Women's March 2017: 10,000 Connecticut Residents Rally to Promote Protection of Rights for All

HARTFORD, CT — The day after the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, 10,000 women and their allies gathered at the State Capitol in Hartford with a message of equal rights and a vow to oppose anyone who may threaten those rights.

Other marches were held throughout the state and across the country. Several busloads of women made the trek from Connecticut to Washington, D.C. to participate in the nation’s march, which drew hundreds of thousands of people.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy fired up those in attendance in Hartford saying, “We need to embrace and love one another.” He said we need to love everyone equally no matter their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

“That’s what we do,” Malloy said. “It’s our obligation to love one another.”

He said some states may take people’s rights away, but never in Connecticut. He said people need to express their outrage for any discussion involving defunding Planned Parenthood, limiting reproduction rights of women, and for those who deny climate change. Malloy’s remarks were met with thunderous applause by those in attendance.

The marches across the country had one visual element in common, a sea of pink hats, part of the "Pink Hat Project." which began as a challenge to knit, crochet and sew thousands of pink hats to keep everyone's ears warm and make a statement at the same time. The statement the hats are making is in reference to comments made by Trump on a hot mic, bragging about grabbing women without their consent.

Click here for updates from the Women's March on Washington.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Saturday that, “What is happening today is extraordinary. And it's not going away.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, “I'm joining my family, thousands from Connecticut and many more from across the United States to stand and march together for values critical to nation's future.

He added that he marched, “Because America's diversity makes us stronger. Because civil rights face unprecedented threats. Because civil rights, equal justice under law, women's health care and economic opportunity for all are true American values.”

Liz Vitale, of West Hartford, told the Connecticut Mirror she attended the march largely as a protest to Trump. She added that Trump can’t be allowed to divide the country.

“This presidential candidate – because he will never be my president – is an abomination,” Margaux Hayes, of Hartford told the Connecticut Mirror.

Sister marches are taking place in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Wisconsin, Austin, Chicago, Minnesota, San Diego, New Jersey, the San Francisco bay area and in numerous locales across the country.

In New York City, more than 76,000 people registered for the march taking place in the president's home city.

In Boston, demonstrators gathered on the Boston Common for a one mile march. Boston resident Mitchell Tunic told Boston Patch he hasn't seen anything like this since the Vietnam war protest.

In Chicago, where the march drew the second biggest attendance, police informed marchers that the march had been changed to a rally due to the size of the crowd.

Chicago is by no means the only city with a sizable turnout. Below are just some scenes from marches across the country.

Denver
Boston
St. Louis
New York City
San Jose

In Cleveland, marchers turned out from all over northeast Ohio on the city's public square.
"We want to send a message. We are anti-Trump. We are pro-women," Judy Coleman and Jan Kinson, two of the marchers, told Cleveland Patch.

And not far from the main march in D.C., marchers gathered in Baltimore near the Johns Hopkins University campus.

"Things that a lot of us hold very dear are threatened right now," Ellie Mitchell told Baltimore Patch, listing health care, civil rights, the environment, reproductive health rights and policies around violence against women as areas of concern.

"...the list is pretty endless, and it's real; it's not like these are theoretical things," Mitchell said. "The changes are already being made with the stroke of a pen, and it's very disconcerting."

The marches follow a day of demonstrations shortly after the inauguration that at times turned violent. In the nation's capital, windows were smashed, a limo was set on fire, six officers were injured and over 200 people were arrested.

In Seattle, on the University of Washington campus, a man was shot in the abdomen at a protest aiming to delay a sold-out event featuring Milo Yiannopoulos, the editor of the controversial right-wing news site Breitbart. An anti-Trump protest from earlier in the day merged with Yiannopoulos protest.

Written by Brian McCready and contributions from numerous Patch Staff across the country.

Photo credit: Hartford Deputy Chief Brian J. Foley, Twitter