Women resist on Queen Street

It’s clear Donald Trump’s presidency won’t be dull or uneventful.

A group of approximately 40 people, mostly women, gathered outside the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse at noon Saturday for a 90 minute protest against the newly sworn-in U.S. president. 

Thousands are gathering for large protests around the world on this, Trump’s first full day in office.

Many feel Trump’s presidency is a threat to women’s issues, which include abortion and wage equality.  

Saturday’s local protest, which included some Sault, Michigan women, did not consist of any particular, organized group, said participant Allyson Schmidt.

“We’re not under any official banner, other than the banner of caring about women’s issues…I put this together (through Facebook) to stand in solidarity with the women who are marching in Washington, Toronto, Seattle, Portland, New York, all over the States and Europe,” Schmidt told SooToday.  

Sault women at the Courthouse Saturday carried signs reading ‘I stand with Indigenous Women, Trans Women, and Men,’ ‘Sex Work is Work,’ ‘Our Minds, Our Bodies, Our Power’, ‘Womens’ Rights equals Human Rights’ and ‘Women Belong in the Resistance.’

“The march in Washington (and Saturday’s local gathering) is to show solidarity for women of colour and people who are going to be facing a lot of hardship under the presidency of Trump,” Schmidt said.

“This promotes solidarity, empowerment and a sense of community among women, it gives us an opportunity to discuss issues together, especially if we’re looking at solidarity with people of colour, indigenous women, and we need to understand and share those stories,” said Jessica Bolduc.     

Despite controversy, sexist and otherwise, which Trump generated before and during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, many American women voted for him out of distrust of Hillary Clinton, also supporting his stated intention to rip up free trade deals, restore manufacturing jobs to the U.S., and to keep a more watchful eye on immigration.

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