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Organizers said the event at Edward Cornwallis Park, which was put together in two days, put the experiences of black and Indigenous people, as well as people of colour at its centre in response to a women’s march some criticized as catering to a narrow conception of women’s unity.

Jade Byard Peek, a transgender woman of African-Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaq heritage, said she and others felt uncomfortable and under attack at last year’s women’s march.

When she shared her experiences with march organizers, she said she received “near death threats” and was called an “angry black man” on social media.

“There is a belief that we have equity, equality and that everything is all dandy, but even here in Halifax, that doesn’t exist,” Byard Peek told the crowd at the intersectional women’s event.

“When I saw the women’s march coming up, I had flashbacks to what happened last year, to what has happened throughout the whole year, of people being targeted online, on the streets, harassed, because they lived their true lives.”

Rana Zaman, who helped organize the women’s march, came to Cornwallis Park and apologized to Byard Peek for hurtful comments on the Grand Parade event’s Facebook page.

Zaman said the women’s march was meant to be inclusive rather than divisive, and said other community members have been harassed online for their views by what she described as transgender advocates.

Byard Peek said in an interview that the women’s march needed to not only be inclusive, but intersectional — a concept that considers how aspects of identity like race, sexual orientation, class and gender interact to form people’s experiences.

She said she did not see the two events as being at odds with each other, but rather opportunities for education, which she felt was demonstrated by the crossover of attendees.

“We’re all in this together. It’s about equity,” she said. “Together, we have shown that hate is not tolerated in this city and we want to come with love.”