,” said Ramos. “Our funding system is looking at using seven billion in reserves for hedge fund investing, meanwhile they’re saying they have no money.”
Marchevsky echoed her concerns in a speech of her own, calling out state leadership.
“The CSU system educates the largest number of first generation, women of color, queer, trans and non-binary students, Black students, immigrant students, students with disabilities and students from poor and working class communities, yet California’s liberal leadership has been gutting state funding from our public universities,” she said.
