Thousands Gather For Austin 'Women's March 2018'

AUSTIN, TX — About 10,000 people descended on the state Capitol grounds Saturday for the "Women's March," one of more than 250 such gatherings across the U.S.

The first women's march last year was a grass-roots outgrowth of frustration in the political process after the election to the presidency of Donald Trump, who many view as antagonistic to women's issues. A year into Trump's presidency, this year's march was more nuanced and multifaceted — focused on women's issues at its core, but also to those related to immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community and the environment.

The growing number of issues hanging in the balance under the Trump administration was illustrated in the breadth of protest on Saturday. Before the women's march, a rally at City Hall called for Trump's impeachment before the day culminated with another rally in support of the landmark Roe v. Wade case that safeguards a woman's right to an abortion.

Above: A rally at City Hall calling for the impeachment of Donald Trump preceded the women's march

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Last year's women's march lured at least 40,000 protesters to the Capitol, with some subsequent estimates putting that total at closer to 50,000. But what this year's march lacked in sheer numbers, it made up for in energy, enthusiasm and the occasional touch of dramatic choreography.

This is what last year's march in Austin looked like, as recorded by spectators recording the footage posted on the Progress Texas Facebook page:

The latter dramatic flourish to this year's version was exemplified by a group of women dressed like the handmaids described in the pages of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel "The Handmaid's Tale," which has since been adapted for television. The plot details a dystopian future following a second American Civil War where women in a totalitarian society are forced into sexual and child-bearing servitude.

The reasonable facsimilies in Austin led the march, leaving a sizable gap between them and the rest of the march participants. The tone was solemn as they passed, easily leading an observer to conclude this would be a march devoid of the chanting and drumbeats usually associated with such gatherings. The Austin handmaids at the front of the procession walked with deliberate slowness, their faces cast downward as if in silent protest while cutting a striking image.

But once they passed, those thinking this might be a silent protest were quickly disabused of the notion. Wave after wave of humanity would meander the downtown streets, each grouping with their own chants piercing through the air in staccato fashion.

"Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!" the first block of marchers chanted. "Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!" a subsequent one would cry. "Lock him up!" another section would cheer, mimicking Trump's own rallying cry to supporters while on the stump as he called for the jailing of his political rival, Hillary Clinton, over perceived wrongdoings on her part.

Naturally, marchers carried signs. At this year's march, their placards represented the breadth of grievances and social focus: "Women's Rights Are Human Rights." "Make Your Voice Heard." "Impeach Trump." "Resist." "No Wall." "I'm With Her." "Stop Regulating My Body." "Will Trade Trump For Refugees." "Black Lives Matter." “Time’s Up.”

One woman identifying herself solely as "Marz" devised a tall, Lincoln-style hat fashioned from paperboard, yielding a hands-free makeshift placard and one on which she could list the various causes she holds dear on a single vessel.

"I only have one head, but we all have to wear a lot of hats, right?" she said. "So if it means getting out and driving your neighbors to the polling stations; if it means walking your neighborhoods and getting people to sign up to vote, telling them where they can sign up to vote, where the polling places are; writing your legislators; showing up for meetings and rallies like this today. We all have to wear many hats, beause there are many problems. And we're all in it together."

As the march picked up steam, it got rowdier. Some motorists stuck in traffic amid blocked-off streets to accommodate marchers got into the act, honking their horns in support. At each honking and thumbs up gestures from one stuck driver and his passenger, the crowd responded with loud cheers.

Once arriving at the Capitol, the masses gathered to listen to speakers.

“This year, it’s more important than ever to bring back the Women’s March because of who we have in office,” organizer Andrea Hughes told the crowd. "So that people have that outlet and they have that moment to come together, connect and find strength in each other’s stories.”

State Rep. Donna Howard, a Democrat from Austin, aimed her sights on the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature. She ticked off a list of laws crafted by GOP lawmakers with theological underpinnings that have made it difficult for women's reproductive rights: Controls on abortion, funding cuts to women's clinics such as Planned Parenthood, a law requiring women undergoing abortions to bury or cremate fetal remains she and others suggest is nothing more than a shaming exercise, a required extra health insurance premium for women wanting abortion coverage, to name a few.

