ASHEVILLE — The route is different, but the message is the same.

The Women's March on Asheville is expected to draw thousands of people downtown Sunday morning in a show of solidarity — united around principles that have remained largely unaltered since the first march two years ago.

"I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done still," said Lori Horvitz, a co-organizer of the Asheville march. "We have a lot of inequality with the rights of women, people of color, immigrants and people with disabilities."

Horvitz and lead organizer Marie-Line Germain said that message is still resonating with Asheville residents, citing the Facebook event page in which about 13,000 people have expressed interest. Both past marches have drawn thousands of people into town.

"Evidently the enthusiasm for marching hasn't died down," Germain said. "If anything, it has increased."

Starting at Pack Square

The route of Sunday's march will be different than last year, beginning at Pack Square rather than Memorial Stadium and ending at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Roads along the half-mile route will be closed while the majority of marchers are using them.

City spokeswoman Polly McDaniel said march organizers secured all needed permits and that officials are prepared for what could be a large crowd.

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and State Sen. Terry Van Duyn, a Democrat representing Buncombe County, will kick off the march shortly after 11 a.m. in Pack Square.

Marchers will walk from North Pack Square to Market Street to College Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and into the park, where additional speakers will address the crowd.

Movement in controversy

Since the last march the national Women's March has seen its share of controversy. The organization has been accused of anti-Semitism after co-organizer Tamika Mallory — who will be speaking at UNC Asheville on Thursday — was linked to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Mallory attended an event at which Farrakhan disparaged Jews.

Germain and Horvitz, who is Jewish, said that they don't believe that those concerns should hurt attendance here Sunday because the Women's March on Asheville is an entirely separate organization. Concerns of low attendance at the march in Washington because of controversy have been widely publicized.

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"A lot of people in the Jewish community are upset about Tamika Mallory coming to UNCA," said Horvitz, who teaches English at the University. "I certainly hope they can embrace our movement because it has nothing to do with her."

The Women's March on Asheville is expected to be finished by 1:30 p.m. Sunday.