Tens of thousands of women, a sea of pink hats and glittered signs pulsing with resolve and determination, spilled into downtown Denver on Saturday, a massive outpouring for “human rights and equality” the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The women arrived from all directions to gather at Civic Center, so many that thousands stood chanting and cheering in the park more than an hour after the 1.3-mile march began, waiting their turn to walk the packed route. Organizers estimated the crowd was at least 100,000, enough to fill the park and the entire length of the route for at least two hours and more than twice as many as the 40,000 that were expected to attend.
“Fight like a girl!” and “Love, not hate, makes America great,” they chanted, waving homemade signs above their heads. “What do we want? Equal pay! When do we want it? Yesterday!” One group danced down the street while singing, “Nasty women, we got the spirit! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.”
The vibe was solidarity and warmth, with shouts of “Hug a stranger!”, mothers passing out homemade sandwiches to their children sitting on coats on the soggy grass, and women showing each other their homemade signs. Clotheslines strung near the southeast edge of the park held paper tags bearing the handwritten hopes and dreams of rally participants.
Signs ranged from in-your-face direct, including “No Rape Culture,” “We need a president, not a Putin puppet” and a “Never again” with a drawing of a coat hanger, to the more lighthearted “Hug a reporter” and “Winter is Coming.”
“I’m with her,” was among the popular signs, but accompanied with various photos, including Earth, Meryl Streep and the Statue of Liberty. “I’m too worried to be funny,” said one woman’s pastel sign.
The Denver rally was one of hundreds of women’s marches taking place worldwide. Massive numbers of people filled the National Mall in Washington, the Boston Common, Grant Park in Chicago and Pershing Square in Los Angeles. Smaller marches were held in Aspen, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Steamboat Springs.
“It’s so empowering. It’s love,” said Camille Estacio, a 21-year-old Metropolitan State University student studying special education. “This makes me proud to be an American. It’s hard to have a lot of hope but this makes me proud.”
Jessica Goldberg, who got on a bus at 5:30 a.m. in Longmont, wore a double breast pump over her shirt, a “visible, physical symbol” of how the Affordable Care Act helped her, she said. The mother of an infant and a 3-year-old, she received the pump free in the mail thanks to the insurance coverage she has through Obamacare, which Trump has vowed to repeal.
The thousands of women, and some men, were diverse in age, ranging from babies in wagons and strollers, elementary school girls waving “tiny feminist” signs, to middle-age women and grandmothers. An elderly woman in a wheelchair held a sign that said “Now you’ve made Nanna mad.”
Among the oldest marchers was 81-year-old Rebecca Montoya, whose red, Trump-like baseball cap said “America Fooled Again.” Montoya, from Littleton, marched in the 1960s and 1970s against police brutality and for civil rights, two of her four daughters tagging along as children. She marched with an adult daughter Saturday, carrying a sign that said “Hands off my Medicare.”
“I’m fearful of this administration, of a lot of rights being taken away that we have fought for,” she said. “I want the young people to understand what has come before them.”
Montoya was confident that Trump was paying attention to the marches in some 200 cities across the nation. “It’s the people who actually have the power, if they will use it,” she said. “He’s the figure of power, but he has no power without the will of the people.”
Others echoed her sentiment, that even though the electorate chose Trump, Americans should speak up for reproductive rights, health care, immigrants and the LGBTQ community. “53 percent of white women voted for this, 100 percent should fight it,” one sign said.
“There needs to be a resistance because he accepts no accountability for the things he said to damage our country,” said Denver resident Julie Puma, who painted her face with peace signs and the words “Not My President.” “He has promoted hate, sexual assault and a rape culture.”
Kate Cohn, 23, came from Colorado Springs because “history repeats itself” when citizens don’t fight back and “if we don’t stay on top of it, we fall under a Hitler-like regime.”
“There are a lot more of us then there are of them and when we raise our voices, people will have to listen,” she said.
Cohn, in a ponytail and a purple bandanna, stood on a concrete fence in the center of the park cheering. “There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise,” said her sign, decorated with peace signs and female symbols.
Supporters lined the march route, cheering at the swath of people that took up the whole street and parts of the sidewalks. Denver police arrested three people during the march — all men — for separate incidents, including an alleged assault on a police officer and possession of an illegal knife, police spokesman John White said.
Cheering from the sidewalk were Jorin Peed, 11, and Sydney Lotz, 10, whose mothers made the trek from Steamboat Springs so the fifth-graders could see the march.
“We didn’t feel like we had a choice,” said Molly Lotz, explaining why they traveled four hours for the Denver march instead of attending the smaller version in Steamboat. “We wanted to show our daughters the full impact.”
Sydney, who hopes to become a doctor, held a rainbow-colored sign that said “equal pay for all.”
“In the business world, men usually get more money than women,” she said.
The camaraderie of the chilly, sunny morning left Broomfield High School junior Avery Sandstrum glowing. “I’ve been smiling since I got off the bus,” she said. “It’s just an atmosphere of support in a time when there is so much reason to fear.” At the march, though, there was “so much reason to smile and to love,” she said.
Grace Morlock, 69, who took a standing-room-only bus from Longmont to participate in her first-ever political rally, made pink, cat-eared “pussyhats” for herself and three friends. The hats were the most popular accessory among the demonstrators.
“It’s just time to do something,” said Carol Vaughan, who came from Aurora. “It’s time to get our heads out of the sand and realize we can make a difference. I have no idea what I can do, but I’m going to do it.”
Staff writer Hayley Sanchez and photographer Andy Cross contributed to this report.