In the wake of such draconian measures, Texas has achieved the dubious distinction of having the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world let alone that in any other U.S. state. According to vital statistics records, Texas’ maternal mortality rate – defined as deaths per 100,000 live births – has jumped 87 percent, from 18.3 from 2006 to 2010, to 34.2 for 2011 to 2015.

Howard and other reproductive health advocates blame the increases on Republican-led budget cuts that have decimated the reproductive healthcare clinic landscape for the mounting maternal mortality rate.

"As a mother and grandmother, I can tell you I won’t go back to a time when over a million women resorted to unsafe, illegal abortions with as many as 5,000 women dying every year,” Howard said. “As a former registered nurse, I can tell you that none of this anti-abortion legislation makes any sense from a health perspective.”

She called for safeguarding women's reproductive rights: "Just as [retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice] Sandra Day O'Connor expresses the same when she said 'the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.' "

She decried the Republican majority that's long controlled the Legislature : "There are unfortunately a majority of lawmakers here at the Capitol who don't share our perspective. And they come back session after session after session and try to strip away those rights, pandering to a very vocal minority of primary election voters. These legislators appear to have no respect for women and certainly no respect for facts."

Howard ended her remarks by urging those gathered to continue raising their voices in opposition: "Stand strong! Fight for your rights! Because we're not going back! We're not going back!"

Former state Sen. Wendy Davis delivered a 17-minute speech that rallied the crowd. Davis is perhaps most famous for her 11-hour filibuster in June 2013 to block Senate Bill 5, a measure that sought to impose more restrictive abortion regulations for Texas. The filibuster garnered the Democrat national acclaim that led to an ultimately unsuccessful run for governor won by Republican Greg Abbott in a deeply red state.

"So it's been a year, a long, damn year," she said. "Yesterday, of course, was the anniversary of that year, but today is the anniversary of the largest gathering of protests across these United States," she added to cheers from the crowd. "It was a protest where just like today, the women and the men who loves us came together in a shared community of powerful resistance. Our signs declared our love for each other, our intention to resist and persist and our disgust for an electoral system that had elected a known misogynist — and that's the nicest way I can say it — to office."

She reflected on what could have been: "It was a time when we believed actually that we were going to be coming together for the election of the first woman president in our history. And we thought that we would be celebrating all that that would mean for realizing our full and equal opportunity for every woman who would follow her. But then we found ourselves grappling with the realization that instead we would be fighting just to hold on to decades-long, hard-fought gains."

Davis mused about building on the momentum started a year ago with the first women's march: "Many people wondered out loud after the phenomenal women's march a year ago whether it would be more than just a singles day's protest. Would it be more than just a day where we spoke up, where we cried out, where we hugged each other and, in many instances, literally cried? What would follow? And how would we possibly capture that enthusiasm in a way that would create a cohesive movement going forward?"

The secret to building on that momentum lies in the wrath of the "mama bear," Davis explained.

"Well, as someone I know and respect who was once actually a Republican lawmaker in this building back when we had Republican lawmakers who were willing to work across the aisle, Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff. He once said that change happens when mama bear gets made. Well, guess what? She's mad. And she has turned that anger as only a mama bear can do into a force for change."

She ended with advice to those gathered: “In the coming days and weeks and months and years, wrap yourself in the pride of what it means to be a doer in the world, not just a complainer,” Davis told the gathering. “Whether it's writing to your congressperson or calling or sitting in their office; whether it's protesting in the streets; speaking out at town halls; voting a few bastards out of office," she said to loud cheers. "Or even running for office yourself. Remember that no action, no matter how big or small, is without impact."

Above: Wendy Davis addresses the crowd

Given her star power as a darling among reproductive rights advocates, Davis served as the final speaker of the day. As the crowd began to disperse and people headed back home, the range of humanity became more clear in the sum of their parts than in their monolithic marching form — from college-age young women just starting out in life to seniors in their golden years, many accompanied by male allies. Some participants were still in strollers, probably not fully grasping the issues at hand but taking it all in with rapt attention while dressed for the part.

>>> Photos by Tony Cantú

Editor's note: Reference to crowd size has been modified following more official reference issued by mayor's office.