*

nthe face of a devastating election and the worldwide

ripe of neo-facoism and alt-right movements, something
imorediole happened over the weekend: A global show
of solidarity, or something like it. All that frustration,
fear, and hopeless tne@cs, Pours out ina lowed ared
jubilant protest thet overshadowed Friday's presidential
inauguration, It wee far from perfeot, but oy God, wes it
ever gomething, and Vanoouver showed wp for the party.

In faot, Wencouver showed wp for the party ina major
wey.
Saturday Morning

| first heard about Vancouver's “Vomen’s March on
Weohington” from my sister, who saw the invite on
Facebook. When | perused the Facebook event myself,
laew thet there were 3,000 confirmed attendees, and
2000 who were interested,

Varcouver promptly blew these figures out of the water.

twee imposible to really comprehend the size of

the orowd in and sround Jack Poole Plaze Seturday
morning. I'd arrived early with my sister to meet up

with repregentatives from the LATSE Union for film and
television production, so we were directly in the middle
of all of the hulobub, surrounded by a cee of pink hate
and protest signe. The last time I'd geen anything like
thic wae in February 2003, when Vanoouver marched with
the reat of the woeld to protest the war im Iraq. | was eight

 

 

yeers old when | took part in that partioular protect, with
alimited gragp on exectly what it wee | was marching for.
Saturday, | lone why | wee there.

The night of Donald Trump's election, | reorived
mesceges from several friends of mine living in the
stetes—triends who were largely women, many of
whom were queer like me, mentally ill like me, and the
most common thing | heed from teem thet night was
how alone they felt. How they felt like they were going
insane, losing their country to an ideology that supports
xenophobia, mimogyny, homophobia, and straight-up
reciom.All | could do thet night te comfort them was to
aggure them thet they weren't alone, end thet the world
wee wetching—theat eo many of ue were on their side.
Saturday, | felt | vee largely marching for them.

The soeskers before the march made a point of placing
the prominent issues facing Canadian women at the
forefront: epecifically, the troubles faced by indigenowe
women in Canads. it was a sobering reminder that
Canadians are mot eo far removed from our American
neighbours. There is a tendency, | think, for thoee of ue
lucky enough te live north of the border to feel a kind
of superiority when looking at the troubling events
oocurring im the United States. The cosskers reminded
the protestors that we weren't just marching against
Tremp, but forthe bettering of the lives of women and
oporecosd people worldwide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

— E-

a

Cr

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’ i = =e

a — ?

“Ny Bo
\

 

 

 

 

Lc!

Finally, the march began.

ft begen slowly, meyoe a litth: wnoertainly—l don't
think anyone wee anticipating the sheer volume of
attendees crowding the otreeeta, with 4 amall marching
band guiding the fow of protestors near the front of the
onowd, and 4 line of ind iQenous drummers somewhere
cloeer to the beck. Vencouverites mot participating

in the merch seemed largely supportive. Soeotstors
wetohed the marah from cidewalke and cote shops, or
weved down from apartment buildings as we made our
wey to Georgia street, then down towards our target
destination: Trump Tower.

Security at the tower, ungurprisingly, was dialled up

to face off againet the throng of peacetul protestors
Pacing by. Construction workers on-site took gelfies
with the crowd ag merahers booed at the sight of the
building, raicing fists aed signe and voices to denounce
everything the tower gtends for, and the man whose
mame ig apelt in enormous chrome letters aoroge the

front.

The march oondluded where it began, back at the plaza,
where music and empowering speeches awaited the
protestors. | remember fesling intensely eeticofed as |
looked at the crowd around me, and as | sorolled thraugh
Twitter on my phone seeing pictures from protests
sround the world, and | thought: "Here, we've dons
something thet can't poosibly be ignored.”

=L

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