AKRON, Ohio - Several hundred people participated Saturday in Akron's first Women's March despite freezing temperatures and flurries.

Women and men carried signs, many promoting Planned Parenthood, which has lost funding under President Donald Trump's administration. Many marchers also donned the signature pink hats worn during the 2017 Women's March on Washington, when more than 4 million people protested for women's rights.

The Akron march was one of many planned across the country to spark social change on a range of women's issues, including reproductive, LGBQT and workers' rights, and violence against women.

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The marchers gathered at the John F. Seiberling Federal Building on Main Street, where speakers included Darrita Davis, community outreach co-director for Akron's Way Of Mind and Body (W.O.M.B.); Traci Vaughn, field manager at Planned Parenthood; Andrea Gail Fahey, founder of the Spectrum Diversity Community Center and Beth Vild, director of programming at the Big Love Network.

The march began at noon and moved east to the Sojourner Truth Building on High Street, with police closing portions of roadway. As they walked, demonstrators chanted "we need a leader, not a creepy tweeter" and "this is what democracy looks like."

The march began at noon and moved east to the Sojourner Truth Building on High Street, with police closing portions of roadway. As they walked, demonstrators chanted "we need a leader, not a creepy tweeter" and "this is what democracy looks like."

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Many messages

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Nancy Rhodes carried a handmade sign.

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#womenswave

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Lindsey Jo Scott braved the cold to display a handmade sign with a popular hash tag #womenswave.

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Democratic Socialists of America

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Stephanie Baker and Christian Marinos of the Akron Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America demonstrated on behalf of women and the homeless, they said. The group is looking for volunteers to help safely escort women to and from Planned Parenthood facilities.

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Support for Planned Parenthood

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Tanya Green said she has supported Planned Parenthood since she was in college. "Only 3 percent of their total budget goes for abortion," she said. "It goes for mammograms, pap smears and other services, and we need to protect that for women in every community."

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Many causes

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Skylark Bruce and Ryan Glenn Nkanginieme Paumier came to Akron from Canton to demonstrate for several women's causes.

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Falls activist

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Kathy Arthur serves as president of the Cuyahoga Falls Democratic Club and is a member of the Summit County Progressive Democrats and the Crooked River Action Group.

"I want my country back," she said. "I want women to have their place. We are the country, we are what makes the world go round. Women do everything better."

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Shared issues

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(l-r) Sharon Archer, Paulette Wolfe and Barb Kaplan said they had many reasons for attending the march, but ending the partial government shutdown is currently at the top of the list.

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Government shutdown

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Several attendees said the government shutdown was a top issue. Erin Bethea said she supports the women's issues the Women's March was originally created to support, but the partial government shutdown is more pressing.

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Ceilings and walls

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SueAnn Osterman and Jan Hyne said they couldn't sit home with all the issues facing the country. "I didn't care if there were 10 people here, I had to be part of this resistance," Hyne said.

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Handmade hats

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Former University of Akron classmates Emily Fox and Miranda Haas wore pink hats that Fox knitted for the event. They said they came to the march to listen to others' ideas and to be around like-minded people, which generates positive energy.

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The march

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The march moved east to the Sojourner Truth Building on High Street, while police cleared the way by closing portions of roadway.

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"Ain't I a Woman"

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On the steps of the Sojourner Truth Building, Akron City Councilwoman Tara Samples, Ward 5, read "Ain't I a Woman," the speech that abolitionist Sojourner Truth delivered on that site in 1851.

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Summit Artspace

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The march ended at Summit Art Space, where female-led panel discussions and workshops were held, along with poetry readings and live music by Akron's Angie Haze Project.