Thousands of people gathered at Iowa’s state capital Saturday afternoon for a Sister March, one of some 675 marches worldwide held in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington.
Organizers said the march is not a protest but a call for change.
“For me, it started because I felt a little hopeless following all the terrible rhetoric as part of the election,” Des Moines Women’s March organizer Kyrstin Shelley said.
Part of the 2016 general election rhetoric included references to President Donald Trump’s record of referring to one woman or another at one time or another as a “pig,” “dog,” “slob” and “disgusting animal,” adding “and some, I assume, are good people.”
The formal agenda of the Women’s March includes solidarity with racial justice, economic justice and other movements. It also cites social issues such as police brutality and the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA community, along with gender equity, reproductive rights and equal pay for women.
