In a time when women’s voices have perhaps never been heard so clearly, tens of thousands of energized San Diegans marched on Saturday to unleash a collective roar: See you at the ballot box.

Galvanized by a historic series of events over the past year — from the #MeToo movement to the election of a Democratic senator in the fiercely red state of Alabama — crowds at Women’s Marches in downtown San Diego and San Marcos expressed determination to turn their anger and outrage into action.

Where the 2017 marches were a catch-all for myriad causes, this year participants united under the theme of “Hear Our Vote” and pledged to make the upcoming midterm elections a broad referendum for women’s rights and against President Donald Trump.

“Last year after the march, a friend said, ‘Now what do we do?’” said state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, one of several speakers to address the crowd at San Diego’s Waterfront Park.


“This is what we do. Each and every day it’s up to us to make our voices heard. We do not stop. We march forward.”

In a crowd that San Diego officials estimated at 37,000 — but pegged at over 100,000 by march organizers — Stephanie Spence, of Coronado, held a sign in the shape of a frame surrounding her face.

“This is what a voter looks like,” it said on the front. “Your voice is your superpower,” Spence wrote on the back.

The writer and businesswoman said she had escaped an abusive husband who even tried to control whom she voted for.


“He’d say, ‘Don’t cancel my vote,’ but I’d go into the voting booth and vote for whoever I wanted to anyway,” Spence said. “I was afraid. Now, though, I have reclaimed my voice and I am speaking for those who are afraid to speak their truth.”

