Trudging through the muddied grass in front of Michigan's state Capitol building and hoisting witty signs, thousands of women, men and children met in Lansing Saturday to rally in solidarity with participants in the Women's March on Washington.

Billed as a sister event to the Women's March on Washington, organizers said the Lansing event was meant to be a "peaceful demonstration in opposition to the wave of hate crimes and violence and threats of official discrimination that have proliferated following the election." It's one of the dozens of similar marches scheduled throughout the country and world for Saturday, Jan. 21, the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.

The rally featured a roster of speakers and performers, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, who kicked off the speech lineup at the Lansing rally by calling on attendees to respect the office now held by President Donald Trump, but "fight the officeholder when he's wrong."

"Yesterday was tough, but today I'm feeling more hopeful than ever because of you," Whitmer told the crowd.

The crowd in Lansing was diverse, with men and women of all ages and races joining up in support.

Audrey Richmond of Troy said her biggest reason for coming to the Lansing event was to stand up against what she considers to be normalized hate.

"There's so many different issues being addressed by this march, but I think the most important part of it is to show that we're not just going to let things happen under our noses," she said. "We are here to hold our government officials accountable for their actions, and we're going to make our voices heard every step of the way."

Grand Ledge resident Michele Johnson donned a bear costume and held a sign that said "students can't 'bear' Betsy" for the march, referencing a comment U.S. Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos made about rural schools possibly needing guns to protect against grizzly bears during her recent U.S. Senate committee confirmation hearing.

Johnson said she has many concerns about the next four years, but said cabinet picks such as DeVos and Trump's stated positions on women's rights issues were some of the main reasons she is staying politically active.

"I can't believe that in 2017, women are still having to march for rights," she said.

But it wasn't just women who were rallying Saturday. Cameron Spencer, who is attending school in Kalamazoo but is originally from Flint, said he felt it was important to march to support the rights of his sister, friends and members of the LGBT community.

"If you're silent in times like this, you take the side of the oppressor, and that's messed up," he said. "It matters to be here and show what side you're on."

Michigan's presence in D.C.

Many Michigan residents also made the trek to Washington, D.C. for the official Women's March on Washington. The Associated Press reports at least 500,000 people are participating in the national march.

Groups from across the state left for D.C. late in the week with plans to attend the march Saturday, Jan. 21.

One Michigan woman who attended, Otsego resident Sandra Massingill, said she first demonstrated for women's rights in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was proud to do it again as a woman unaligned with any political party.

"I never burned my bra but I've always been adamantly opposed to 'it's a man's world' mentality," she said. "No matter who the president, representative, lawmaker may be, if women's rights aren't considered civil rights, then I'm pledged to remind them."

Several members of Michigan's Congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield and Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, greeted marchers from Michigan in Washington. Dingell was also planning to attend her local march in Ann Arbor later in the day.

Lawrence said prior to the march that she looked forward to joining the women's march "to support not only gender equality, but equality for all underrepresented and disenfranchised groups in this country."