HOUSTON – More than 20,000 people walked through downtown Houston on Saturday, one of the hundreds of Women’s Marches taking place across the country.
The Houston march started at Jamail Skate Park off Sabine Street and marchers eventually made their way to City Hall. They chanted and carried signs that read “Love is Love,” “I won’t sit down, shut up or behave,” “Silence=Violence,” “Keep your hands off my rights!” and “Don’t tweet me bro.”
Saturday’s Women’s Marches came the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, with marchers trying to raise awareness for women’s rights and other civil rights they fear could be in jeopardy with Trump’s administration. “The way he spoke about women, it made me sick,” Felix Cisneros said.
“I march because I have a daughter because, because I’m a female and because I’m a physician,” said Regina Troxwell, who brought her baby girl to the march.
Houston police officers lined the streets to make sure the march remained peaceful. Chief Art Acevedo addressed the crowd outside City Hall, saying it was the largest gathering the city has ever seen.
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— Samantha Ptashkin (@SamPtashkin) January 21, 2017
Mayor Sylvester Turner also spoke before the crowd, praising Houston for being such a diverse city.
Participants also voiced their concerns about the possibility of limited access to birth control, health care and transgender rights. However, they also talked about the importance of embracing one another and expressed hope for the future.
“I really would like for our country to unite and work together,” Sabrina Guillory said.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee released the following statement in solidarity and support of the millions of participants in Women’s Marches taking place in Houston, Austin, Dallas and other cities in Texas, across the nation and around the world:
"I salute the millions of Americans who joined in today’s marches and rallies and responded to yesterday’s divisive and dark inaugural address by our new President with a message of hope, determination, unity, tolerance, inclusiveness, and diversity. ‘Women’s rights are human rights’ is the message of today marches, which resonates not just within the United States, but around the world. We appreciate the women in cities globally who participated in Marches in solidarity with American women.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to serve the interest of Americans by protecting hard won gains like the Affordable Care Act; civil rights and liberties, voting, women’s reproductive health and autonomy, and environmental protection.
”I commend the organizers of today’s marches and look forward to working with the Houston area March organizers as well as the national organizers of the many marches around the nation to ensure that women’s rights are treated as human rights in federal government policy and the laws that the 115th Congress considers."