1 / 53 Donia Smith, Tierrasanta: “I’m here because I’m really disappointed in your president. If he was ever to touch my parts, I think he should be out. I’m marching for all those people out there who are afraid to speak up. Human rights are women’s rights. Don’t forget that.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 53 Roaa Alkhawaja, Mira Mesa: “I’m here because females are the future.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 53 Jennifer Moreno, San Diego: “I’m here for our future.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 53 Jennifer Mosby: “I’m here for the women of the future. I’m here for my daughter, and my future granddaughters, and for the women of the past too, my grandmother and my mother.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 53 Ethan Kilgore, San Diego: “Because my mother raised me right.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 53 Kim Cary, La Mesa: “I’'m here to support women’s equal rights, equal pay for equal work.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 53 Debbie Boyd, Poway: “I believe in the constitution, I believe in America, and I’m a patriot, and Donald Trump is not a patriot.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 53 Izzah Kamran, Poway: “I’m here to fight and march for all the women who don’t have the power. To show support for them, and for me, being a Muslim woman, wearing the hijab and my scarf, walking around showing who I am, and who I am proud to be.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 53 Renee Haas, Oceanside: “Protest Trump.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 53 Steve Lack, Oceanside: “I’m here to stand for all the women in my life and all the women in this country.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 53 Mike Baldwin, Carmel Valley: “I’m here to tell everyone to get out and vote so your voice can be heard.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 53 Kitty Callaghan, Carmel Valley: “This is what democracy looks like.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 53 Heidi Nielsen, Spring Valley: “I have a 20-year-old daughter and this is a nightmare for her as well as myself.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 53 Phil Factor, Poway. “I’m here in support of the human race against Trump, and for all the world to live a better situation with peace and prosperity and humanity.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 15 / 53 Staci Joy, Little Italy: “I am here because we all are waking up. We are in the in the big renaissance of wake up. We need to fix things.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 16 / 53 Jack Treahy, Allied Gardens: “I lost my wife a few years ago and I have two beautiful daughters, that"s why I’m here. They don’t have a right to tell these women what they can and cannot do.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 17 / 53 Emily T. Griffiths: “It’s important not to become complacent, and being here reminds us that we are powerful and that we are all in this together.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 18 / 53 Andy Grubb, North Park: “I’m here because so much is going on, that we just have to keep showing up to let the administration know that we are paying attention.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 19 / 53 Cameron Tenyson, Sacramento: “I’m here because I know it pisses Donald Trump off.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 20 / 53 Ryan Maher, UC San Diego student: “For my mother. My mother went to the women"s march last year and I’d like to pay tribute to that type as much as I can.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 21 / 53 Cathryn Bolt, Del Mar: “I am here to send a message to the White House that I and the rest of the people here do not want a racist in the White House.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 22 / 53 Ilona Canestrelli, Carmel Valley: “I’m here because I’m a mother, and a daughter, and a biologist and I care about having a planet, and having it clean, and having it be a planet to live in that isn’t polluted.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 23 / 53 Mike Pope, San Diego: “I’m here to support.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 24 / 53 Martina Pappas, Mira Mesa: “Our president isn’t the right person to up there, to put it nicely. I believe in women’s rights. I believe that all people are human beings and they deserve to be treated as such.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 25 / 53 Stephanie Picado, San Diego: “I don’t want my 12-year-old niece to grow up feeling like a second-class citizen.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 26 / 53 Sarah Kadous, Poway: “As a young Muslim American female, I am all about intersectionality and I think this march represents girl power over the power of the patriarchy.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 27 / 53 Jo Simon, Rancho Penasquitos: “We can’t take the bigotry anymore.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 28 / 53 Judy Swain, La Jolla: “This isn’t the America I grew up in and was born into. We have to have a moral compass. We don’t have one. Leadership is corrupt, racist, misogynist, and things need to change.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 29 / 53 Najat Hachimi, Rancho Bernardo: “I am here to stand for peace, justice, and equality for all.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 30 / 53 Eleaor Musick, Cardiff-by-the-Sea: “I can’t image the world that’s going to be left to my grandchildren after Trump is done with it. I’m so disgusted with what he’s doing to the environment, to our national mental health, to our moral, and to all the people who make this country great.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 31 / 53 Dian Stewart, Encinitas: “Every single person on this planet came from a woman. We matter, women matter. It’s our turn, time’s up.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 32 / 53 Eric Hagen, San Diego: “I’m a social science teacher in high school, and I have students literally from all over the world. I just want to show my students that people in assemblies such as this are just one way that we can have our voices heard.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 33 / 53 Linda Perez, San Diego: " just want to say to all those men out there in power, anyone out there in power, it’s not the example of power, but the power of example.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 34 / 53 Ali Afshan, La Mesa: I’m here for the rights of the woman, the choice of the woman, and freedom for every ethnicity and every people.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 35 / 53 Claire Bergstresser, Poway: I’m here because the work is not done, so neither am I.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 36 / 53 Maya Carlin, Carmel Mountain Ranch: “I’m here today to support civil rights, equal rights for everyone, along with women’s rights and all human rights and to give the message of Lady Liberty too. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning for freedom.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 37 / 53 Stephen Mapolitano, San Diego: “I’m here today to march for equal rights and to show my support for all Americans regardless of your gender, sexuality, background or religion.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 38 / 53 Paul Coogan, San Diego: “I’m here to fight against xenophobia which is undermining our democracy.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 39 / 53 Joyce Canestrelli, Mira Mesa: “I’m here because my husband was an immigrant. I want to support all those dreamers. They deserve to be here.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 40 / 53 Melina Rabin, Carmel Valley: “I’m here to support women’s rights and fight for a better future for all women.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 41 / 53 Dina Dehaini, Scripps Ranch: “I’m here to support women in the stem field and to make sure they have equal opportunities. We makeup 48 percent of the workforce, and yet only 24 percent people working in the stem field currently are women.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 42 / 53 Mary Clifford, Chula Vista: “I’m here because we have to stand up for everyone’s rights, not only women’s rights, and the dumpster has trampled on our rights, and we need a free press.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 43 / 53 Anne Clifford, Serra Mesa: “I am here because we have to keep marching. We’ve been marching for how many years, and things are still screwed-up, and I think it’s quite ironic that the government shutdown is on the one-year anniversary of the dumpster’s inauguration.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 44 / 53 Mika O’Brien, Talmadge: “I’m here because I believe in equality.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 45 / 53 Clare Hermanson, Allied Gardens: “I march because I believe in the power of all women and girls.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 46 / 53 Paula Kasimatis, Allied Gardens: “I’m marching because our children are watching, and this administration represents values that I don’t want to be a model for my daughter.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 47 / 53 Emma Andrade, Point Loma: “Because girls are important.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 48 / 53 Melanie Nelsen, Carson City, Nevada: “I’m marching for her.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 49 / 53 Greg Williams, San Carlos: “I’m here to support all the women in my life.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 50 / 53 Mary Ellen Danforth, San Carlos: “I’m here today for my daughter so she won’t have to say, Me Too.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 51 / 53 Stephanie Williams, La Mesa: “I’m here to give a voice for those who are too afraid to speak out.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 52 / 53 Pilar Placone Willey, La Mesa: “We need to have a change in our country, and we are the change.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 53 / 53 Cindy Cambert, La Mesa:” I want to encourage people to vote, because if people vote, I think this country will get what it needs.” (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

The orderly but ebullient local events were among several marches being held across the country this weekend, with most happening Saturday. The national march will be on Sunday, this time in Las Vegas rather than Washington, D.C., the site of last year’s record-setting turnout.

The man occupying the White House there was very much a presence in San Diego Saturday. Signs in the crowds, ranging from the angry and serious to the humorous and absurd, took aim at Trump’s policies, personality, scandals and racially-charged statements.


“Grab ‘em by the midterms,” one said, turning a phrase from Trump’s notorious “Access Hollywood” tape into a election day rallying cry.

