Palm Springs, SoCal rallies planned for Women's March anniversary

This weekend, various anniversary events will take place commemorating and continuing the conversation that the 2017 Women’s Marches across the globe began.

While last year’s march had a “Hear our Voices” slogan, this year’s catchphrase is “Hear our Vote.”

“I think in general it is about trying to get women involved in politics,” said Connie Faipeas, who is co-organizing a bus trip from Palm Springs to the Los Angeles march on Saturday. “Our biggest opportunity is to flip the house. California is a place where that can happen.”

A group of buses will be leaving from Palm Springs to head to the Los Angeles march at 7 a.m. Saturday. There are only a handful of seats left, so organizers are asking people to register in advance. The Los Angeles Women’s March, organized by the Women’s March LA Foundation, kicks off at 8:30 a.m. in Pershing Square with speakers such as Scarlett Johansson, Chloe Bennet, Laverne Cox, Sophia Bush and Rowan Blanchard, among others. The march will follow at 10 a.m., heading to Grand Park where events will continue until 3 p.m., including performances from Rachel Platten and Idina Menzel, among others.

Last year’s march through Palm Desert drew about 1,000 participants while the Los Angeles march saw near 750,000 people flock to the streets. Both are predicting a greater turnout this year.

Julia Rossen, Women’s March LA spokeswoman, said last year 70,000 people registered to march but 750,000 showed up. This year, 200,000 people have already registered to march in LA.

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While some critics say the march has lost its focus as an inclusive women’s rights movement and shouldn’t be touted as a “women’s” march since a slew of political issues are slated to be addressed, others say the events are still needed and can still be effective.

“There’s that whole ‘what good does a march do’ idea, but I think we have seen a year later it has inspired women to run for office and get in politics more than before,” Faipeas said.

Adree Rojas, who is co-organizing the buses to LA with Faipeas, said women need to be in government because things like women’s healthcare and daycare won’t make it into the national psyche unless women are seated there.

Others say the power of the movement comes from the fact that a variety of political activist groups are involved, sending a message of unity.

“Our unifying theme though in all of this in 2018 is ‘Power to the Polls,’” Rossen said.

Rossen said following last year’s march she saw a “huge surge in activism.” She said the point was to make women feel empowered enough to become an activist for whatever issue they are passionate about and to be politically active. And Senator Barbara Boxer has previously said she doesn’t care who or what people vote for, as long as they vote.

Palm Springs City Councilwoman Lisa Middleton said anecdotally she has also watched more women get involved in politics. Locally in Palm Springs, the number of women on city council doubled.

But nationally, the number of women in elected office has stayed stagnant over the past few years, and the number of women in California state legislature even dropped from a high of about 31 percent in 2006 to about 22 percent in 2018, according to a study by the Center for American Women and Politics in the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Regardless of what local and national political office it is, women still only hold about 20 to 25 percent of the seats.

Middleton said it takes time for new candidates to power up their campaign, but that is exactly what many women have been doing over the past year. She said as people continue to what the political horizon they will see more women on the ballot.

“When I go to various events where people are thinking about running for office, I am encountering incredibly strong and talented women that will make their voices known in this country for decades to come,” Middleton said.

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But while the march is still focused on empowering women, Middleton said she feels it is fair to focus on issues across the political spectrum, including the environment and immigration, as she hopes the movement will encourage people to cast a vote during the mid-term elections that will unseat Republicans who are vying for “immigration policies that are harmful to families,” and that have “declared intentions to open up federal waters off the coast of California, Oregon, Washington and most of the east coast to further oil drilling.” She said on the anniversary of President Donald Trump taking office, it is fair to assess the actions he has taken over the past year.

And Lindsey Kanaly, March On organizer and board member, said as long as women are marching and leading the way, it is still appropriate to call it the “Women’s March.”

“(But) we need to elect progressives to bring about the change that we march for,” Kanaly said. “So volunteer in your community, run for office, volunteer for a campaign, whatever it is, just do something. Don’t show up for a march, take a picture and then leave, have a game plan and listen to what the speakers are telling you, find organizations in your local area and support them. Marching is easy, it’s after the march where the real work begins.”

Other critics say that while marketed as an inclusive movement, conservative women often feel alienated from participating.

Kanaly said she knows women are not a monolith, nor do they all think alike. She said the march is not intended to exclude anyone and she hopes that participants can find common ground that connects them as opposed to what separates them.

“One area though this year that has truly unified women across the spectrum is the emergence of the ‘Me Too’ movement,” Middleton said. “So many women have paid the price across the political spectrum of sexual harassment. The harasser rarely care about politics when he is harassing. I am hoping we can use issues such as that to bridge disagreements on other issues, because if you look behind the scenes to women who sit on the senate, they are the ones that know how to sit in conference rooms and get things done even if they don’t march down Main Street together.”

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In Palm Springs on Saturday, retired senator Barbara Boxer’s PAC for a Change is organizing a march that will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Frances Stevens Park. The rally will feature speakers including Boxer, State Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, Supervisor Manuel Perez, and Congressman Raul Ruiz. Middleton will moderate.

A slew of other events will be taking place throughout southern California as well with marches planned in San Diego, San Marcos, Idyllwild, Hemet, Riverside, Santa Ana, Redondo Beach, Burbank, Seaside, and Huntington Beach, among others. Information on all marches and rallies can be found at www.womensmarch.com and www.wearemarchon.org. For more information about registering to take a bus to Los Angeles, call Connie Faipeas at (907) 440-1487.

Regardless of which rally you participate in, officials say to bring water, bring snacks, make sure signs are compliant with city rules and budget a lot of travel time as roads will be congested.

Did we miss any events? Email Nicole.Hayden@desertsun.com and we will update the story with other local anniversary marches or rallies.

Desert Sun reporter Nicole Hayden covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at Nicole.Hayden@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4623. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleandpig.