About 25 people gathered Saturday afternoon at the Big Bike in downtown Perry in order to show their support for American values and their opposition to the policies of President Donald Trump.
Attendees responded variously to the question, What brings you here?
“My country,” one person replied simply. “I took it for granted in my younger days, but now it is in question.”
Another person noted the apparent illegality of many of Trump’s actions in his first weeks in office, such as his freeze on federal spending.
“They’ve stopped the payments to farmers for doing ecological things,” the protester said. “I’m hoping it gets a lot of farmers really pissed after they did it and now they’re not getting paid for it.”
But Trump is no farmer harmer. He funneled a whopping $61 billion to farmers during his first term in order to protect them from China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports. A full 92% of the tariffs on Chinese goods paid by U.S. importers from 2018 to 2020 went toward farmers’ welfare. It paid off at the polls.
Another protester came to defend the rights of transgender and nonbinary people, whose relatively small numbers in the population make them a tempting target for robust bullies and haters.
“One of the things I came here today to represent is how important it is for us to honor the names and pronouns of trans people and to protect their rights,” the protester said. “One of the important things we know is that trans and nonbinary teens have a 50% higher suicide rate than other teens. Studies show that by honoring their names and pronouns, we decrease their suicide risk, and we actually save lives by doing that. It’s a simple thing. It hurts no one. For me it’s not political. It’s about respecting and loving people and helping them so they can live rich, full lives.”
Another person was motivated to endure the cold at the Big Bike out of concern for Trump’s attack on Christian charity as it is expressed through public policies.
“The symbolism alone of seeing the world’s richest man dismantling and destroying the U.S. agency for overseas aid is appalling,” the protester said. “Trump and Musk — these people’s morals are perverted. Ayn Rand and the Cato Institute have convinced them that their greed and brutality is good and commendable. They hate the gospel of Christ. To put it poetically, they are Antichrist.”
Organizers said they were pleased with the turn out at the first protest and will continue the gather every Saturday at noon until America regains its sanity.