“We still believe in civil discourse,” said Anita Dacey, of Ocean Beach. “We’re here because we’re strong, erudite and sick of being led by people with no compassion, no morals, no character, no intelligence.”

The pediatric nurse said she was marching with the support of four men behind her: her husband and three sons.

“I have three sons — three sons who know better than to act like President Trump.”


Across the reaches of the county and amid the sea of pink shirts and knit p***y hats, there were also those calling for the rights of Latinos, blacks, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community and protection of the environment, “dreamers” and Planned Parenthood.

Among the 3,000 to 4,000 marchers at Palomar College in San Marcos was retiree Doris Payne, who volunteers at a local elementary school. She said nearly 70 percent of the students there are Latino, and her sign read, “Empathy is an American value. Protect the Dreamers.”

“I’m out here today because … enough already,” she said. “It’s important that we not lose hope.”

Numerous Democratic political candidates had informational booths set up at both marches. They and independent groups had volunteers registering scores of voters.


“We have seen a tremendous amount of momentum,” said volunteer Nils Goins, who was overseeing the North County voter registration drive.

Women outnumbered men by about 3 to 1 at both gatherings, but the men who attended enthusiastically wore their support on their sleeves, as well as signs and hats.

“Men of quality are for equality,” read Vista resident Craig Thompson’s handmade sign.

Sporting a fuchsia shirt, farmer’s overalls and a white cowboy hat, Tom Lemmon, business manager for the county’s Building and Construction Trades Council, was there with his wife Karen and 13-year-old daughter K.T.


“I see women coming into the workplace that are incredibly competent, that are incredibly skilled,” but still have a hard time professionally, he said. “Men need to change the culture,” adding that there is more pay equity among unionized workers.

1 / 27 People walk north on Pacific Highway during the San Diego Women’s March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 27 Starla Rivers pumps her fist as she and others at the front of the crowd prepare to march south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Women’s March walk past the Star of India, background left, as they walk south on Harbor Drive just after the start of the march. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 27 Jermaine Rocacorba raises her fist as she and other people listen to speakers while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 27 A woman, who calls herself The Pink Lady, holds a likeness of Trump with “Putin’s puppet” written on the back. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 27 A woman, who is a member of a group of Aztec dancers, listens to people speak while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 27 Charese Perry, 16, from Santee, holds a sign in favor of congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 27 A group of women listen to people speak while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Women’s March walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Women’s March walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 27 One of the many signs carried by people during the San Diego Women’s March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Women’s March walk past a cruise ship as they walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 27 Francis is fitted with a sign by his owner Bebo Hoy. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 27 People walk north on Pacific Highway during the San Diego Women’s March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 27 Haly Lewis of Rancho Santa Fe holds American flags as people walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 27 Robin Love holds a sign in reference to Trump’s combed over hair. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 27 People walk down Pacific Highway during the San Diego Women’s March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 27 Participants in the San Diego Women’s March carry signs as they walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 27 Children cheer on the marchers from a balcony on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 27 Louise Blue, left, and Lisa Tansey drum on a light pole during the San Diego Women’s March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 27 Courtney Porter is dressed as a woman’s rights fairy. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 27 A likeness of Trump is carried as people walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 26 / 27 Firefighter/paramedic Thomas Woods, right, and Capt. Matt Spicer, who are with the San Diego Fire Department, follow the crowd at the back of the march in case someone needs medical assistance. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 27 / 27 After participating in the San Diego Women’s March, sisters Sydney Bromidis, bottom left, Margo Gebraski, right, and Jillian Bromidis relax by lying on the grass in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Lemmon said he might not have been born a feminist but has evolved into one. “Wisdom is experience gone wrong,” he said.

And about that hat? “Hey, look up #GoodGuysWearWhiteHats,” he said laughing.


His wife turned more pensive.

“I have just been so, so distressed this year with what’s going on in our country,” she said. I just feel they’re sucking us down the drain, these divisive, racist, misogynist, hatemongers who are trying to make it us versus them, instead of we. I want to go back to where we’re hopeful again.”

Their daughter was looking forward. “I’m here because it’s making a difference not just for me, but for any kids I have in the future,” the teen said.

Listening intently to the line-up of diverse speakers from the County Administration Building, school nurse Sascha Lopez, of San Diego, held a sign with a Mexican proverb: “Somos semillas” or “We are seeds.” It continued: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we are the seeds.”


She wiped tears from her eyes after explaining why she was marching, alongside her husband, her pre-teen daughter and her daughter’s friend.

“I couldn’t not be here. I’m here for my students whose parents have been deported. The dreamers. I’m here for my LGBT trans friends who are afraid. I’m here for my husband who is a science teacher. I’m here for them,” Lopez said, pointing to the two girls with her.

“It’s overwhelming how many reasons there are to be here.”


kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com


Twitter: @kristinadavis